Dogs are Strange (in case you doubted it)

Here's another true dog story that proves - yet again - that fact is often stranger than fiction when it comes to dogs and their masters...

I found a stray dog rummaging through a neighbor's garbage shortly after moving into my new house. He is a beautiful black Labrador mix. He's sweet as can be, but he wasn't potty-trained. So, I found a dog housetraining book that told me to clap my hands and let out a distracting sound when I caught him in the act of hiking his leg in the house. I spent hours outside with him trying to teach him that he should do his thing there. But, I never caught him in the act, so I couldn't try out the new technique.

Then I caught a lucky break. I was actually letting him outside to try yet again when he suddenly lifted his leg on the staircase banister on our way out! I gasped and clapped my hands. He just stood there, looking at me with his leg hiked. I told him that we do that outside and opened the door. His leg STILL hiked, he proceeded to hobble out the door on three legs! I merely gaped in astonishment. He calmly went outside, did his thing, and came back in as if nothing strange had happened. I picked my jaw up off the floor, shut the door behind him, and tried hard the rest of the day to forget I ever saw it.

The next day, I caught him in the same spot, hiking his leg on the staircase. I yelled out and clapped my hands. He stopped in mid-stream, but kept his leg hiked. Once again, he barely cleared the doorway as he hobbled out on three legs, his back right leg still out in the air! Surprised, but not nearly as traumatized, I once again shut the door behind him upon his return and retired to my office to ruminate on these strange goings-on.

Later that night, he walked up to me and hiked his leg on mine! I screamed, expecting him to urinate all over my leg, but he just stood there with his leg up, wagging his tail and looking at me. I went to the door to let him out, and he came skipping over with his leg in the air. I wondered if he was actually trying to tell me he had to go out, but I wasn't sure until it happened two more times the next day. He would walk into the room and promptly hike his leg against mine (not actually relieving himself, thankfully). I let him out each time, and each time he kept his leg in the air until completely out of the house.

It's been a year now, and he still has this completely strange way of telling me he has to go potty. Every time we have guests over, they ask me to make him do his funny leg-hiking thing. If they're lucky, he'll have to go out at some point in their visit and they get to witness the event firsthand.

We have a new digital camera that I've just put on a table in the foyer. I simply must get this on tape! It's the funniest thing I've ever seen, him hobbling on his three legs out the door. He's even become quite talented at walking down the stairs that way. Some dogs scratch or bark when they have to go outside. My strange dog is a little more direct - he looks me in the eyes and gets into position, as if he's saying, "You know what's going to happen here if you don't let me out, right?" He's a smart pooch - it works every time.