Poop Happens: when a rock-solid preparation system lets you down on the detection dog job.

Last night, as I was getting ready for a detection dog job, I thought it would be good to share how I prepare for it. So, I wrote a blog post called “How I Get Ready for a Detection Dog Job.” 

Well, my carefully crafted plans for getting ready for a detection dog job went completely out the window—like, whoosh! It’s as if the universe kicked in the door and said, “Surprise! You’re about to be thrown a curve ball, and here’s some fresh material for your blog!”.

I had a job that ended up a total train wreck! While it didn’t impact the client or the overall job, I myself was really unhappy with how things turned out. Instances like these remind me that no matter how prepared I think I am, dogs will always be dogs, and life will always be life. I felt very embarrassed because I take pride in my dogs and work. However, these things happen, and I want to share my experience.

Firstly, my morning was pretty perfect; I took the dogs out for some exercise, grabbed a coffee, washed my car, took the dogs for a toilet break, fuelled up my car, took the dogs to the toilet again, went to the shops, and took the dogs to the toilet once more. There were plenty of opportunities for Marie to do a poo—plenty!

I left for my job early, and I’m glad I did! As I drove to the location, I noticed where I needed to enter the building, but it was in the heart of a busy city. Finding a parking spot to let the dogs out for a bathroom break was quite challenging. I really needed to go myself too, so I thought, “Why not drive a little farther out of the city?” After all, I had a solid 40 minutes—plenty of time, right? 

I finally found a fuel station after navigating through road works at a speed of 40 km/h and stopping at every single traffic light. Unfortunately, this station didn’t have a restroom for humans; there was only a patch of grass where Marie quickly hopped out of the car to relieve herself. We then crossed the road to another fuel station that actually had a bathroom—thank God! After my successful pit stop, we hit the road on the exhilarating journey back at a breathtaking pace of 40 km/h, where we once more encountered roadworks and every traffic light.

We got to the location right on time. It was a question first if my car would fit into the parking garage, and luckily, it did. My contact person did not pick up the phone and whilst I quickly found security. They weren’t nice or helpful at all, which rubbed me a little bit the wrong way. I embraced my inner Zen master. I rang my contact person again, and he picked up. 

I prepared Marie, and we were escorted to the first part of our job. I immediately sensed that something wasn’t right. Whilst Marie was searching, she was shaking her head, indicating that something was bothering her. She hadn’t exhibited this behaviour all morning and seemed unusually amped up for reasons I couldn’t pinpoint. Additionally, she was trying to sneak into my treat pouch, which was unusual for her (for whoever knows Marie, outside her job she happily jumps in treat pouches here and there! But never during the job) She did, however, ignore all the food that was lying around, which was awesome. This is also a nightmare for a dog handler, as your dog might eat food from someone’s desk!

In one room, Marie displayed a significant behaviour change that prompted me to bring a second dog out. Earlier this week, Abba hadn’t been herself due to a sore leg, but she could still walk on it, and her condition seemed quite spontaneous. I thought she would be fine. However, when Abba entered the room, she looked at me blankly as though she had forgotten what it meant to be a detection dog. I realised I needed to work extra hard with her despite the situation. Abba persevered. After we completed that part of the work, Marie was ready to come out again to finish the task.

Marie started to search the stage area thoroughly. We searched all around the top of the stage, navigating around the expensive equipment as she performed her duties. This was challenging, especially while they were testing the microphones and instruments. Afterwards, we needed to search underneath the stage, where we occasionally came across workers sleeping in their hammocks. Despite the obstacles, Marie did quite well. She looked like a mountain goat, and she hopped and jumped over the stage frames to ensure we covered every area. 

We needed to go behind the stage. It had been a long time since something like this happened to me. But suddenly, Marie put on the brakes mid-search and, without any warning, started to poop. Now, when Marie poops, she transforms into a sideways-walking crab. I was mortified! I mean, what do you even say? It felt like having front-row seats to an incredibly awkward performance. I quickly scrambled to get a poo bag out of my pocket and started picking up after the sideways-walking crab. 

Meanwhile, the nearby people missed the whole scene and were so impressed with Marie’s looks. I tried to calm myself down, feeling embarrassed that she had just pooped in front of someone while we were searching. All I wanted was to go home, hide under a blanket, and watch a Disney movie. Even explaining my morning routine wouldn’t help, as people would assume that if your dog poops, you clearly didn’t take her out beforehand, right?

I put on my game face and continued working with Marie after I threw the poop in the bin.

We needed to search a few more towers in front of the stage, and I hoped that Marie wouldn’t need to take another bathroom break. I noticed that her energy was declining, and she was getting tired. Once we finished searching the last tower, I asked how big the front-of-house area was, as Marie needed a break. Thankfully, we were done. I mumbled an apology for the poo incident, but what can we do? Dogs are dogs. Just as we are not perfect every day, our dogs also have off days.

This whole job left me feeling a bit like shit because it didn’t go as planned, even though I did all the necessary planning beforehand. It’s frustrating! However, I took away a valuable lesson from the experience. Regardless of how prepared we think we are, the universe can throw unexpected challenges our way, and we just tackle them as we go. 

There is no perfect dog handler out there who hasn’t experienced their dog not being themselves at the most inappropriate moment. It happens to everyone! You might feel incredibly embarrassed, as I did, but it’s important to give yourself a break. 

We work with dogs, not robots. If you ever find yourself in a similar situation, remember this blog—it has happened to me as well. Many people hesitate to discuss these embarrassing moments because they fear it might reflect poorly on them or their dogs. The truth is, our dogs are simply being dogs, and that is perfectly okay! These experiences remind us that we can’t control everything, even when we have a thorough preparation system in place. Life is unpredictable, and my blog posts show that. 

Unfortunately, this memory is burned into my brain, and I can’t erase it. However, Marie has another chance for redemption on Monday, so we’ll give it our best effort. It can’t get worse than today, right? Honestly, I know she will do great and that she’ll be fine. She is an absolute machine, and aside from today, she hasn’t let me down very often. I love her to bits; she is the star, and I am just her personal assistant. If it does go to shit, I am pretty sure I will share it again in a blog post. 

My nightmare situations in a detection job:

1. My dog refuses to search (this has happened to me).

2. My dog eats someone else’s food (this has happened to me).

3. My dog breaks something.

4. My dog has an accident and pees (this has happened to me).

5. My dog has an accident and poops (this has happened to me).

6. My dog gets injured (this has happened to me).

7. My dog disappears.

8. My dog goes in flight.

9. My dog struggles with an environmental challenge (this has happened to me).

10. My dog false indicates (this has happened to me). 

11. My dog misses the target odour (this has happened to me).

12. The people you are working for are setting you up without your knowledge (this has happened to me).

13. My dog injures another human or me (This has happened to me. The dog I was searching with jumped up and hit my face, causing my nose to bleed).

These experiences have happened to me over multiple years of working day in and day out with dogs in different countries and instructing other handlers and their dogs. 

Please let me be your example that failing or having setbacks is perfectly normal! But we persevere.