I took our dogs Marble (min-pin mix) and Toby (long coat Chihuahua) to the dog park one particularly beautiful morning. Because it was so pretty outside, the park was full, people were sitting on the ground against the fence just hanging out and chatting while their dogs played. Well, I opened the gate to let Marble and Toby in, and Marble immediately ran over to this poor teenager who was sitting on the ground with her legs sprawled out in front of her, Marble climbed half way over her foot, squatted and peed all over her shoe! And to make matters worse, just as the girl begins to squeal and I begin to apologize profusely, little Toby (always the obedient follower) rushes over, hikes his leg and pees on the exact same shoe. I was mortified. Neither dog had ever done anything like that before. Strangely, they’ve never done it since either; not sure what came over them.
Oh, also, Marble tends to cower at random. She will be prancing about acting all high and mighty, and I’ll say her name, and she’ll stop, stick her tail between her legs and collapse onto her back with her legs crossed over her head as if to say, “No Momma don’t beat me again!” This is particularly frustrating at the dog park because people start staring at me like I’m abusive. Not only have I never hit this dog, but I don’t even raise my voice toward her. She's just always reacted that way. She's a stray so I don't know what kind of environment she lived in before she lived with us, but she doesn't seem to be afraid of hands or feet or objects people are carrying; I really just don't know why she does it.