BehavioRx Case of the Month
for February 1997

 OLDER DOG HOUSEHOLD URINATION ... A MATTER OF TRUST

A 3 year old spayed female Sheltie was obtained four months earlier from a friend by a couple with a son and daughter in their early teens. The dog is considered 'perfect' in every way, except that she urinates in certain areas of the house. The former owner kept the dog caged between 12 and 18 hours a day ... as a means of housetraining. It had not succeeded, so she gave the dog to the family, without telling them of the urination problem.

The first few nights in the two story home the father slept in the downstairs guest bedroom with the dog, letting it out a couple of times during the night to urinate. The parents said they did this because they were not sure they could 'trust' the dog free in the house. When outside, the dog is kept on a 'running line' and does not seem to object to it.

After a few nights the husband moved back upstairs and the dog was left downstairs alone, with the stairs blocked off. She urinated in a family and dining room during the night, so she was blocked off in a large laundry room where she did not, and still does not urinate. However, during the day (only when someone is home, and not every day) she will sneak off and urinate in 'forbidden areas and rooms,' i.e. upstairs bedrooms, downstairs dining room and living room. She has even urinated in the house in front of family members while looking at them. The Sheltie has been deemed in good health. The behavior is not identifiable with any certain family member's presence.

The dog is fed Precise Sensicare dry food in the morning and a mix of the dry food with some Pedigree meat diet in the evening. Stools are formed and firm. The Sheltie has never defecated in the house.

The children give the dog lots of "love and attention." The parents are school teachers and have been at home most of the summer since obtaining the dog. They say they have; "scolded her, isolated her after showing her what she did, taken her out immediately, and every other remedy suggested in the many books we have read." They state the dog can go 8 to 12 hours without urinating, "because she does this while barricaded in her 'corner ' (of the family room) at night, and during thunder storms, when she refuses to go out of doors at all."

The parents are asking for help "before we lose all patience, because we want to be able to trust her." They are especially puzzled as to why, in spite of the punishment that follows, the dog still approaches, looks at them, and urinates in the house. They will not consider caging the dog when they are home because it spent the first 2 1/2 years of life crated in close confinement and ... "what is the sense of a pet if it has to be kept in a cage?"

Easy Explanations?
Analyzing this sort of problem invites over-simplification. It is tempting to explain the sneaky urination as a way of satisfying a need to 'brand' territory from which the dog is forcibly (by barricade) denied access at night and when left alone at home. Then, the blatant urination in front of family members could be fit into an operant framework for attention-getting behavior, in spite of the negative nature of the attention gained. The corrections might then be simple, too;

allow the dog access to the forbidden areas, thereby removing the motivation to brand it, and;
Stop reinforcing in any way the frontal urination ... ignore it, extinguish it.

These ideas are valid elements of a remedial program, but would probably not succeed on their own, since the dog's emotional environment needs attention as well as its behavioral aspects.

Holistic Housetraining
Let's examine all the elements of this housetraining problem ... because, basically, it really is a housetraining problem.

First, the family makes a commitment to persevere with a totally positive program, no matter how long it takes to succeed. This removes the former ambivalence which the parents have been expressing about keeping the dog. In turn, it also helps to alleviate possible feelings of insecurity caused by the owner's ambivalent behavior toward the dog.

Next, the Sheltie has never been taught that she is supposed to be learning anything from the family members. So she is put on the learn-to-earn program, during which she is told to Sit for a few moments, then released, each time she seeks attention or when the owners get the urge to pet her.

The dog is to sleep upstairs on its bed in a family member's bedroom with the door left open. A 'jingle bell' is put on its collar to wake the person if the dog starts to leave the room. When this happens, she is pleasantly sent back to her bed.

The mixed meat/dry diet is fed morning and evening in the forbidden living room area, after which the dog is taken to its toilet area, where a family member waits until she performs, then points at the waste matter and praises that spot. The dog is then taken back to the house, where it has freedom of the house. The empty food bowl is left down until the next meal.

When the dog asks to go out between meals (it has been going to the door several times a day and has been taken out each time) it is distracted by a soft slap on a table top, followed by a quiet, "Good Dog." If she starts to sneak off to another room, she is likewise distracted.

When left home alone in the daytime or evening, she is given freedom of the house. This, as with the sleeping arrangement, helps relieve the frustration about the formerly forbidden rooms.

If an 'accident' occurs, the owners must ignore it, get the dog to another area, then clean it up so she cannot see them 'fussing' at the spot and the scent.

Two questions are usually asked by owners about this plan. These and the appropriate answers follow.
Q. How is the dog going to know her behavior is wrong, unless I show her by scolding or punishment?
A. You have already scolded and punished to no avail. Why continue muddying your relationship with a negative treatment?
Q. We want to trust the dog, but how will we know when we can?
A. You will know when you can trust her when you trust her. Fortunately, in this case, the family decided they should begin trusting their Sheltie right away and the problem cleared up in six days.

Previous Cases
January 1997
December 1996
November 1996
October 1996

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