BehavioRx Case of the Month
for July 2005

Housetraining and Tidbits

A four month old intact male Doberman Pinscher's owners enrolled in our Diagnostics program because they were totally frustrated by the puppies failure to improve on the number of daily  "accidents" he was leaving for their homecoming after work during the week. He was OK on the weekends, since they were taking him outdoors several times a day to urinate or defecate. Jim, Pat, or one of their 2 teenagers also gave "Toby tidbits to reward him after eliminations.

"Toby" was fed morning and evening during the week and morning, midday and evening on the weekends. All the family agreed that their pet was problem-free otherwise. He was given free run of the house when alone and hadn't chewed or been destructive. They had tried to leave him in the laundry room, but Toby still messed the floor. We discovered that he was having 3 bowel movements each day.

Step 1 in the program required that weekend feedings be kept on schedule with weekdays; i.e., 3 meals a day, but morning, afternoon at the regular homecoming time, and mid-evening. This consistency established harmonious biorhythms with his conditioned reflexes to eat, then eliminate, as taught by his mother in the litter.

When everyone understood this reflex, they also quickly grasped the logic behind NOT triggering again with a tidbit after he had successfully eliminated outdoors.

The BehavioRx Instructions for Feeding, Housetraining, Obedience Training - A Primer, plus Jumping (a problem that was just emerging with Toby) were air mailed. Pat e-mailed just 5 days after the program was started to report that Toby had been mess-free for 2 days in a row, and that the non-tidbit Obedience Training Primer had made the corrections for Jumping successful in only 2 days!

Previous Cases

June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
November 2003
October 2003
September 2003
August 2003
July 2003
June 2003
May 2003
April 2003
March 2003
February 2003
January 2003
December 2002
November 2002
October 2002
September 2002
August 2002
July 2002
June 2002
May 2002
April 2002
March 2002
February 2002
January 2002
December 2001
November 2001
October 2001
September 2001
August 2001
July 2001
June 2001
May 2001
April 2001
March 2001
February 2001
January 2001
December 2000
November 2000
October 2000
September 2000
August 2000
July 2000
June 2000
May 2000
April 2000
March 2000
February 2000
January 2000
December 1999
November 1999
October 1999
September 1999
August 1999
July 1999
June 1999
May 1999
April 1999
March 1999
February 1999
January 1999
December 1998
November 1998
October 1998
September 1998
August 1998
July 1998
June 1998
May 1998
April 1998
March 1998
February 1998
January 1998
December 1997
November 1997
October 1997
September 1997
August 1997
July 1997
June 1997
May 1997
April 1997
March 1997
February 1997
January 1997
December 1996
November 1996
October 1996

Return to Case of the Month

Return to the BehavioRx Home Page