BehavioRx Case of the Month
for June 2002

Housetraining and Imitation Behavior

This month's case solution is actually a no-brainer because the cause for the dog's house soiling is obvious to most behavior consultants, but rarely mentioned in print.
We'll keep it brief, so the message will be clear.

The clients called with a spayed 8 month-old German Shepherd name "Dolly," who was well-behaved in all respects and house trained... except.

Given the opportunity to gain access to the bathroom when the owners were absent, she regularly used the floor mats for either urination or defecation. Some fact-finding during the consultation revealed the obvious cause: When the family children used the bathroom (there were four, ranging from 7 to 15 years of age) the parents reported that they usually left the door open when they did their toilet duties. Dolly had developed the habit of sitting in the doorway, watching.

When we explained the principle of allelomimetic, i.e., act-like-be like behavior, everyone had an immediate "Aha!" of insight.

"You mean like monkey-see, monkey-do behavior?", one of the children chimed in.

"Absolutely," we confirmed. "So what can you do about that?"

Mother said getting the children to shut the door firmly would easier said than done, kids being kids. Father came up with a solution: He installed a pneumatic door
closer!

They used the BehavioRx Instructions to re-instill Dolly's basic house training habits. The clients reported after 6 weeks that, except for two urination incidents just outside the bathroom door during the first week of the program, Dolly had been a truly perfect pet.

The message is clear... apply the Private Potty Principle during and after house training puppies or older dogs.

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