BehavioRx Case of the Month
for October 2003

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 schoolteachers and have been at home most of the time 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?"

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 to 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.

Now, let's examine all the elements of a remedial housetraining problem, because 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 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 it 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 each time she seeks attention or when the owners get the urge to pet her. She is then released with praise and brief petting.

The dog is to sleep upstairs on her dog 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 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 her toilet area, where a family member waits until she performs, then points at the waste matter and praises that spot of urine or defecation.

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 slap on a table top, followed by s quiet "Good Dog" to reinforce the interruption in her thinking about urinating. (If you're physiologically attuned - the table slap also causes the urinary sphincter to clamp down.) If she starts to sneak off to another room, it 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 'accidents' occur, the owners must ignore them, get the dog to another area, and clean them up so the dog cannot see them 'fussing' over them.

After six days on the program, the little Sheltie was declared "Housetrained."

There are two questions many owners ask about this plan. Two answers follow them.

Q. How is the dog going to know her behavior is wrong, unless I show it by scolding or punishment?
A. You have already scolded and punished to no avail. Why continue muddying your relationship with negatives?

Q. We want to trust the dog, but how will we know when we can?
A. When you trust her, you will know you can trust her. (Think about it)

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