BehavioRx Case of the Month
for October 2004

House-soiling Prevention

Every November we receive so many complaints about house soiling problems suddenly erupting, mainly among juvenile dogs, that this case should be a helpful "heads-up" for all dog owners.

The young couple and their 9 month-old Sheltie were getting along famously, with minimal problems until early November. At that time they started coming home from work to a mess of stools and urine, usually close to the kitchen door, which led to the back yard and his toilet area.

During our consultation they revealed that they always took "Sparky" out to the toilet when they got home, then fed him and took him out again. When we explained
that dogs have biological clocks that can be accurate to within 30 seconds from day to day. At that moment, both clients, Sally and Charlie, had what is called in some consultation circles an "Aha!"

"We just set the clocks back from Daylight Savings Time to Standard!" Sparky is now 12 years old and has not had the problem since. Twelve days before the annual set-back, they started setting Sparky's biological clock back by delaying his morning and evening meals 5 minutes each day. The only inconvenience they experiences was his pestering for his meals about six days into the new timetable changes. However, they both agreed, a little food-anxiety behavior was a small price to pay for a fastidious dog.

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