The Summary

This project does not have an end.  It does, however, have a conclusion.

I should be documenting what I learned in terms of Psychology, which I will get to, but what I have really learned to do is pay attention. My dog, Blue, tells me when he has to go out.  He tells me when there is someone at the door (or passing by).  He will show me where he wants to walk.  Though I put forth considerable effort to praise him when he exhibits desirable behavior, such as urinating or defecating outside, I believe that he looks for approval in my facial expressions.  He is constantly seeking approval.  The more affection and approval that I give him, the fewer problems we seem to have.  This is the the whole B.F.Skinner  - Operant Conditioning method.  Give no energy to undesirable behavior (exception is if you catch him in the act, good luck), only give positive energy to positive behavior.

The key in really driving this home was to use an already existing behavior and expound upon it.  In this case, the animals were already peeing in the dining room.  It seemed logical to use that room to encourage the herd to urinate there. Add the newspaper, allow the herd to become used to it as a permanent change.  Connect the urine to the newspaper.  Reduce the amount, but continue the behavior and reinforcements.

In December, we watched an excellent documentary called Dogs Decoded:  Nova .  In this film, it was suggested that dogs are genetically predisposed to read human facial expressions, and they are the only animal that can. So I am aware of what my face is doing when I am interacting with Blue.  We do not leave the dogs unattended for more than 4 hours.  If my partner Chuck is not home, then the dogs come to the shop with me.  I listen to what Blue is telling me.  When he barks to go out and he recently went, I get on the floor and talk with him.  Sometimes he just wants to play.

What really changed in this experiment was not the dog.  It was my behavior. When it was personally inconvenient, I treated Blue like more of a pest, than a pet.  I now take my responsibility to him more seriously.  I also respect his role as the sentinel.  I call it "insistent" barking, not "incessant" barking.  I find if I get up to see what he is making noise about, thank him, and update him as to our security status, he's good.  (NO, not always...  he often likes to drive a point home.)   Granted, 6 years of having an issue does make one irritable, but it only took a Psychology course and new carpeting to figure out the answer.  And Blue doesn't think very much of Psychology.

Blue's History

I don't recall the year that I got Blue.  His original name was "Scruffy."  He came from a dog rescue in Oakland Park with whom I respect the work, but found them wanting in organization.  I was working a lot of hours and finishing up my degree in Computer Networking Services at ITT Tech.  I was the General Manager of a restaurant on US1.  My concern for my dog Punky being alone all those hours by herself started me on a quest to find her a friend.  My search for a Lhasa apso, the Tibetian house dogs,  or Pekinese, was underway.  I also thought a male would be a good partner for her.  My ex boyfriend had had a Lhasa / Silky mix.  So when I saw Blue, a Sydney Terrier (Silky Terrier), in the crate with a supposedly mean Pekinese dog and chewed up and bleeding ears.  I could not let the caretakers put Blue back in the cage.  He came home with me.

From what I have been told, Blue came from a puppy farm or a breeder and ended up in a Pet Store that went bankrupt.  He went from the store to a crate in a rescue.  He was supposed to have had papers which they agreed to give me after his sterilization.  We had to wait until the infection in his ear healed before neutering took place and the papers were lost.  Blue had never worn a leash, never had a collar.  was only used to a crate, with which he had a love / hate relationship; was petrified of riding in a vehicle (which he is WELL over); was and is still petrified of thunderstorms and loud trucks (Chuck, my partner, insisted on a tranquilizer for bad storms, turned out to be a really good thing).

I've had Blue for over 6 years.  He has peed in the house every day for 6 years.  Fortunately, until we moved into this townhouse, I never had carpeting, only tile flooring.  We've lived in this townhouse for 2 years.  I couldn't take the view of urine stains on the carpeting.  I was losing all hope.  I had no motivation to clean cause all it meant was cleaning animal urine.  I came close to snapping on more than one occasion because I can't stand unsanitary conditions.  It will slowly drive me to snap.  Chuck prevented me from getting rid of Blue on more than one occasion.  When we talked about redoing the upstairs flooring to replace the urine stained carpeting (IT WAS EVERYWHERE.  I KID YOU NOT) I insisted on vinyl flooring that looked like distressed wood, but I could practically hose down.  Since the townhouse is Chuck's, and he was the one footing the bill, he chose beautiful grey carpeting and new padding.  This time I was ready and already owned a carpet steam cleaner.  I've only had 4 spots, however, and none of them really smelled of urine, but I am taking no chances.  I use an orange and peroxide liquid spray to neutralize and then I'm steam vacuuming up.  Works great, no repeat performances.

Blue to this day is not a big fan of grass.  As I am doing more landscaping, he spends time out with me and chasing lizards.  He may yet learn to love grass like he loves sidewalks.  I had an unexpected plus happen this week.  I decided to move more stepping stones into our little back yard.  Blue discovered this area as a new place to urinate.  I couldn't be happier.  It's a great place to encourage him to go when it's raining and he won't take a proper walk.  Neither dog enjoys walking in the rain.

Interesting Notes

Blue does not mind napping very close to areas of urine / feces.  I think his choice of napping area is due to the towel on the floor than by the litter box behind it.  The newspaper is also viewed by him as padding.  I think there is more association with a blanket and newspaper as being like items than with newspaper as location for urine.  Harrison, the cat, also is not object to laying near areas of urine.  He also associates the newspaper as padding.  

Floor Piddle

My hopes were to create an association with the newspaper and urine.  As of yet, it has not happened.  The association is with the location of the urine.  I have had to re-paper a section of the dining room which was heavily used as a urinating area.  Obviously, this will be one of the last areas to remain papered as the quantity of newspaper on the floor continues to decrease.

Obviously this experiment, or as I like to call it "life with Blue," will continue after this class is well over.  Eventually the newspaper in the dining room will be down to a couple of sheets.  That day will not come before my final in Psych, however.  It has been years of behavior to change in a few small weeks.  I'm so happy with the absence of urine on the new carpeting that all these little experiments on the tile floor of the dining room are quite the joy.

The Newspaper By Half

I cleaned and washed the floors replacing the newspaper for the first time by half.  This is the most drastic reduction in quantity of newspaper.  Since the documentation is due on Thursday, I wanted to have at least a couple of days for reaction.

Ecologically Conscious Note

I do my best to leave as small a carbon print on the environment as I can.  I am, however, human.  I get all the newspapers to cover my dining room on recycling day.  I walk around to the neighbors bins and collect fresh newspapers.  I put the soiled newspapers in my bin for recycling.

Addendum

Blue has been spending quite a bit of his time in the shop, now.  I'm a tailor for those who don't know.  This means that there is thread on the floor.  I started bringing Blue to the shop to make sure that he has adequate opportunities to alert me to the fact that he needs to urinate / defecate.  His shop time now has the added bonus that thread in his stool prevents it from falling onto my new carpeting.  Poor Blue was so mortified to be stuck in this position with a little turd dangling off his bum.  We would not permit any pictures of that.  I thought a picture of our morning commute would be more appropriate.

Harrison the Cat

Well, I don't write frequently, because there is not much to say.  We have rare occasions when there is piddle on the carpet, but I declare the situation resolved upstairs.  Had I written of my daily discovery of yet more urine on the carpeting for 3 years, you would understand how amazing this new set of circumstances is.

My desire to fully cement the family's association with newspaper and urine/feces has prevented me from using a much smaller patch of newspaper in the dining room.  Especially now.  Enter Harrison.

Harrison has decided that when he's downstairs, he will ALSO use the newspaper.  When he's upstairs, he'll use his litter box.  I have decided that since Harrison and Blue are such good buddies, (and I really mean it, Frick and Frack) that perhaps this will also help teach Blue that this is the place to pee when there is no human to take him out.

Day 14

I didn't think things would be perfect.  Last night I found my first turd upstairs on the new carpet.  I had walked Blue last night after dinner, so he had opportunity.  I'm not responding to it, just continuing the walks and positive support.  All the rain we've had lately does add some challenges to the experiment.  Blue is terribly afraid of lightening, more specifically the thunder and loud noises.  No amount of soothing alleviates his fear, but doggie valium does.  Normally I wouldn't be an advocate of drugging a pet, but he is so much calmer.  I'm hoping it will help him get over his fear.

Day 9

We finally have our first piddle on the newspaper in the dining room.

It's been a week since my last post, and there has been literally no urinating in the house at all.... at least, that we have found.

Part of our motivation to try a new training effort so late in Blue's life is that we desperately needed to replace the carpet that he helped so diligently to soil.  So to protect the new carpeting and pad, I decided to try some techniques that I had learned in my Intro to Psyche class.  I had to change MY behavior to create a change in Blue's behavior.  I had to be very conscious of how I spoke (and facial expressions).  Even if I was frustrated I could exhibit no negative energies.  I had seen a documentary that demonstrated that dogs are one of the few animals that are actually able to read human facial expressions.  Blue is VERY sensitive to any harsh words or anger.  You can slap him with a word.

Operant conditioning is the positive reinforcement of a naturally occurring behavior.  Since I am never able to catch him peeing.... negative reinforcement is just not an option.

For whatever reason, up to today, the newspaper kept Blue from peeing in the dining room.  I began to have hope that perhaps when the old carpet and pad were removed, Blue would not urinate on the new carpeting.  I even had the idea that should an incident occur, I should cover the area with newspaper as a deterrent. Fortunately, (knock on cyber wood) this has not occurred.

We will continue to be diligent in our walkings, as Blue is very vocal when he wants to go for a walk.  My partner, Chuck, has been home during the day for a while, but when he returns to work, the dogs will come to work with me (a perk to being your own boss).  I don't want them left alone for more than 4 hours.  I want to insure that this positive, non-peeing-in-the-house behavior continues.

Dr. Reuter made a comment this week that stuck with me.  Perhaps Blue was training me, not the other way around.

Day 2 - 5 May 2012

Well, I find that I write the morning, so Day 2 is really about Day 1, etc.  So be it.  Well, Blue thinks we have laid the newspaper down as a kind of carpeting for him.  There is no association between newspaper and place to pee.  Chuck caught him peeing on the carpeting upstairs and smacked his bum.  There has been no other urinating in the house, in the dining room or anywhere else.

I should mention that our house is not a laboratory.  There are really too many variables for it to be a great experiment.  Recently, my partner, Chuck, has been home, so the dogs have been walked far more frequently than the day to day norm when we both work.  Even with this factor, Blue continues to urinate in the house.

Next Thursday the upstairs will be re-carpeted, and we are getting some non-absorbent padding.  I already own a carpet cleaner (which in no way could keep up with Blue).  The ideal would be to house-break him prior to the carpet arriving, but I'm ready with cleaning machines in reality.

Intro - Day One

We have a Sydney Terrier, named Blue, whom we adopted from a rescue about 5 years ago.  During this time, I have been unsuccessful in completely house-breaking this dog.  I am taking classes at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale for Fashion Design, and one of the General Education classes that are required for my graduation is Intro to Psychology.  While studying the Operant Conditioning and B.F. Skinner, a thought occurred to me.  The technique is to take an existing behavior and modify it with positive reinforcement.  Blue most frequently urinates in the dining room.  I am going to do an experiment and document it.  My goal is to train Blue to pee on newspaper.  The final goal is to get Blue to pee on a single sheet of newspaper in a shallow litter box or sheet pan, and no where else in the house (a modern day miracle).

Friday, May 4, 2012.
I cleaned the floor with white vinegar and covered the entire dining room with newspaper so that if Blue pees anywhere in the dining room, it will be on newspaper.  I sat him down and explained, "Ok, Blue, you can pee anywhere in the dining room you want now and I won't get mad."  Of course he heard "Ok, Blue, blah blah blah blah blah blah.."  Perhaps I should have attempted an Australian accent.