著者

小田 史子

出版者

一般社団法人 日本行動分析学会

雑誌

行動分析学研究 (ISSN:09138013)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.18, no.1, pp.10-24, 2004-02-29 (Released:2017-06-28)

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In Japan, some dogs are kept indoors by their owners and never allowed outside. These "inside dogs" are trained to eliminate in a container like a cat's litter box, which is lined with a "pet sheet," i.e., specially treated absorbent paper. Study objective: to investigate whether if dogs were reinforced for eliminating on the pet sheet, they would learn to eliminate there without prior prompting. Design: After a baseline period, intervention was carried out, and than a follow up done. Setting: indoor locations, such as a home or workplace. Participants: 1 female and 3 male puppies and their owners. Intervention: when the dog eliminated on the pet sheet without prompting, or after having been taken to the pet sheet, the owner reinforced the dog's behavior. Measure: The percentage of eliminations that were on the pet sheet was measured. Results: 3 of the puppies learned to eliminate on the pet sheet, although one of those only used the sheet for urination. The remaining dog did not learn. Conclusion: Reinforcing eliminating on the pet sheet was effective for training "inside puppies". Owners should take their dog to a pet sheet when the dog seems about to eliminate, and reinforce the behavior of eliminating in the correct Location.