Abstract
Dog marking behavior in urban spaces is problematized as a factor causing corrosion of public property and soil damage. Conventionally, various solutions have been considered for this problem, including the application of repellents and water-flushable toilets for dogs, but all have remained human- centered approaches, consequently reducing dogs' place in urban space. Through four phases of prototyping, this study developed the "Dog-Pee Spot" a product that attracts and aggregates dog marking behavior. The prototyping process revealed complex dog agency where social behavioral patterns of dogs in outdoor spaces intersect with becoming-with owners connected through leashes. Furthermore, in Co-Design practice that considers this complex agency, single prototype interventions showed limitations, while effective problem-solving through inter species collaboration was achieved by interconnecting multiple prototypes. This paper provides practical insights for More-than-Human Design in urban spaces.
Keywords
Dogs; Urine Marking; Hybrid Agency; Co-Design
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.1068
Citation
Hirano, O., Makita, H., Okusa, N.,and Tanaka, H.(2025) Companion Practice in between Dogs and Owners; Co-Designing Urine Marking in Urban Space, in Chang, C.-Y., and Hsu, Y. (eds.), IASDR 2025: Design Next, 02-05 December, Taiwan. https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.1068
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Track 1 - More Than Human-centered Design
Companion Practice in between Dogs and Owners; Co-Designing Urine Marking in Urban Space
Dog marking behavior in urban spaces is problematized as a factor causing corrosion of public property and soil damage. Conventionally, various solutions have been considered for this problem, including the application of repellents and water-flushable toilets for dogs, but all have remained human- centered approaches, consequently reducing dogs' place in urban space. Through four phases of prototyping, this study developed the "Dog-Pee Spot" a product that attracts and aggregates dog marking behavior. The prototyping process revealed complex dog agency where social behavioral patterns of dogs in outdoor spaces intersect with becoming-with owners connected through leashes. Furthermore, in Co-Design practice that considers this complex agency, single prototype interventions showed limitations, while effective problem-solving through inter species collaboration was achieved by interconnecting multiple prototypes. This paper provides practical insights for More-than-Human Design in urban spaces.