Male marking in the house.

[Lisa Tiro]

I have had dogs my whole life but usually I get females. My only males are a Chihuahua who is 8 years old and he has been a habitual house marker since I have added more pets to the household. Before I got my first BB Bella, he only peed in the house if we he was left too long while we were out. After we got Bella he started marking in the house occasionally. After Bella passed away at 2 1/2 he started doing it more, so much so that we keep him in a pen or he wears a belly band (diaper). Now here's my problem, my Axel who is almost 8 months old is starting to mature and he is marking outside. Now, I caught him in the act twice and have suspected him in a few other circumstances marking in the house. It seems to occur when my old Pit bull Brandi who is almost 15 gets up from her bed or a place where she's been lying and he goes over and pees on the spot. WHAT DO I DO? I can't have this from a big dog like this! It's bad enough that I have to put up with it in Chihuahua size pees but not a big Boerboel. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. And, I have done the cleaning thing with the Nature's Miracle cleaners. Thanks!

Lisa

[Marco]

Hello Lisa, sorry to hear you are having this problem.  First off do you allow your dogs free reign of the house?  Are they allowed up on the furniture, beds, and so on?  Dogs will mark for a few different reasons, mainly to control an area they feel belongs to them.  This goes back to the pack structure, and those who feel they are in charge will do the marking.  It is also common when a new dog arrives in the home for this to take palce.  Getting busy at work so will leave you with an article to look over.  Heres a link that can explain things better than I can.  I hope you are able to get things worked out.

Marking - Understanding It, Stopping It

[Lisa Tiro]

Hi Marco. Axel goes where I go mostly. He is always by my side, at my feet etc. He is not allowed on the furniture or beds at all. He knows his place. I think he is maturing and claiming my aging Pit bull's place in the pack. He seems to only mark her spot. He didn't do it today so I hope that my son catching him in the act and stopping him midstream worked. He pouted all night last night. I will definitely read that article. Thanks so much!

ttyl, Lisa

[Lisa Tiro]

Hi again. I read the article and I think he is testing out his wings since he is starting to test us as well. He just started lifting his leg to pee sometimes and marking outside. I hope it is just that he is letting my female know he is ready lol....He tried to put his paws up on my daughter yesterday and hump her so I told her she needs to let him know she is higher than he is in the pack. She took him for a walk today too. Thanks so much for the link. ttyl

Lisa

[Marco]

Yes catching them in the act, and stopping them by letting them know its not allowed is a great way to stop it.  I hope it all comes to an end soon, good luck!

[Ken_C]

Hey Lisa,

I  had the same problem only with my female.  Everytime my male would get up off his bed she would literally run,squat & pee.  I caught her a couple of times and  I would zoom in on her fast, tell her "NO" loudly and then put her in her crate.  Then everytime she looked like she was heading toward it with that look,  I would repeat it, put her in the crate and scold her rather harshly. It only took a few times. I also gave her a bed just like his and we are good to go..  (Knock on wood, it has been 3 months or so since that happened.)  BTW, she has run of the house but, no furniture, no beds.  She has since realized what belongs to her and so far, no issues.  I hope you are able to square this away, as it gets old really fast.

[Lisa Tiro]

Hi Ken. THANK GOD he hasn't done it since. I have come to think that he is maturing and thus letting my female (although she's spayed and old), know that he is "ready" for her if you know what I mean. I'm thinking it that because if it were territory marking I think he would do it in the thousands of places in the house that my male Chihuahua has done it as they can still smell it no matter how well we clean. That is unless he is not threatened by the Chihuahua. But in any case he hasn't done it since discovering his handsomeness lol....My female Pit bull on the other hand was a marker when she could still lift her leg lol...She would lift her leg and pee on trees etc., even did it once on my couch in my new home and of course one time in each of our beds including my neighbors! I wanted to kill her I was so embarassed! But other than that I could leave her for hours if I had to and I knew when I got home she was holding it in and would never go in the house.

Thanks for the support!

~Lisa

[Ken_C]

Hi lisa,

Glad to hear that he seems to be over it. (I hope so.) 

Good luck,

Ken.