Male dogs scent marking

Leo Walker

Leo Walker

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What do you do when your 2yr old entire male dog is marking in the house? He is 100% house trained and has no issue waking the entire house at 4am because he wants a wee! But he wees in the house pretty much every time we leave him currently. He def has SA issues. We worked through it as a young dog, and for a long time I could 100% say he was happy being left. Then there were some issues with a crazy landlord putting my windows through and other stuff that made me on edge. When I'm not 100% chilled Dylan gets really upset, not obviously, but things like peeing on shoes and showing signs of stress and marking in the house

I moved over 200 miles away to live with my boyfriend. Dylan loves him, although I'm not 100% that he always does the right thing! He plays games with him, rolling round the floor and generally everyone having a brilliant time. They adore each other, but I'm not sure its a good thing to allow Dylan to play rough bitey games full stop.But hes never had a pet before and it is a good thing that they have developed a good realtionship, whatever form it takes!

Once we'd moved Dylan displayed classic SA issues, we have worked through them and he seems pretty happy to be left, ie when we are getting ready to leave, Dylan goes upstairs at high speed to get into my bed, not something he ever does when hes anxious. But he marks in the house EVERYTIME hes left more than 3 hours. One week hes left 3 hours, the next its 6 and a bit hours. We tried a dog walker for the second week, but despite him having a lovely time romping in the woods, he would still mark when left even though it was probably only for 2 hours. I think the routine being changed made him anxious?

We tried a belly band and it worked 100% for about 10days till he learnt to pull it back and mark anyway.

So where do I go from here? My partner wants to neuter him, but I'm not sure it will help as I am pretty sure its due to anxiety, or maybe its not? Maybe its an entire male dog marking? I dont want to neuter him if possible but if it will fix this I will. I dont think I can train him out of it either.

Crate training isnt an option.He is crate trained and was happy like that as thats how I managed him for a year, he loved his crate! but once I moved he was genuinely unhappy about going in his crate. We also live in a tiny 1 bed cottage and we tried the crate thing and literally couldnt move as we have 2 dogs.The other one is a rescue and is slightly crazy, but we know how to manage her

He would go in and be clean etc, but he was soo unhappy doing that! Hes genuinely a happy, well grounded little dog generally. A behaviourist, Emma Judson, helped me so, so, so much in the begining when we were at odds, and she deserves total kudos for helping me through when he made me cry every single day and my only option was PTS so we carried on! But we are well past that now and have a lovely relationship. Its just this marking every day that I dont know how to manage

Just to add a bit of background, hes raw fed, walks for at least an hour a day, never the same walk more than once a week he often gets 2 walks a day, 10 mins in the park opposite our house, then a proper walk later. But walks are alternated between normal on lead walks, playing games walks, going running with my boyfriend, on lead walks in new places and car walks which he adores and involves a 30 to 60 min car ride then anywhere between 30 and 120 mins walks. He also does a little bit of training and sessions with Nina Ottosson Products which hes very quick to suss out! But still he wees in the house. It wouldnt be quite so bad, but its a rented house with laminate flooring and sooner rather than later its going to damage it and cost us our deposit and even worse, our reference which will mean we wont have anywehere to go!

I adore Dylan beyind words! Hes my soulmate and has got me through a weird wasting illness and a fractured spine, but I do have to find a way to fix this that means we are all happy!
 
First things first, has he been checked out for a UTI?

I would say that the move and having a man in your life has probably unsettled him a little.
I would also say to stop the rough and tumble with your OH. That's maybe a personal thing but I don't like people mucking around with my dog. Especially people who don't 'know' dogs and don't know when to stop and can't see when a dog might be challenged by the behaviour or may feel they are in a position to challenge. They can still have a relationship without rolling around on the floor.

Not what you want to hear, but you can't train a dog to do anything, or not do anything, when you are not in the room with it.
So I would say, if you cannot supervise, then keep him curtailed, either in a crate or an outside kennel/run or a penned area or something.

If he were mine and we were living in rented accommodation, he would have no choice in the matter. I would be paying for the damage, not him.
The house I live in is not mine, so I cannot allow my dog to pee up the walls (which he doesn't) and eat the furniture (which he would, if he was allowed!!). It's a tiny house and he wodges nicely in between the sofa, the armchair and the bookcase and the crate serves as a handy extra coffee table. And he's a much bigger dog than yours.

My dog is also an entire male, a different breed but from working lines, which do tend to be a bit more full of themselves :p
If he were mine he'd be going back to basics, the first few minutes of a walk or toilet break would be on lead, you only free him/give him a toileting command when you decide it is time, my own dog is not allowed to drag me around and lift his leg against every lamp post and car wheel, because in his head, if he is allowed to do that out and about, then why shouldn't he do it at home?

If he is unhappy with the crate, there are lots of things that you can do to make it a better place for him.
Also make sure you are thoroughly cleaning the area where he marks.
 
I've just had a Bedlington Terrier staying for a week. Much as he is an adorable dog and loves his walks in the forest, I really, really begrudge him marking in my home!! He's driven me crazy, marking 5 times in different places in the time it took me to get dressed. I have now decided that under no circumstances will I have an entire dog to stay again,so if his owner wants him to return to me in the future, she will have to get him done!!! She's not keeping him entire to breed from him, and I thought that it was healthier for dogs to be done in the long run...?
So OP, is there any reason why you can't get him done? This may well resolve your problem.
 
Hes working bred as well. I spend half my life conning him into thinking he is working without actually working him! Theres no option for him living outside, he would hate it, and theres no where suitable to put a run even if I wanted to. He was crated when we first moved here, but we have literally 2 rooms and a tiny bathroom. We had to take the crates out to be able to fit a freezer in. Its just not feasible space wise.

I'm going to book him into the vets to double check theres no UTI, but I'm fairly sure theres not, he has no symptoms. I'm also going to discuss chemical castration for him. If that cures him, then I'll have him neutered, but I'm loath to neuter him along with the associated problems it could cause him, if it wont work
 
So the plan is, vets next week for an all round MOT just to rule out any physical problems, and then I've got a behaviourist coming out next week hopefully, just need a chat with her on the phone on Monday to talk it through and see when she can come to us.That covers physical and behavioural problems, if that doesnt fix it then I really dont know what to do next other than have a cather fitted :D
 
Have you been in the house long? As it's a rental house do you know if the previous tenant had a dog? It may be a case that he is marking over the scent of a previous resident? When he does mark inside do you clean it with the proper stuff that gets rid of the scent for the dog too?
 
I've been here since October. The previous tenant did have a dog. He didn't do it till I started working at the end of November, although we had SA issues before then. To be expected though with a stressy dog and a big move. We worked though those and then a few weeks later I started working.

As we both worked shifts he was never left for more than 6 hours and that was every over week, normally it was 3 hours roughly. Once it started we got a dog walker in case he was being left too long. It didn't really help. He loved his walks, but it seemed to stress him more. Just been talking with my OH and it happens when I leave the house last, although this coincides with the week hes left for longer, so may be a red herring?

We do have a very close relationship. I absolutely love the bones of him, and he had a very rough start, so from his point of view I am his stability and comfort zone person. Although if I'm in hes generally upstairs under the duvet in my bed. He doesnt show any SA type behaviours currently, at all!

The only other relevant thing is, that if we take him out in the car and I get out and dont come back he throws up. He has a long history of car sickness, through anxiety, that are pretty much resolved now I have access to a car and have worked through it. Its something we only put 2+2 together with a couple of week ago and we have worked though it ot a cerrtain extent. I can now be dropped off at work when hes in the car and he will be ok, but if my OH makes more than 2 or 3 stops on the way home he pukes! Its also tied into food. If hes hungry hes prone to hunger pukes and I think the current car thing is a combination of him being a bit hungry and reaching his tolerance levels for being left. We are working on it and hes improved a lot, but its still a work in progress. But clearly hes anxious on some level when I leave him.
 
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