Weeeee - New 6 month Corgi x terrier - Fantastic chap but.....

Fabforester

Fabforester

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He has come to us due to needing to be rehomed by his previous owners.
He is in a nutshell a bubbly, friendly and eager to please little chap. However, he's not yet been neutered and is constantly marking in the house. He's only been with us a week and doesnt have a bad bone in him, but Id like to nip this in the bud. At night and when we go out he is crate trained beautifully. In the day he (and my other terrier) is having three 30 minute walks and we let him out regularly to perform. Every time he goes outside he is weeing, but then within 10 minutes of being in he has weed in the house (all different places, no repeated areas). Whilst giving him a secure, loving and happy home he needs to know that this is not OK, and Im not sure to wait until he is neutered (at the end of next week) before we combat this. He has only pooed in the house twice in the week, and we did the traditional nose in, and straight out. That has always worked very quickly with all the other dogs we have ever owned. However with the weeing I am unsure as best course of action.
Thoughts, advice much appreciated.
 
I would delay the neutering as the marking will probably not be sexual at six months. More likely to be a urinary infection or habit he has been allowed to start.

Is he marking in front of you or going out of sight to do it?
 
luckily i have not had a huge issue, but my 2yo rescue has weed in my friends house and my bf's mum's house- both have other animals in the house. so i think he was marking as wanted his scent there. but we did tell him off as soon as/while he did it and he hasn't since when returning to these house. he was neutered a few weeks after getting him, and this has greatly reduced his amount of wees, he wont stop every 5 minutes on a walk to mark!
could a pheromone diffuser help? as it is calming and makes a clear 'smell' that he is inside now so should not wee?
agree it is probably a habit.
 
I'd have him checked for an infection, particularly as he's not doing it in the same place.

I seriously think shoving his nose in his own faeces is not going to help him learn and is totally out of fashion as a way of teaching him not to do it, poor little baby! :(
 
Personally, I believe that there is several possible reasons for why a dog pees/marks their territory indoors. The reasons that I can come and think of is:

An urinary tract infection or some other medical problem.
They've not really understood/learnt to be housebroken.
Dominance.
Hormones.
Stress.
A way to protest about something in their current situation.
Sometimes it seems to somehow comfort them/assure them about that they're allowed to be where they are.

Sometimes there is maybe just one reason for why they do it, other times maybe they do it for several reasons. Since you've only had your new dog for a week, then, even if you know that your home is a "secure, loving and happy home", and he's "a bubbly, friendly and eager to please little chap", I still wouldn't be surprised if his indoor marking simply is due to that he's a little stressed from having moved to a new home and family.
 
Agree, query a UTI and

I'm another one who wouldn't advise the rubbing the nose in it thing, you wouldn't do it to a bedwetting toddler, and they have a similar level of comprehension at that age, and unless you catch them right in the act they won't make the connection. It can also make them be sneaky if you admonish them after the event- they don't very often think 'oh, I shouldn't have done that there, I'll do it outside next time' - how could they - they more likely think, 'I pee'd, I got scolded, I won't pee in front of her again!'
Better to catch them just before they do it and show them the right way.

To that end, I wouldn't let pup mooch about all over the house, it's out or crate or in a room *with* you, keep a v close eye on the pup, any signs of sniffing or circling then out and lots of praise.
 
Thanks for all your replies. He is settling well, and has the lovliest disposition. Booked in on wed at the vets re UTI which will eliminate one possible cause, plus we do need to give him time to settle and get used to his surroundings. Thanks re your opinions re nose in poo, Im afraid the similarities to a bedwetting child dont really make sense, as he is a canine, not my children, and, touch wood, nothing in 48hrs, just the widdling. I'll have to upload some piccies as he really is the funniest cross. Thanks again.
 
Shoving his nose in his own excrement will not prevent him pooing in the house, but will increase his stress levels.
 
amymay said:
Shoving his nose in his own excrement will not prevent him pooing in the house, but will increase his stress levels.
Click to expand...

This ^^^ he will have no idea why you are doing it, but it will make him more wary of you at a time when you are trying to build his trust. The more stressed he is, the more he is likely to wee in your house as well.
 
Ok imagine you're a dog. Dogs tend to make links within about five seconds between an action/command and the reward/consequence.

Five minutes ago you did a poo. Then your mum comes over and sticks your face in it. What have you learned?
 
Fabforester said:
He has only pooed in the house twice in the week, and we did the traditional nose in, and straight out.
Click to expand...

That's awful :eek3: How does he get all the s*** off his nose after you've rubbed it in it? I presume he has to lick it off to get rid of it...? Not really sure dog excrement is the best thing to be inside a puppy's system?
 
Please stop rubbing your poor puppy's nose in its own poo. That's not how you train a dog. He needs to go out every half an hour, every day except at night. That is how you will get him into the habit of going outside. Hard work but it works. Eventually he will get the idea of telling you when he needs a wee. You need to be very vigilant and watch for the signs.
 
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