Neutered male dog marking....
Last week, after eating his dinner, he peed on the dinner bowl. He has done this in the past and our solution was to immediately pick up the bowl when the dogs are done, to avoid this behavior. Last week one of the kids forgot and in a second he peed on the bowl. When the weather is nice, they eat outside and often he has peed on the bowls after eating. The next day, all of us were upstairs, the dogs were on the main floor, I don't allow them upstairs because its all carpeted and Merlin has marked there before and I dont want him peeing on the carpet again. Well, he once again marked in the house, this is not a potty issue, when he needs to go potty he cries and runs to the door. This is a behaviour thing. Also if he thinks he is being left alone (uncrated) he will mark....he has a specific spot that he does this on, its near the front door, its like he is warding off something bad. At the vets,they tried to get a urine sample, they were unsuccessful, I have to try to get one for them, even tho the vet does not think this is a medical problem, he wants to rule it out. It was suggested I put Merlin on Clomipramine, he is going to gradually increase the dose and Merlin now has to be crated at night...even tho none of these marking episodes happen at night. I am also supposed to treat him as the low man in the pack. Avalon is to have prefered status. I am to call the vet monthly on what is going on with Merlin. Has anyone had experience with this kind of behavour? Or the medication Clomipramine? Just to make clear I am not putting him on the medication simply because of the marking, he is a very nervous dog generally. He cowers when you go to pet him (he has never been hit or even yelled at), he paces constantly and he is very skittish around new people. |
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| Is your vet a bit lazy? Urine samples can be gotten directly from the bladder via a needle and syringe. If the dog is recently peed, then work with him by drowning him in good stuff: broth water for example and then get him in to be "drained."
I suspect he's trying to test his position in the pack. You as back leader must instill upon him immediately after a squirt that such behavior is not permitted. You might even get growled at and that gets another reprimand, but just one. He'd then immiately marched outside and led to his "bush" . He must learn outside is the place for marking, not inside. When he tries to pee on his sibling, another quick reprimand......the can of pebbles works great but who always has that handy? A loud bellow can work too. Hate to see dogs on drugs.........but maybe your boy needs it.....  |
| The vet didn't want to stress Merlin further by using the catheter to get the sample.
We rarely catch Merlin marking so reprimanding does no good. Frankly other than trying to mark Avalon...I could care less if he was marking outside...he can pee out there to his hearts content. This marking behavior Merlin was doing while he was the only dog....is hasn't changed with the addition of other dogs. |
Merlin needs a boy diaper.....the little pisser 
http://www.diapersfordogs.com/ |
| We have (or rather had) a very "marking" male - Dino the min pin. He was neutered as a pup, and is 7 yrs old. He would do exactly the same thing when left out of the crate when we went out. It was getting to the point that if we even went outside to do chores for 10 minutes, we'd come back to pee on things. He is a hyper boy, and if he's in his crate he can hold it.
Now the interesting part. He is son Travis's dog, and he just moved out (actually in with his older sister at her new place). After settling a few weeks, he came and got Dino. He does not mark a thing at their house. BUT - I came over to visit a couple times with a different dog from our home - and he marked when those dogs were at his new house. We leave, and he stops! And he is living with another dog - LeAnne's Clay, and he is an intact male to boot! We have used the belly bands (male dog diaper) , and he holds his pee perfectly. I sent one with to the new house, but they are thrilled they don't need to use it. Also - re: the peeing in the dish - our male black lab does that too. I think he likes to do it for target practice! (actually he is showing dominance, but it is our joke). |
got sheep wrote: Also - re: the peeing in the dish - our male black lab does that too. I think he likes to do it for target practice! (actually he is showing dominance, but it is our joke).
Target practice sounds good!
I hope there is an easy solution to this problem. I wish I had more to offer you than condolences! |
| Kim,
I have bad news and good news.. First the bad news...I feel your pain. I bought a show dog years ago, and grew him out but ended up getting him neutered when he was two years old. He always marked inside, and apparently neutering an adult dog is only successful in curbing a marking dog in 50% of the dogs....He never stopped. He was also very skittish, and lacked confidence in a big way. I could never figure out how to stop him...it really was a pain when we would have foster dogs...He would mark for days...
And I would anticipate an increase in marking when little Scarlett comes upon the scene. Now the good news. I have since found out why he would do it and how to work on reducing and hopefully stopping it if I have another dog with that problem. What my boy had and your Merlin seems to have is lack of confidence. The marking would be to ward off potential intruders so he doesn't have to fight...And also to mark those things that he feels he needs to protect. Taking a hard line with him may make things worse, as stress and increase in insecurity will cause more marking behavior. He needs to be built up and given confidence, and also to be shown that he does not have to worry about protecting the household. You can take that postion on, if you'd like...
I can help you with some ways of gaining your control, giving him confidence and at the same time not increasing his stress, if you'd like. I am including some links to articles written by vets/behaviorists. They tend to put a lot of the blame on the owners, so try not to take offense to the assumption that you caused this to happen....I could see how I may have inadvertedly confused my boy, after reading these....But hey, who woulda thunk?
There is some reference to meds, also....to assist in reducing the stress etc. http://www.mmilani.com/canine-territorial-marking2.html http://www.mmilani.com/canine-territorial-marking.html http://www.hilltopanimalhospital.com/ca ... arking.htm http://www.howstuffworks.com/how-to-sol ... lems10.htm Geez these pooches of ours are complicated.....They sure are lucky they are cute! |
| Thanks for the articles, I have printed them off so I can read them.
I fully expect the behaviour to worsen when Scarlet arrives, however it did not worsen when we got Avalon-she was 4-5 months or Faith-she was 1 year. He marked when he was 7 months old and we had a 13 year old chow, after she had to be PTS because of congenital heart failure he continued to mark. It was another 2 years that he was the only dog and still marked. It is not a frequent occurence, it does not happen every week inside the house, it doesnt even happen every month inside the house. But it was happening more frequently when my brother's dog lived in our basement. That dog too no longer is here but the behavior has continued. |
SheepieBoss wrote: I got my boy dog a dog marking diaper and he has figured out how to get it off. lol. Mine has literally marked on all my things. He has gotten better and does not do that anymore, but every night in the middle of the night he gets up and pees in my dining room. I am so sick of it, and he knows. when I wake up and go in there he immediately runs and hides under the bed. I tried to put him in his crate to sleep the other night, but then felt so bad bc he is use to sleeping with me, but I am so tired of waking up to him peeing in my dining room. I know it is behavioral. |
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