Big Boy Marking House
Dear Darcie, I enjoy your stories and lessons and cry at the passings. I am on my 5th golden retriever rescue (6th golden – but the first one was a puppy and that will be his legacy and his alone). Rex was raised in an outdoor kennel on a farm in his former life and I am having difficulty house “training” him. He is 6. He is not pooping in the house anymore but he is still peeing – I guess marking since it is always a leg lift aim on the furniture and he is fully capable of holding it for 6-7 hours. He never attempts to do this when I am home and he only does it in the morning to afternoon span of time that I am at work. Does not do it during the afternoon span of time that I am at work. Does not do it when I am gone for short periods of time. A previous potential adopter tried to crate train him but he went so bezerk with it they tried Prozac and that didn’t even work to calm him so they gave him back to rescue. I have another rescue who was here before him – Duke is 11 but not an old man by any means. They are both neutered. Are not the best of buddies but get along fine together. I currently cover the furniture when I leave in the morning so that the covers can be easily washed. He had about a 3 week period of time when he did not pee in the house but now we are back to just about every other work day. I tried one of those diapers but he obsessivly messed with it until he finally got it off. Any suggestions? Michelle
Dear Michelle,
Something may have happened after that three week period when he wasn’t marking to start him up again. Did his diet change? Did someone move out or into the house?
It probably has more to do with the fact that the house isn’t “his” yet, he doesn’t live in the whole house yet so he has to mark his territory every other day.
If he was mine, I’d do this. I’d first wash all the places that he’s marked. Get a Urine-Off Urine Finder black light from SitStay.com to find all the areas that have to be cleaned. Get your favorite cleaner from us, too, just search the online Store for ‘urine’ to see them all. Make sure to wash the furniture covers, too, or toss them out and get new ones or use a clean towel. It’s not good enough to use regular laundry soap, that won’t remove the scent.
Then I double check to make sure I am feeding him the best diet possible. See Feeding her at The Dish for my opinions on that. Good nutrition goes a long way to solving all problems.
I’d put him on a leash for complete control, he does not get the run of the house until his manners are impeccable, and sit and lay around the house with him every day, different places. All the places in the house. Everywhere that he’s already marking and also under the kitchen table, kitchen floor, TV room, living room, bathroom, laundry room, bedrooms, every inch of your house has to become “living” space. This is where we live and eat, we don’t spray or pee here.
If he was mine, it would be him, the other dog, me, a book and a great big bowl of popcorn. (Popcorn because it’s easy and you can share it with family and the dogs.) It’s good if everyone in the family will lay around with you, too. What you are doing is “marking” and living in all of your “territory” with food, your personal body odor, and your presence. Those things make it your house. Dogs can and do learn not to mark the house, I’ve had great luck giving this advice for this particular problem.
When you have to be gone from the house, contain him to a certain room. Laundry or somewhere that is easy to clean in case of accidents.
Every day at least twice, go walking on leash for at least an hour, more if you can. The dog has to stay beside or behind you, he cannot walk ahead of you. Try to make one of the walks at lunch time so his marking in the afternoon is forgotten about and maybe he’ll sleep through that time. When you walk, he does not get to mark or pee. Period. Nothing. We’re walking and that’s it. If you ever catch him marking, jump up and yell like the house just blew up. Read Dog Marking. Urine cleaners. There might be something in the article that will help.
Give him some stuffed Kong toys and a bully stick from SitStay.com to keep him mind busy when you’re not there. And put food into an treat dispenser toy, also from SitStay.com. His mind will be on finding and chewing instead of on marking.
Try to figure out what is happening during the day when he marks or pees in the house. Is there a delivery? Some kind of regular activity outside? An ice cream truck same day on your street? Sometimes there is a reason for the behavior that we hadn’t even considered.
These things should bring an end to it but if they don’t, consider a dog walker for the afternoon, a doggie day care, or share doggie duties with a friend or neighbor who has different hours than you do. Hang on to him, he sounds peaches to me. A few nasty habits can usually be cured and if they can’t, we work around them as best we can. Keeping the house clean is a must for everybody so you have to work to that end.
Thank you for reading The Dish, I love you very much!
Good luck!
Darcie
I also have a recued male Cocker Spaniel. He’d lived with me for four years. He was an older, intact male when a neighbor found him. He evidently had not been treated well and the story from the neighbor was that he’d been abandoned. She couldn’t keep him, so brought him over to me. I won’t bore you with all the details, but he was neutered very soon after I took him in. He scent-marked almost everywhere in the house, and also defecated in rooms where I was not at the time of doing it, as if he was hiding it from me. (It might be significant to say that I had just moved into the house a couple of months before getting him.)
After a few months, I became aware of serious health issues that Samson has, like a very weak heart, painful back, and poor bladder control. He takes daily meds to prevent congestive heart failure, arthritic back pain, and urinary incontinence. However, that was not the entire solution. Until recent months, I had to keep him on a leash in the house. I could not let him out of my sight. When I go to work I keep him in a large cage with part of an exercise pen attached where the door is, so he has an area where he can relieve himself if he must. This is in the basement. I slept with him on my bed with a leash over my arm.
In recent months, I’ve given him freedom to roam the house when I’m at home. I still find occasional accidents after I get out of the shower (I think he associates that with me leaving for work.) I’ve learned to interpret his subtle signals when he needs to relieve himself. He is my first dog, so maybe I needed some education there. He now also waits until I let him out and knows to intensify the signals if I’m slow to pick up. I believe the phenylpropanolamine that he takes daily has been very helpful in this process.
Sam is a loving and lovely dog. His entire demeanor has changed in the last four years! He’s no longer afraid of people. He’s achieved certification as a therapy dog, and is very outgoing and friendly to other animals and people.
I just want to encourage people to be patient. Don’t give up! I don’t know when the right time to give up is–I certainly wanted to sometimes, but I’m glad I didn’t.
Darlene
October 9, 2009 at 3:21 pm
Dear Darcie, In this post you mention that regular laundry detergent will not remove urine smell. What should be added to laundry to do so? Thanks. Jean
(Kent used Get Serious or Nature’s Miracle in the wash to remove urine scent when Tilli had some night wetting problems. Both work really well. He uses them along with laundry soap. That does the job that laundry soap alone doesn’t. Some people like to use white vinegar to take urine odor out, I’m not convinced it works and it leaves that vinegar odor of which I’m not a big fan. Thanks. – Darcie)
Jean
December 12, 2009 at 11:50 pm