Help with male dog

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okay…my brother and I share the basement of our parents’ house.(we’re both in college). (and we each have privacy through a stragetic arrangement of furniture, for those of you who may be worried).

I have a girl dog, he has a boy dog. Mainly they stay on their sides of the room. But lately, his dog has been coming over to my side to “mark” my stuff…my bed, box spring, suitcase, artwork (ruining most of them), and anything within leg distance. :mad: i thought neutered dogs weren’t supposed to mark?!

i’m not quite sure how to retrain him, (the dog, not the brother 🙂 ), without having to follow him every single second of the day. is there a way my brother and I could solve this “marking” problem? i was wondering if any of you out there had any home remedies for this sort of animal problem…

thanks!🙂
 
holly_potter said:
i thought neutered dogs weren’t supposed to mark?!
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Many of them don’t, if they are neutered as young puppies. In my experience with dogs (Rescue), the older the dog is when he’s fixed, the more likely he is to continue marking his territory after the surgery. That’s not to say every dog is like this; there are exceptions. 😉

Could you call your vet and ask? Vets often have great ideas for problems like this. With all of our foster dogs, we always just had to do it the old-fashioned way (since you never know their full backgrounds/medical histories): Upon discovering the spot, calmly take doggie’s collar, lead him to the spot, put his nose into or right on top of the mess, and sternly say, “No marking!” They can smell it, they know what it is, even if hours have passed by. Eventually, most dogs understand and either don’t do it anymore or only do it once in a blue moon.

Again, this is my experience, and only with a specific breed, so depending on the dog’s breed, other measures may have to be taken. It’s truly amazing how different breeds generally behave and react to different things.
 
thanks! I’ll give that a try…as much as I’d rather he didn’t have to mark again :rolleyes:
he was nutered at about 8 mos…dunno if that’s young enough? and he’s a schnauzer/poodle mix.
i once had another poodle mix, and when she got old she became unable to hold her potty anymore…dunno if it’s a breed thing?
 
Neutering at 8 months is good (we like to do it around 5-6 months, when possible), and definitely decreased your risk of having a marking male, but of course there’s always someone in the minority. 😃

I don’t have any intimate knowledge of either breed you specified, so I’m sorry I can’t give you any more information. Try contacting a breed club or breed-specific rescue in your area, and see if they have any good little tricks or pointers to give you. Be warned, though, that rescues are all-volunteer organizations, so don’t take it personally if they’re too busy to get back to you right away. Most of us rescue types, though, have a passion for our breeds, and are more than happy to share information even if we have a hard time finding the time. 👍

Show dog owners are really good sources of information (they can usually be contacted through breed clubs). And just because you have a mix doesn’t mean that you won’t get useful info… Just ask the Poodle people and the Schnauzer people, and see what works. 😛
 
I would also suggest crating the dog when he isn’t being watched. I buymy shepherd puppy toys such as fillable Kongs and special treats that she only gets in her crate.

If your brother’s dog persists in marking items, then you might want to actually teether the dog to one of you when he is outside his crate. This is what we did for my puppy. My kids and I took turns with her. This way, as soon as she made a mistake we were able to stop her from continuing with the accident and run her outside. She caught on pretty quickly.

Also, be sure to praise him when he does his business outside. Just go nuts with enthusiastic praise. He’ll soon compare your happy voice when he is acting correctly with your stern voice when he makes a mistake.

Make certain also that you are dominant to the dog. Some male dogs do have problems with thinking that they are the boss. So, do things like eat before you feed the dog and let him know that you are eating first. Don’t let him walk out the door before you. And make him sit to be petted or do a trick to get a treat.
 
I like the tethering idea…I hate to have to crate him forever (or at least while I’m mad 😉 ) but I’m sure my brother wouldn’t mind if I bought his dog some treats…his dog’s a fanatic for treats… 🙂

thanks, everybody, for all your suggestions!
 
Truly_Beloved said:
Many of them don’t, if they are neutered as young puppies. In my experience with dogs (Rescue), the older the dog is when he’s fixed, the more likely he is to continue marking his territory after the surgery. That’s not to say every dog is like this; there are exceptions. 😉

Could you call your vet and ask? Vets often have great ideas for problems like this. With all of our foster dogs, we always just had to do it the old-fashioned way (since you never know their full backgrounds/medical histories): Upon discovering the spot, calmly take doggie’s collar, lead him to the spot, put his nose into or right on top of the mess, and sternly say, “No marking!” They can smell it, they know what it is, even if hours have passed by. Eventually, most dogs understand and either don’t do it anymore or only do it once in a blue moon.

Again, this is my experience, and only with a specific breed, so depending on the dog’s breed, other measures may have to be taken. It’s truly amazing how different breeds generally behave and react to different things.
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With due respect to what has worked for you, I do not believe that is the way to teach a dog. As a breeder, handler and show person, I have had to train various breeds of dogs and most all of them will not respond well to that kind of training. A dog’s attention span is very, very short and by the time you get him back to the spot, he has forgotten the whole episode.

One thing to consider–has the ***** been spayed? If not, it is possible that she is coming into season and a male dog knows that long before you discover it for yourself.

I my experience the best way to stop a dog from doing something that you don’t want them to do is to catch him in the act and yell harshly, “NO”.

I always suggest that my “puppy people” get a good training book. The one I recommend (probably because I know the author quite well) is “Good Owners, Great Dogs” by Brian Kilcommons and Sara Wilson. It is easy to read and offers suggestions how to train a dog.

Some breeds are more stubborn than others and it may take a little longer. There could also be a tinge of jealousy between the dogs and the male is simply sending the message that “this is my territory”.

I highly recommend a crate for the dog. It is the best way to house break a dog. And lest you think it is cruel, remember that dogs are “pack” animals and still have the residual desire to sleep where they feel safe. When a dog is tired and the crate is readily accessible, you will often find that the dog will go in to sleep. Mine have to eat in a crate or I would have a battle royal on my hands. Terriers will do anything for food, including starting a dust-up with the rest of the resident dogs.

If I can answer more questions, let me know. Good Luck.
 
Thanks for posting, Mary. 🙂 Like I said, my above method has worked really well for all of the dogs and foster dogs we have had, but I totally understand if it won’t work for other breeds. All of our dogs have always been extremely sensitive to verbal correction, and very submissive animals, so we haven’t had any problems with doing it the way I described above. It’s always appreciated when an expert weighs in, so thank you!!
 
Hmmmm. I know that some Schnauzers are considered to be in the terrier group. It’s not unusual for dogs in that group to have life-long struggles with the humans in the family to be the one who is in charge. And at the same time they are extremely sensitive when being disciplined.

How old is the dog now? If he’s under age three he is still really a puppy (mentally, anyways) and probably has hopes of being ‘top dog’ someday. If he wasn’t neutered until eight months of age he’s had some time to develop a ‘male personality’ so you probably have your work cut out for you.

Perhaps you don’t want to crate the dog all day but could you get some of the portable metal fencing so you could create a little ‘yard’ for him in your brothers portion of the basement? The fencing can be a bit expensive but ultimately it would be less so than having to replace everything he ruins and/or having to buy those enzyme cleaners all the time.
 
Nope… they’re dogs… “Turf-War” in progress.

Somebody’s gotta be “Alpha” dog… end of story. *The “humans” leave and the pack’s pecking order is subject to test… *read that as peeing, marking, fighting, whatever. The boss is away, so who’s 2nd In-Charge?..

Crating or physical barrier will probably be the only solution to this problem… unless you can tolerate the mess until the “pecking order” is established between the dogs.

Don’t extend human traits to dogs. Dogs are pack animals, that have & need a hierarchy. When you are gone they will fall back to instinct. Where do you think the expression “Top Dog” came from?
 
holly_potter said:
okay…my brother and I share the basement of our parents’ house.(we’re both in college). (and we each have privacy through a stragetic arrangement of furniture, for those of you who may be worried).

I have a girl dog, he has a boy dog. Mainly they stay on their sides of the room. But lately, his dog has been coming over to my side to “mark” my stuff…my bed, box spring, suitcase, artwork (ruining most of them), and anything within leg distance. :mad: i thought neutered dogs weren’t supposed to mark?!

i’m not quite sure how to retrain him, (the dog, not the brother 🙂 ), without having to follow him every single second of the day. is there a way my brother and I could solve this “marking” problem? i was wondering if any of you out there had any home remedies for this sort of animal problem…

thanks!🙂
Click to expand...
Is the girl dog spayed? He may be “trying to impress her”😃 . Peeing communicates the gender, health and status of the dog marking the area.
Is she the new dog? Is he?
Status battles are not very common between dogs of opposite genders, but they can happen.

Kennel him during the day when you are gone. Dogs have very short memories so the sticking the nose in it is not veryeffective (most animal trainers say that is probably the worst thing to do).
The dog will associate you with the unpleasant event and not come when you call or want to interact with you.

Many service dogs are trained to pee and poop on command. It is best to start with a young pup for this, but you could do it anytime.

When you take the dog outside, watch him and when he starts to go say the “pee” word or the “poop” word. Keep saying it while he is going. He will learn to associate the word with the act.

It is best to make up “fake” words, so you avoid someone inadvertently saying the cue words at the wrong times.:eek:
 
+1 to what deb says…either crate or put in a small utility room secured by a dog gate. Then let it out more little by little. And do not give it free reign of your area when nobody is home.

I disagree with the poster that said not to hold the dog’s nose near the mess because they have short attention spans; some dogs will indeed remember the last time “mommy” or “daddy” scolded them, as they have that “I’m sorry mommy/daddy” look on their face when you walk in the room and first see th emess.

Additionally, invest in Nature’s Miracle or some enzymatic cleaning solution that will neutralize any urine odor, which often is what attracts dog to leave “p-mail” in the first place.
 
I don’t know about dogs, but based on my experience with cats and rabbits you will not be able to stop this behavior short of denying the animal all access to areas you want to protect from his ministrations.

JSA+
 
Great, thanks again, everybody! I’ll get the enzyme cleaner soon…that must work better than baking soda… and that fence idea is great!

My dog is spayed, and she’s older, and was adopted first. But you’re probably right, that’s why the other dog keeps marking my room, because it’s also my dog’s room! The boy dog is about…4 or 5 yrs old now…so it’s probably male traits 😦 And wanting to be the alpha dog…I’m for one am guilty of ascribing human traits to dogs :o but it always helps to have a reminder 🙂
 
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