Territory Marking Issue And Other:

[Guest neville]

My grey is Neville, he is a 4 year old brindle. Recently I went through a decent amount of behavioral training to help with his aggression, attention span, discipline, etc. And after about 6 months of consistency, I finally have had a breakthrough. One of the only issues that I now have and have had since I adopted him from SAGA is his dominance. He has to be the most dominant dog out of the pack and he shows this by marking his territory. All dogs do this of course but not to this extent. He has to pee on every blade of grass, every bush, shrub, tree, pole. When I first took him to an off leash park he wouldn't leave this 1 meter perimeter for a good 15 minutes because of it. Now this habit has caused him to ignore social activity because the smells are much more important to him than the dogs he is around so it was getting to be a huge problem. After much struggle, he has finally gotten the idea. So now with walks or at the off leash park, he goes when he has to and otherwise enjoys the company of the dogs.........

 

Until about... 2 months ago. Now he doesn't mark his territory so much on plants and grass but on the following:

Me [yes, he peed on my leg], other dogs [any dog who comes to sniff him he pees on], peoples strollers, any bag that is on the ground. When I take him to a friends house, he has to pee on all of the walls. I can't take him anywhere. A couple of days ago I took him to the off leash like I do every couple of days and someone took their hoodie off and put it right beside where they were standing. So Nev went over to say hi and then peed right on this guys hoodie. Yesterday he went up to someones stroller where a baby was in it and peed all over their stroller blanket.

This is getting to the point where I'm embarrassed by him. Any tips?!?!? HELP?

 

There is a belly band that I'm interested in trying just so he doesn't damage anyones belongings but will it help him stop?

 

 

Issue number 2:

This is the only other problem that obedience training couldn't fix. His accidents. Now I have tried xpening, he just pees on everything in it. I have tried gating the room, he defecates on all of the blankets and his bed. And it looks forced so it was his way of telling me, I hate this. So I tried the open house concept. He has the upper floor. It was going great, until I would go into the bedroom. He does a huge number 2 right on my bed. Now this is with great consistency. When the bedroom door is closed, the first little while I would find little bits of poo in the basement or in the spare room, with daily walks that has fixed that. But if the bedroom door is open, he has a huge accident of both kinds right on my bed. It doesn't matter the amount I walk him, feed him, changing his food. Nothing. And it isn't a revenge situation. He has 0 accidents now if the bedroom door is closed. The biggest thing he wanted was to look out the living room window. The xpen prevented that entirely, the gated bedroom window was too high, etc. So I figured that out. But again, if the bedroom door is open, he immediately goes to the bathroom right on my bed. I can't stand it. Nothing else is working. This is an actual issue that isn't so much an attitude thing. I think it has everything to do with again, marking his territory. The bed is where my boyfriend and I sleep. The bed is where things happen as I'm sure you can all mostly relate to, haha. And this is the only place he will have an accident in the entire house. Any tips on this or any ideas on how to correct it?

The bedtime routine that he has had since he came into my life is his bed right beside my side. But of course in the bed with me is the person I share my affection with. Is it a jealousy thing?

Ahhh help!

 

So now everyone knows pretty much my Greyhound life story. The 2 issues he has left that nothing else has fixed.

I really hope someone knows something or can relate to it.

 

Thanks guys,

 

Jacquie.

[Sighthounds4me]

First thing I would rule out is medical. It doesn't sound like a UTI, but it could be. It's an easy fix (a course of antibiotics) if it is a UTI.

 

If it's behavioral, that is outside of my realm...

[Guest neville]

First thing I would rule out is medical. It doesn't sound like a UTI, but it could be. It's an easy fix (a course of antibiotics) if it is a UTI.

 

If it's behavioral, that is outside of my realm...

 

 

I will definitely check that out! thanks so much.

[JAJ2010]

I would check for a UTI but if its not that... Slap a belly bad on that dude! You can make a ghetto one out of a sanitary pad, towel, and duct tape much to my DH horror. Lol can't you just keep your bedroom babygated or closed so he can't make a mess on your bed? Our girl has peed on our bed 2 times now and we finally have triple layer waterproofing and tons of padding as a 'just in case' but if it was a regular thing her little fanny would lose all bedroom privileges! Does he not crate well? I saw that he doesn't Xpen well.... Does he have other dog siblings?

[Guest LindsaySF]

My aunt had a cat that would tear down her bedroom door to take a huge crap right on her pillow. There was something wrong with that cat. Medical causes were ruled out and the vet agreed that he was scent marking. The only solution was to literally lock the bedroom door, he was not allowed in the bedroom when she wasn't home.

 

As for marking other items, some dogs are just like that. I wouldn't worry if he likes to mark grass and trees at the dog park. That's normal dog behavior and I would not discourage it. I would keep a very close eye on him at other people's houses and near strollers/hoodies, keep a leash on him, if you see him starting to lift his leg pull him away and give a sharp "Ah ah!" and redirect him onto something more appropriate. Once he figures out what he is "allowed" to mark, he should be better about not marking EVERYTHING. I hope this helps.

 

Teagan is a champion marker as well. To this day I still have to watch him like a hawk in new places. I have become really good at reading his signals that he is about to mark. He sniffs and orients his body in such a way that I can tell he's about to mark before the leg even comes up.

 

 

 

~Lindsay~

[Guest kydie]

O.K., I think I have the champion "marker", when I go into any place with him, I keep him on a short leash, and watch him so close, now my boy has a comfort zone and pees to his left, so when I am in a building with him, I place him to my right side, and this has stopped this action

[Guest Frankendog]

Oh I feel for you, I know you must be miserable! Good for you for hanging in there and trying to find a solution!

 

Frankie is my first male dog so I had a lot of preconceptions about him. He was a bounce, the first family only kept him for a week before they sent him back and I think it was mostly because he lifted his leg a few times in the house. My adoption agency told me about it and when they brought him to my house he did try it a couple of times in that first hour and she just did the "AH AH!!" noise and it stopped him cold. We only had one leg lifting episode (on a white wool carpet of course) and I didn't catch him in the act. Anyway, there were no more issues after that.

 

As for marking other items, some dogs are just like that. I wouldn't worry if he likes to mark grass and trees at the dog park. That's normal dog behavior and I would not discourage it. I would keep a very close eye on him at other people's houses and near strollers/hoodies, keep a leash on him, if you see him starting to lift his leg pull him away and give a sharp "Ah ah!" and redirect him onto something more appropriate. Once he figures out what he is "allowed" to mark, he should be better about not marking EVERYTHING. I hope this helps.

 

I think they have it right. I just want to add that I think this is a dominance issue. You may want to step back and see how you 2 are interacting with your dog. I would make the bedroom off limits for starters. Also exercise, exercise, exercise!! Wear that dog out!! I am a big fan of Cesar Millan and I would highly recommend looking into his ideas of pack leadership. Pooping on your bed is a very dominant act.

 

I wish I could help you more! Good luck and keep us posted!

 

p.s. Here's an article on separation anxiety which could be the issue also: http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=1502&S=1&SourceID=42

Edited February 23, 2010 by Frankendog

[Guest tatahills]

I think Franken gave you some good advice. I agree, let him pee on the bushes. Socializing with the other dogs and people at the park is more about the humans then the dogs. He thinks he is socializing when he is peeing all over the trees, I'm letting everybody know who I am and where I've been.

 

Definitely keep the bedroom door shut for now while your gone. But you want to start working on the problem. I would set him up by walking into the bathroom and waiting for him to get on the bed. As soon as he jumps on the bed tell him to get off. You might want to have something in your hand ready and waiting in the bathroom. This will give you a tool to block him if he decides to challenge you when telling him to get off the bed. Don't pull him off the bed, make him move away from you. Once he is off, I would go back into the bathroom and wait for him to jump on the bed again. Repeat. This time once you get him off the bed. Stand between the bed and him and tell him to go lay down or go out of the room. That is a way you can get the message across to him that you own the bed.

 

Good luck.