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Marking


LBass

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Spirit (3.5 y/o male) is a committed and determined marker on walks and in the yard. Unfortunately, he will also mark occasionally in the house. :eek I'm quite certain that what I'm dealing with is marking and not house training issues. He is very good about asking to go out when I'm home and has a dog door for outdoor access when I'm not home. He tends to mark things that have been brought into the house or may have high value, so I'm careful about boxes and bags, etc. He once marked 2 six packs of Mt. Dew and that incident taught me to be aware of what I set down on the floor. :sick Anyway, weeks go by without any marking in the house and then he'll surprise me. Yesterday he marked one of the dining room chairs...twice (different chair leg each time -_- ).

 

Obviously, I'd like to get his marking under control--particularly his inside marking and marking while on leash. I'm not quite sure how to approach doing this and so I'd like to obtain the collective wisdom of GT to help me with my "Magic Marker".

 

Should I start correcting marking behavior on walks?

Do I treat marking like house training and use the tether method? I've not done that because of the long periods of time between/without marking episodes, but maybe i need to.

Belly bands?

 

Suggestions and advice gratefully accepted

 

Lucy

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Lucy with Greyhound Nate and OSH Tinker. With loving memories of MoMo (FTH Chyna Moon), Spirit, Miles the slinky kitty (OSH), Piper "The Perfect" (Oneco Chaplin), Winston, Yoda, Hector, and Claire.

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Having wrestled with marking with a foster boy, "Earl the Quick Whizzer" as my DH dubbed him, I would ask are you using a fool-proof urine neutralizer? Having been cleaning up urine for over 30 years, I still like "Nil-Odor Tap - a - drop" It is the only product I have ever found that really does neutralize the urine. just a thought. Good luck, Beth

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I'm no expert on anything, I can just tell you what I would do in this situation.

I would not correct any marking done outside even if it's on a leash walk. I'm able to walk along the curb in my small town though because the streets aren't busy and the only thing he finds to mark on are street signs and utility poles.

Rather than tether in the house I might try restricting movement with shut doors or baby gates until I could catch the hound in the act of marking. The best plan is to actually catch them in the act and correct it right there and then.

The belly band is a good tool for prolific markers, but since your dog is an occasional and random marker I'm not sure he would make the connection other than figuring out not to mark while he's wearing it. It would help save your stuff from random drive by markings but you might have to use it every time he is unsupervised in the house.

Again, the best plan is to catch him in the act and that will require some diligence I think.

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Not sure how to stop him inside Lucy, but marking outside is perfectly acceptable to me, so I would let him. As you may know, I give George a tiny piece of biscuit every time he pees...OUTSIDE!!


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Susan,  Hamish,  Mister Bigglesworth and Nikita Stanislav. Missing Ming, George, and Buck

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