OK, I am counting to 10 here....

because that is what you are supposed to do when your mad, right???

We have had a problem with Brody deciding that he is no longer house trained lately. A majority of his "accidents" have been in my fiance's son's room. He comes to stay with us every other weekend, but was here for a week during spring break. Brody loves him so much. I thought he might have been going in his room because maybe he was mad he stayed a week and then left

Well, Little Man (Brody) just peed right in front of me on the corner of my bed. The worst part about it, he and Dori were just playing "peek a boo", with Dori sticking her head out from under the dust ruffle. I thought it was cute but then Brody peed right where she was poking her head out!

How do I stop him fron doing this? Do I need to start over with the crate?

I'd try the crate again. This might be a dominance issue, meaning as much as he loves your fiance's son and Dori, he might feel he has to establish a "pecking order".

Have you used a black light in that room??? Is it possible there was another male dog at some pt in that room or the house??

I would try to redo the crate training but the room thing has me thinking he is smelling someone else

His son has a dog of his own at home.... The spots where he is peeing in his room are places where he piles his durty clothes when he is over. Come to think of it, a while back Brody was peeing in his clothes basket and I took it out of the room. I bet that could be it. I keep cleaning the floor with Nature's Miracle when he pees. Is that a good product for removing the odor? If it is that he is peeing because he smells the other dog on his things, how can I stop that? I can't just take a hose to the kid when he comes over

We are going to do the crate thing again as well...

Dogs

Like Cats dogs can also have urinary problems when something is wrong. a trip to the vet might help out as well as....also I really doubt that it is a dominance thing.....and smelling the other dog on the clothes isn't enough to trigger the dogs natural drive to mark territory UNLESS the other dog has taken to peeing on the clothes as well.....Dogs only mark what's theirs when the first claim it or when ever it is defiled by another dog.......also the changes of the child coming and going can upset the balance of the dogs pack. How old is the dog? he may just be getting older and losing the ability to "hold it" most dogs do things......You can try the crete training again but I do suggest a trip to the vet as well!

Has he been checked for a URI?

I was wondering about urinary problems. He actually urinated on the bathroom rug yesterday, which meant that it wasn't a dominance thing with his son's dog. I will call his vet this afternoon.

He is only 2, so I am not sure if it is a problem with him "holding it"

And Stormy, did you mean a UTI? If you did really mean a URI, he isn't showing signs of that. But he does have the heartworms and they pose an issue with his lungs.

Oh AND more importantly, I forgot to mention as a reminder that he isn't neutered. I have to wait until the heartworms are treated (3 more months) to have that done. So I am wondering if it is possible he has just started up marking again. Can you tell a difference between marking behavior and normal urinating?

Originally Posted by squirtle

Oh AND more importantly, I forgot to mention as a reminder that he isn't neutered. I have to wait until the heartworms are treated (3 more months) to have that done. So I am wondering if it is possible he has just started up marking again. Can you tell a difference between marking behavior and normal urinating?

Click to expand...

Nope there's really no difference. they can't change the level of hormones in the unrine. and nutered or not doesn't matter, dogs mark either way.....the vet will beable to tell you if it's a behavior problem versus a medical problem but i'd venture to say that it's a medical problem. giving his age and where and when he is doing it. I just hope it's a simple infection that you can get cleared up quick!!! sending some good vibes you way

Originally Posted by squirtle

And Stormy, did you mean a UTI? If you did really mean a URI, he isn't showing signs of that.

Click to expand...

Yup! Sorry, just another senior moment!

Tanya, I'd be willing to bet it's becaue he's not neutered.. but what can you do? My friends dog did this, but stopped once he was neutered (He had hip surgery as a puppy and it prevented him from haivng the neuter until a little later in life)

Wow, thats a doosy of a problem. The first thing to do is rule out any urinary issues. Other than medical, it does sound like "marking". I caught Willy doing this one time: I do laundry over my parents house-while separating my clothes into loads, I notice butthead standing on top of one of my piles. Right when I get ready to ask him what he's doing, he starts peeing! I was like OMG!and was talking in this high pitched voice, and flailing my arms. He totally freaked out on my reaction, so I could'nt yell at him- but he instantly knew he messed up, way up! He has'nt done it since so I don't know what the deal was? He might have been marking over my scent to establish dominence, but I reassured that when I freaked him out so..... my suggestion would be: don't so much yell at him when he does it, but reassert your dominence. Make a big deal out of it- scream, stomp around whatever, just make sure he gets the point that it upsets you. Most of the time we just say " darn it! (pets name) and clean it up. So get loud, make a scene- I bet he does'nt do it again

The thing is, he knows it is bad. I know the second I walk in the door from work if he has peed in the house or not. Instead of greeting me excitedly and wagging his tail, he just lays down on the floor with that look of guilt (you know what I am talking about ).

When I find it, I say "Brody, did you do this?:" in a firm tone. He lowers his head and goes straight to lay down in his bed. He doesn't like it when I am unhappy with him. He mopes around the house until I call him over and snuglle with him again.

I am gonna say its marking. thats what it sounds like. IMO and its most likely because he still has his boy bits.

I am waiting for a call back from the vet.
If it is marking I will just have to work with it because I really can't get him neutered until the heartworms are taken care of. His lungs are affected and it isn't safe to put him under for the surgery. Also, it's less than 3 months until his big treatment and the vet mentioned something about him not being able to be under any anesthesia at least 90 days before the treatment. (I am going to get a second opinion next month on this treatment, you might remember from a previous post but it still isn't worth the risk).

The vet did say that neutering stops only 60-70% of marking behavior. Hopefully, Brody will fall in that percentile if we aren't able to stop it beforehand.

I have to disagree with those who connect "unneutered" and "marking" in dogs. An unneutered male dog will "mark" inside after standing as a stud, but that's about it, unless he is having dominance issues. A dog isn't like a cat. A neutered cat will probably, but not necessarily, stop "marking" his or her territory. A neutered male dog will continue to lift his leg to mark territory, but normally not within his "den", i.e., the house. He will, in most cases, stop "breaking out" to visit female dogs in heat, meaning behavior like jumping five-foot fences or crashing through glass door will probably cease after neutering. The "pack mentality" or hierarchy isn't erased by neutering the dog, however, so inappropriate urination is most often an attempt to show dominance.