Dog Behavior

[dangt]

Dogs can behave very badly sometimes.

 

[Willowy]

Yes. So can humans. What's your point? :tongue2:

But seriously, with proper training (not pain-causing bullying, but actual behavior modification using positive methods), dogs can learn to behave any way a human wants them to behave. You can't call natural dog behavior "bad", because that's exactly how a dog is supposed to behave, if they were wild animals. But because they're not wild animals, we need to teach them how to behave in a way that humans find acceptable.

 

[dangt]

Willowy, do you know why dogs purposely urinate on the couch while pregnant? My males don't pee in the house hardly ever. Maybe once every two or three years do the males pee in the house. As far as the females are concerned, all the unspayed ones urinate on the couch. Any reason why? This is the point I tried to get across.

 

[jennyr]

This is a cat site, and even though this particular forum is 'cats and other animals' it is usually used by people who want to relate cats to whatever other animals they may have. So I doubt you will get many answers. But having said that, the answer is in your own post - if only the unspayed ones pee, they are probably doing it to mark that they are in heat. So spay them.

 

[Columbine]

Can I suggest that maybe you don't give the pregnant bitches enough opportunities to go outside to pee? Women can have stronger and more unexpected urges to urinate when pregnant because of the baby putting pressure on the bladder. It's perfectly possible that your pregnant dogs experience the same thing. I've never been aware of a dog I've owned specifically chosing to go somewhere inappropriate. Dogs generally want to please. If they're having regular accidents first look at your routine. If there is still an issue after making certain that the problem isn't lack of opportunity to go outside, then a vet visit is called for. Be certain to clean any accidents with and enzymatic cleaner, otherwise the residual smell will act as a marker telling the dogs it's a good place to pee.

Please spay any bitches you're not breeding from though. We left spaying my old lab till she was 6 or 7 (we were debating whether or not to have a litter from her). She ended up with major phantom pregnancies...the poor cats were sent halfway across the room with her frantic washing of them, and my greyhound used to suckled milk from her when her thought we weren't watching. She died of cancer, which may have been caused in part by all the raging hormones in her system for do many years.

I've never been aware of in heat bitches marking in the house, though jennyr .

 

[Kat0121]

 
Willowy, do you know why dogs purposely urinate on the couch while pregnant? My males don't pee in the house hardly ever. Maybe once every two or three years do the males pee in the house. As far as the females are concerned, all the unspayed ones urinate on the couch. Any reason why? This is the point I tried to get across.

If they are pregnant, they might be having a harder time holding their bladder and if they are very comfortable or asleep, sometimes accidents happen. Once that smell gets onto the couch, they associate it as being a place to "go". Are you planning on spaying the girls? Positive reinforcement is the best way to go with training a dog not to do something. That's one thing about dogs that some might call an advantage over cats. Most of them respond more to verbal commands such as "down", "no" and "stop". my dog tells me when she needs to go out. Pay attention to their body language. My dog and I are like Archie and Edith Bunker after 12 years together. we get on each other's nerves but we love each other. You might have to look up the reference depending on your age 

She's Edith, BTW 

 

When they do what you want like not having an accident and going outside, give lots of praise and a treat. They will learn. Dogs are smart. Not as smart as cats but still pretty smart. 

 

 

[dangt]

Kat0121, I am not planning on spaying because I don't believe in doing that to dogs. None of my male dogs are neutered. Not one.

 

[Willowy]

So what happens to the puppies? Isn't that worse than neutering? Don't your females end up with reproductive diseases? I will always spay females; I'm too scared of pyometra and mammary cancer. I'm on the fence about neutering male dogs though. As long as the owner can keep them from causing unwanted pregnancies.

With dogs, if you don't want pregnancies/puppies, you can keep the males and females away from each other while the females are in heat. It's really quite easy, unlike with cats, because dogs have distinct heat periods.

Anyway, the bottom line is, if you want to live with sexually intact animals, you have to accept their sexual behaviors. That's just the way things are :dk:.

 

[dangt]

People in my subdivision already called dibs on them. I am very responsible with the breeding. And I read up that neutered male dogs are 90% more likely to get prostate tumors, which are rare, but mostly occur in neutered dogs. Neutered dogs have a lot more health problems. And mine are smart and know they're not neutered. They would pee in my bed if I neutered them.

 

[Willowy]

Yes, as I said, I agree that neutering male dogs might not be for the best, if their owners are responsible. But female dogs do have a very high incidence of reproductive disease (I think 25% chance of pyometra and 25% chance of mammary cancer, so 50% chance just with those 2 diseases!). Look into it; most studies suggest that spaying female dogs after their first or second heat is almost entirely beneficial.

Puppies are usually easy to find homes for. It's what happens after they grow up that might not be so great . Homes are easy to find but responsible people who will care for the dog for life are not. All of my dogs were dumped by the people who got them as puppies. Hopefully you have a detailed interview with the new owners to try to figure out how responsible they are.

 

[dangt]

That's a good idea, Willowy. I might have to look into that.

 

[dangt]

I looked into it, and I don't want to spay my girls. My vet actually said directly to my face, that my unfixed dogs are a lot healthier than fixed ones.

 

[dangt]

I do accept their sexual behaviors, Willowy. Thanks though.

 

[dangt]

Kat0121 dogs are by far smarter than cats. You go up to most dogs and tell them to sit they'll sit. You go up to most cats and tell them to sit they'll look at you like "What do you want me to do here?" Dogs have the greatest comprehension and are the easiest to train of any pet. I currently have 70 or 80 something dogs right now. I think I know that they're way way way way way way smarter than cats.

 

[Willowy]

That doesn't mean they're smart :tongue2:. Some people (and cats) might say that listening to humans means they aren't very smart . Smart dogs are usually difficult to train. . .what humans really like in dogs is biddability. Which means they can't be too smart or they'll start thinking for themselves instead of listening to humans. But that's a good thing. That's how humans have bred dogs to be---not too smart.

I'm not sure where you live but any vet who says an unspayed female is healthier is not very good. I hope you know the signs and symptoms of reproductive disease so you can get fast treatment. Pyometra kills quickly. Keeping them at a healthy weight helps reduce the incidence, but it's still a very serious risk. BUT, the main reason for spaying is preventing more puppies from being born. So many are killed in shelters, it's unkind to add to those numbers. Responsible breeders make SURE their puppies are never unwanted or homeless, for their entire lives.

Do you actually mean you have 70 or 80 dogs? How do you care for all of them? I hope you know the exact number you have, or that could mean some are being neglected . What breed(s) are they?

I said that I hope you accept their sexual behaviors because you started this thread by complaining about pregnant females peeing on the couch. Which kind of indicates you're not accepting of their limitations while pregnant.

 

[dangt]

Yes, I actually have 84 dogs. I do make sure that the puppies have permanent homes. And I have Pointers, German Shorthaired Pointers, Golden Retrievers, a Bluetick Coonhound, Foxhounds, a Beagle, Redbone Coonhounds, Border Collies, Dalmatians, a Flat Coated Retriever, a Leonberger mix, a Gordon Setter, Irish Setters, Saint Bernards, a Bernese Mountain Dog, an English Setter, and a lot more.

 

[dangt]

One of my females is spayed, but that's because she's a mutt.

 

[dangt]

My vet said my unspayed ones are healthier than other unspayed ones because I keep mine on a good diet when in heat and pregnant. I keep my dogs healthy, and they love to eat. They run around so that they don't get fat.

 

[Willowy]

I will only say that even if only half your females have litters in any given year, I don't see how you can properly clean and socialize all the puppies, or find enough homes for all of them or be sure they aren't ending up in shelters. Also, responsible breeders only allow each female to have 3-4 litters (maybe) and then they're spayed to prevent reproductive disease. I also doubt you're doing all proper testing for genetic health problems. So I'll just bow out now as I think this is a very bad situation and I don't want to be involved.

 

[zohdee]

Spaying can be a slippery slope.  I have two giant breed dogs.  It is not advised to spay them before they are full grown but when they are full grown there are higher risks with the anesthesia.