How do you stop a male dog from marking?

1. Clean soiled areas thoroughly with a cleaner specifically designed to eliminate urine odor. …
2. Make previously soiled areas inaccessible or unattractive. …
3. Keep objects likely to cause marking out of reach. …
4. Resolve conflicts between animals in your home. …
5. Make friends.

Victoria Stilwell, a well-known dog trainer, offers advice on how to prevent your dog from using the living room as a bathroom.

We adopted a young male dog from a puppy mill who is the perfect playmate for our female dog and is perfect in every way except one: even though we walk him several times per day, take him outside after meals, and pay close attention to him, he still pees in the house and will even lift his leg on us. How can we prevent our dog from leaving his scent on both our home and ourselves?

Even though scent marking is a very common and normal behavior, especially in male dogs, it can be a major issue when it happens inside your home. Dogs leave marks to announce their presence and to claim resources and territory. Pheromones, or chemical messages, found in pee and poop carry information about the dog marking them, including age, gender, health, and reproductive status.

The items that are most likely to be marked are resources like toys, food bowls, chewy treats, bones, and beds. As you know, a dog will actually mark a person or an item that strongly smells like that person, like a couch or bed.

Even though marking can have a dominant and competitive component, it can also happen when a dog is overstimulated, like during or after vigorous play, or when they become anxious in a certain situation, like when someone leaves. This typical anxious behavior in dogs is frequently misinterpreted as being out of spite, leading to punishment that only makes the anxious behavior worse. In households with multiple dogs, where the dogs compete for resources, space, and human attention, scent marking is also more prevalent. Related article.

Both sexes scent mark, but intact males are the worst offenders because signaling sexual availability and claiming territory is “encouraged” by the presence of testosterone, unlike submissive urination, which is typical in puppies. Although neutering frequently significantly reduces a dog’s desire to scent mark, some dogs still do so after being neutered.

Prevent Scent Marking in the First Place

Remove high-value resources that encourage competitive marking, and do not allow the dog or dogs who scent mark to roam freely throughout the home.

Prevent access to favorite marking spots by restricting the dog(s) to a dog-proofed room or crate when you are unable to actively supervise them.

Avoid competitive or vigorous play indoors, as excess activity encourages urination.

Related article

7 surefire tips from a certified dog behaviorist.

What’s the Difference Between Peeing and Marking?

If your dog hasn’t had enough time to go outside, if they have a small bladder, or for a variety of other reasons, they may urinate inside. However, the urination will produce a large puddle of urine.

Dogs that mark with their urine, however, only squirt out a small amount and frequently mark the same area or object.

Although it is normal behavior, it is unacceptably inappropriate inside the home. When your dog decides to make something his own, such as furniture, floors, walls, or other items, they get destroyed or damaged.

Urine marking is not the result of faulty housebreaking. In fact, behavior modification can usually prevent urine marking.

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How do I reduce outdoor marking?

Expecting to manage and restrict all marking and elimination behavior when your dog is taken on outdoor walks is probably unrealistic. You must work on teaching your dog to sit whenever you stop walking and to walk on a loose leash by your side (see Teaching Calm – Settle and Relaxation Training and Teaching Loose Leash Walks, Backing Up, and Turning Away). You should be able to control your dog with a leash or a leash and head halter. When the dog exhibits pre-marking behavior, such as exploring, sniffing, assuming position, or starting to lift a leg, the leash and head halter control the muzzle and nose to enable the head to be turned away from the stimulus (possible target of marking) immediately. Learn to predict and preempt. When you get to the spot where your dog can relieve himself, you can let him explore and sniff while rewarding him for his marking behavior.

FAQ

How do I get my dog to stop marking me?

If you do manage to catch them marking, you should startle them with a loud noise, take them outside, and praise good behavior. It is crucial that you do not punish your dog if you do not catch your dog in the act and discover the incident later.

Can you get a male dog to stop marking?

More than 80% of male dogs will have their male marking behavior reduced by neutering, but only about 40% of dogs will have it completely eliminated. Additionally, female dogs that mark during estrus should be neutered.

How do I know if my dog is marking or peeing?

If the urine is small and mostly found on vertical surfaces, your pet may be urine-marking. Dogs and cats do sometimes mark on horizontal surfaces. Although leg-lifting and spraying are common examples of urine-marking, your pet may still be doing it even if he doesn’t adopt these positions.