Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Our 2 1/2 year old toy is house broken and 99% of the time comes and goes as he needs to through his doggie door and does his business and comes back in. About 6 months ago, he has started I guess marking his territory but it seems his territory has expanded from just a couple of select areas to pretty much all over the house.

He hasn't been fixed yet as we've been wanting to breed him but after having trouble finding anyone locally with the credentials for us to trust him to them, we're considering taking him to the vet to be fixed.

My question though is, is this behavior just him maturing and something that will be a thing of the past once he's fixed or is there something else going on?

There are no other dogs in the house and it seems like there are about 5 or 6 areas that he consistently goes to so that's what leads me to believe it's him marking his territory. Since we've never actually caught him in the act, I feel bad punishing him for something he did an hour ago. Is there any behavioral training I can do to try and stop this??

I've tried thoroughly cleaning the area on the wood floor with both wood floor cleaner and natures miracle to try and eliminate the odor but he still goes back to that spot. If I try to cover that particular spot with something like a towel or swinging the door over it, he'll simply wet on whatever is in his way.

It's beginning to get out of hand and we're actually about to have the carpet in the hallway by our laundry room where he seems to do most of this removed and have our wood flooring extended into this area as the carpet is practically destroyed and stained very badly.

Any help or suggestions?

If you want to keep him intact, you will probably have to keep him much more closely confined. And there will be other problems from him being intact, including eventual virtually inevitable prostate enlargement.

Neutering him would very likely help a great deal. There is information about what to use to treat areas, and how to handle a small dog, a urine-marking male dog, and basic housetraining at the link with my signature below--look for the titles in alphabetical order, starting with the word "Housetraining." It's a free site and there is no registration needed. It is provided by the Veterinary Information Network.

For now, reduce his freedom area in the house. Use baby gate(s) to confine him to an area or out of certain areas. You will always need to do this if you do not neuter him. If you do neuter him, you may gradually be able to give him the freedom of most or all of the house again in a few months.

Be sure to read the articles. They will help! Also read the article "Spay/Neuter Behavior Benefits," in the same Table of Contents, by alphabetical order.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

Thanks. yeah we've started to keep him in our bathroom while we're at work. It's fairly large w/tile floor, his bed, water/food, toys, etc. He doesn't wet in there though. We also have closed off the guest bathroom door and both guest bedrooms.

Right now, it's been narrowed down to the hallway where the guest bedrooms/bath are and our living area.

Baby gates don't work for him either. He jumps over them. These are the ones that are like 3 feet high too.. he's a jumping fool.

Altering can help, but at this poitn it's a habit and one that is going ot be tough to break. Follow Kathy's advice as strictly as possible. If he were my dog, he might also earn being leashed to my side for a couple of weeks.
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Chelle and the rest of the crew including, but not limited to Kita and Taiko (the shiba inu wrestle maniacs), Adi (reserved and dignified tabby cat), and all 28 reptiles www.freewebs.com/performanceshibas

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>>Baby gates don't work for him either. He jumps over them. These are the ones that are like 3 feet high too.. he's a jumping fool.

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You can stack baby gates, and put another one over the one he jumps, to make it higher. Or you can buy gates that have extension heights available. This dog is probably always going to need some restriction, and jumping a 3 foot gate is very hard on his joints.

You could try closed doors to rooms, but that can lead to barking and to clawing at the door. Baby gates work better.

Once you have thoroughly/deeply treated the spots in the hallway with a bacterial enzyme odor eliminator (you may need to cover with damp towels, and then repeat it again!), put undiluted clear vinegar on spots he uses. That is a powerful deterent.

But have him neutered. It makes a huge difference in housetraining a small male dog. It sounds like you have a chance to housetrain him if you handle it carefully, and neuter him. There are some breeds with which this sometimes is not even possible. But Poodles can be pretty special.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

Well, this past weekend, I scheduled him an appt with our vet for his annual checkup and to talk with the doctor about having him fixed.

He actually doesn't seem to mind being closed in the laundry room all day while we're at work. he doesn't claw at the door or cry or anything. As long as he can't see you when he's confined, he's totally fine but if he knows you're near and he can SEE you but can't get to you, he whines like a baby. So while we're at work, he seems to be fine.

We've been watching him like a hawk and have started escourting him to the back yard in the mornings and when we get home from work with a treat and after he does his business, we're rewarding him and re-affirming that "wet the grass" and "outside" are 2 phrases that belong together.

i know it's off topic but while we're at the vet this weekend, is there anything in particular as far as testing or vaccination that we should request that they may not otherwise include? Or anything we should ask them about besides him getting fixed? They have his files on hand so I'd logically assume that if there were any breed specific checking that needs to be done at these annual visits, they'd do this.

At two most of the shots should be fine. If you haven't had a heartworm test yet this year, have one done- adding a lymes disease test may be good depending on the area of the ocuntry you live in.

Breed specific tests- hmmm- poodles are known for ear infections, allergies, knee issues, eye issues, and if my memory serves, there's a heart thing they are prone to as well. Also, toy dogs tend to chronically be overweight, so listen to your vet if s/he says your dog needs a bit of weight pulled off.

Sounds like you are on a great path to stopping the peeing issue- keep up the great work!!!
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Chelle and the rest of the crew including, but not limited to Kita and Taiko (the shiba inu wrestle maniacs), Adi (reserved and dignified tabby cat), and all 28 reptiles www.freewebs.com/performanceshibas

he had heartworm tests done a little over a year ago at his last visit and we give him one of those heartguard chews about every other month. I know he should probably be taking it monthly but he doesn't hang around other dogs unless we go visit the inlaws and he doesn't spend much time outside... just to do his business then comes back in. And if I recall, the vet said last visit that if he hangs around lots of other dogs or spends lots of time outside, the heartguard is important.

We feed him the royal canine poodle food and whether or not it's a gimmick, it says it's formulated to give good eyesight, curly coat and cognizant reflexes.

We take him jogging with us at least 2 nights a week for our 2 mile jog around our neighborhood and he always just stays there right by my wife and doesn't ever fall behind and he knows better than to get ahead of her. This is the bulk of the excercise he gets. Occasionally we'll throw him little tennis balls in the back yard that he runs and brings back but down here in Alabama, the oppressive heat wears all of us out quick.

He needs to be retested for heartworm now, and he needs to be on MONTHLY heartworm preventive. This problem is deadly. Every other month is not often enough. The test needs to be done annually. It only takes missing one dose--or having a dog throw up a dose without you seeing--to have a deadly heartworm infestation start.

Be careful about 2 mile runs. That may be too far for a small dog, and too fast. And of course the heat is critical. Dogs are much, much more vulnerable to heat than humans are. A dog's body cooling system is not as efficient as a human's.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

I would neuter that boy ASAP.
staffordmom