Comment

Comment by Di, Pazu, and Mochi the Bunny on September 8, 2011 at 8:01pm

I foster dogs and generally always expect them to have at least one accident or more the first week.  I prepare their crate and a playpen attached to the crate and line the whole area with pee pads to start off with.  And then I see how they do in the playpen because if they are not potty/crate trained at all - they'll go on the pee pad.  Then I gradually give them more and more access. Two males (neutered/even unneutered) will competitively mark.  That is the case with my current foster dog who is neutered male.  He was a stray and he marks even worse than Pazu who is 10 months and not yet neutered.  He is using a belly band and he used to pee in it and would try to mark my garbage can and vacuum with it on (haha), but it just means he got stuck with a wet diaper.  Now he's stopped!  I still limit his access in the apartment so that Pazu doesn't begin marking in the apartment.

Comment by Emily & Scout on September 6, 2011 at 4:08pm

He gets neutered tomorrow!!! Also hoping Petsmart will be open when I'm down in Evansville so I can try out the belly band... Never heard of them before.... Had to google it, to be honest.  Hopefully he can finally intergrate into the house.

I hate making him stay outside when I can't keep a constant eye on him.  I'm the person that sees a dog chained outside and thinks it's wrong because they are supposed to be family pets, and now I'm keeping mine outside too much :(  At least the weather is perfect, and he has water and food.

Comment by Beth on September 5, 2011 at 10:39pm

Belly band.  Intact males who have not been properly trained can be tough in regards to marking.  We found a Pomeranian one night at 10pm a few months back.  He peed all over everything.   We had to take him to the shelter (his people did turn up) because he barked while penned and peed while loose, and both things made myself lose sleep and my own dogs engage in stress-related behaviors (Maddie hid in a corner, Jack slept across the top of the steps).   But yes, indoor marking is "normal" behavior for intact males who have not been properly trained not to do so.   Stress is increasing the behavior;  going into a home with an established pack is tough on an adult dog and even neutered dogs and females will often mark.

 

In the short term, keep him leashed to you while inside if that is possible and try to spend as much time outside as possible. 

Comment by Julia on September 5, 2011 at 8:34pm

I brought home a rescue spaniel who was five years old and unneutered. He immediately began marking every upright surface he could find. Always when I wasn't looking. It had nothing to do with house breaking, or needing to go. Fortunately, he stopped after a week or so. Yea!!! Shortly after that we had him neutered, and he began marking again (stress?), but only for one week.

We kept him in a crate when we were not home, since he was not trustworthy, but now he has free rein along with the corgi. So my advice is to give it time. There were many other things that this dog had to adjust to, and many behaviors that evolved over the 9 months I've had him.

Bless you for fostering this boy. We badly need short term fosters for shelter dogs who can't handle the shelter for various reasons. Thanks.

Comment by Jane on September 5, 2011 at 11:39am

I would just get a belly band for now and see how he does after his neuter.

Comment by Emily & Scout on September 5, 2011 at 10:29am

He is supposed to be neutered this week (I think Wednesday).  The good thing about this experience - It is making me realize that, unless I am watching a family member's dog for a weekend or something, I am a one dog person.  I've been thinking about another corgi, but this experience is showing me how awesome of a dog Scout is just by herself.  Swarley the cat is good, calm company during the day when I am gone and I've concluded that 1 dog and 1 cat of is plenty for my lifestyle.  --Looking on the bright side and learning what's best...

Comment by Jane Christensen on September 5, 2011 at 8:45am

Belly band? Neutering will not normally help. I have a rescue that will still mark:(  Keep being positive like you are  and good luck, I don't have any great advice.

Comment by Beth Walker on September 5, 2011 at 1:08am

I would contact the shelter or rescue you are fostering from and see if they can get him in to be neutered ASAP. I rescued a male corgi that was intact, he peed on everything, as soon as he was neutered it stopped immediately. It may not happen that quickly with all dogs but it sure won't hurt to try! Good Luck!

Comment by Melissa and Franklin! on September 4, 2011 at 11:34pm

If he is from a shelter he likely isn't potty trained and since he is unneutered that is just going to make potty training that much  harder. You can by one of those male dog diapers and use it on him until you have him potty trained? You will have to treat him like a tiny little puppy and start from square one with potty training. Take him out often, use lots of praise and a command "go potty" or whatever you want to use. Don't scold him for going inside or he is going to think going potty is bad and will just be more sneaky about it. Make sure to clean the spots REALLY well with ammonia free cleaning solution. If he has specific spots he goes in more often you can spray a deterrent to keep him from marking those areas. Its a very stressful time for him so you have to take that into consideration as well. You may not be at a place in your life right now where you can foster dogs since you rent. Maybe foster cats instead or dogs that are from a family env. where you know they don't have many training issues?