Marking <_<

Everything you've described about Simba reminds me so much of Bailey, they seem very similar.

Honestly... I really don't see marking as a problem. Bailey was neutered at aprox 3 years old, and he still marks. Altho he has only marked inside the house one time ever (he marked the table. No idea why, but he looked very confused after LOL) he was horrible about going in petstores. When he was about 4yrs old I was walking him around in Petsmart and he peed 3 times while in the store, trying to mark anything he could lift his leg on. He has gotten much better now, and I can bring him in petstores without him marking the entire store. He still WANTS to mark, but he doesn't. I always bring him to a bush or some area where he can mark outside before we go in the store.

He has two "potty" ques. One is "go potty" which is when we go outside in the yard and I want him to "go" quickly. Usually that is only at night or in the morning when I bring him out to potty but don't want to let him run around.

The other is when we are on a walk. I don't allow him to stop and mark on anything he wants when we are walking, so I taught him "go sniff" which means he is free to go and smell things and pee/mark.

My dad's dog, Jack, spaniel mix aprox 3 years old, also neutered, NEVER marks. It is impossible to get him to pee, because he doesn't ever want to mark anything. Sometimes if I am walking them both, if Bailey pees on something, Jack will pee next to it. But other than that he never marks. When he does pee, he squats like a female dog and usually ends up peeing on his front legs, LOL

My two worst markers have been Emma and Jewel. Emma was spayed at 8 weeks, and Jewel at 8 years. Two extremes. It doesn't seem to make a difference, IME. It's a personality thing. They both are (were) VERY pushy, underconfident, "loud" dogs. Both like(d) attention on them. Both are (were) very much "Look at ME!" dogs.

Jewel will still occasionally mark in the house, and was horrible about it when I got her. She now responds to "not there" in pet stores, etc, and marks where she is allowed. I *do* allow her to mark on piles of leaves, trees, etc outside. I figure she needs that outlet.

 Rueben likes to mark Anubis's bed. I havent figured out how to get him to stop! He is 8 months old and still hooked to me by leash because of his little habit. Im seriously thinking of getting a diaper and seeing if that will make him stop.

I'm with Chelsea, don't really care about marking.  I mean, my dogs will listen and pay attention when I say and they don't mark in the house or on possessions.  On walks I let Nikon mark a few times but otherwise we are moving forward on the sidewalk.  He will mark in the pet store if I let him, so I don't let him sniff.  I let him mark outside and then he has to heel or I put him in a down-stay while I shop.  It's not really something I worry about because it's easy enough to control/manage and it's part of having an adult intact male.  He is not obsessive about it and it doesn't distract him from training or playing with me.

Count your blessings, Kim Jewel's favorite thing to mark is the top of Bean's head. Bean has, fortunately, learned to move.

I have two markers in my home. Gaci generally only marks other urine spots (that of other dogs, cats, people....etc), Zipper is a true intact male and has an interest in marking in different situations. In-home is really good - rarely will there be any marking at all (one exception is having intact females in the house, or the scent of a female-in-heat on my clothing, or if he has recently mated a female. Being a stud dog, that is a small exception I realize I have to make, and supervise accordingly for a few days afterwards. ). Outdoors at home he is allowed to mark on whatever he likes in the backyard, he has a perimeter that he walks twice daily and marks regularly.

Out and about, though, he has learned that he is not allowed to stop and mark whenever he feels the need. The reason for this is that Zipper takes part in lots of PR events - humane society events, parades, pet expos, meet and greets, etc, and I cannot have him marking all over the place on a whim. So when we are out (ie when he is on leash - his leash is a cue for this), he is not allowed to just choose to eliminate freely. I will give him lots of opportunity to do his business ("go pee";), and then when we are done it is expected that he will refrain from marking until we are finished what we are doing. It's a routine I've worked with him on from the beginning, so that there is no confusion someday down the line and we're at a school or something and he decides it's okay to lift on the bleachers.

If in doubt, for troublesome markers a belly band can be a great aid, and might be worth looking into.

If Zipper goes to hand out at my mother's (a house full of intact females), then I will wrap him if he's going to be offleash there, or if I won't be supervising him closely.

kle1986

 Rueben likes to mark Anubis's bed. I havent figured out how to get him to stop! He is 8 months old and still hooked to me by leash because of his little habit. Im seriously thinking of getting a diaper and seeing if that will make him stop.

Is he neutered yet?  

 Thanks guys! Personally I don't care if he marks when he's on walks but the trainer says he shouldn't do that and of course my mom will agree with that. I've never seen a belly band until now, pretty good idea!

Marking is a normal canine behavior. Problem is, they live with us and even if we can appreciate "why" they do it, it's just not appropriate behavior in our human environments.

Some dogs will do this when they start entering adulthood. Some will do it to "advertise" to other dogs, and this can be especially true of intact dogs wanting to mate. Some will do it because they are socially confused and feel the need to mark territory. And, some will do it simply because they were never told not to.

My youngster Nick discovered the joys of leg-lifting and even exercised it on a friend's backpack! He was verbally corrected the second he started and hasn't done it since. He learned though me that this behavior was socially inappropriate when I interrupted him. He also started marking some rather expensive plants where I work, so again he was interrupted. Nick actually still squats to pee when directed to "do his business" on a flat spot in the middle of the yard. But, when we are out on the trails during "free time" he has also learned when and where marking is allowed. He clearly "gets it"!

I think dogs are a lot smarter than we give them credit for and most of them do understand when they are socially corrected for certain behaviors.

Imo, your relationship with the dog, correct timing, and the appropriate intensity of the social correction are key if you decide to use this method. 

It's worked well for me.

Angelique

Marking is a normal canine behavior. Problem is, they live with us and even if we can appreciate "why" they do it, it's just not appropriate behavior in our human environments.

Some dogs will do this when they start entering adulthood. Some will do it to "advertise" to other dogs, and this can be especially true of intact dogs wanting to mate. Some will do it because they are socially confused and feel the need to mark territory. And, some will do it simply because they were never told not to.

My youngster Nick discovered the joys of leg-lifting and even exercised it on a friend's backpack! He was verbally corrected the second he started and hasn't done it since. He learned though me that this behavior was socially inappropriate when I interrupted him. He also started marking some rather expensive plants where I work, so again he was interrupted. Nick actually still squats to pee when directed to "do his business" on a flat spot in the middle of the yard. But, when we are out on the trails during "free time" he has also learned when and where marking is allowed. He clearly "gets it"!

I think dogs are a lot smarter than we give them credit for and most of them do understand when they are socially corrected for certain behaviors.

Imo, your relationship with the dog, correct timing, and the appropriate intensity of the social correction are key if you decide to use this method. 

It's worked well for me.

I normally don't car about marking at all provided that it suits me, or the dog is not working. I want to see marking in one of my sports. It seems that the onset of marking in male dogs when they are tracking coincides with a marked increase in motivation. Many handlers give them quite harsh social corrections at this stage and it isn't a good look.

I prefer to let it go on a bit longer when the motivation is even higher, and just the meerest hint that things aren't  wonderful shuts the behaviour down. Marking can also be very useful in male and female dogs when they are tracking when they are sorting out a difficult scenting puzzle. Even my older bitch marks then so that she has a place that she knows where she left (I think).

I remember at the beginner's agility course we took (it was inside this barn type building, sand ground), all the other dogs were terrified of the tunnel, except for Timmy, he ran through it and before anyone could have possibly stopped him, marked on the edge of the tunnel. It was hilarious. That one time. We had to keep a close eye on him afterwards though, we didn't want him marking on everything in the place, that's for sure.

Have you tried interupting him when he's going to mark? By, let's say, making him "heel", "sit", "down", or simply change direction of where you're walking? I'm not sure if you can tell when he's going ot mark, but males sometimes make it obvious (intense sniffing of a corner, pole, tree, whatever), but, if you can tell just don't let him- move away from what he wants to mark or interupt that behvior by asking for something else.

I personally think marking inside it pretty.....yucky, lol. Especially when I'm in a store and I see some dog mark stuffed animals or treats. I'm always like, "well, someone's going to by that with piss on it now...". I'm sure you clean up after Simba, but I've seen plenty of people who don't clean up what their dogs mark.

Apollo isn't really a marker- he might mark a few times on a walk, but nothing obsessive. He definitely won't mark anywhere inside (not in a house, pet store, gym, training facility, barn, etc).