Is Your Dog Peeing in the House? Are You At Your Wits' End?
Does it feel as if you're not getting through to your dog? I felt the same way when I thought I would never get my dog to stop peeing in the house.
I tried everything from ranting and raving, to rubbing his nose in it. Nothing helped. Why not? Because I was doing it all wrong! I was aggravating the situation instead of helping him.
Luckily I found a quick and painless method to solve the problem for both of us.
Please sign my guest book, leave your link and I'll return the compliment.
I tried everything from ranting and raving, to rubbing his nose in it. Nothing helped. Why not? Because I was doing it all wrong! I was aggravating the situation instead of helping him.
Luckily I found a quick and painless method to solve the problem for both of us.
Please sign my guest book, leave your link and I'll return the compliment.
Why does he keep doing it?
Understanding the difference between marking territory and just peeing.
A dog does not just starting peeing in his own house for the fun of it. Ask yourself if your dog is merely peeing in the house, or is he marking his territory?A big clue is normally found in the location. If the dog is peeing against upright objects then it is probably an attempt to mark his territory. Remember though, male dogs normally cock their legs when they pee so they necessarily pee against upright objects.
A good clue is also the amount of urine involved.
Small puddles are normally indicative of marking behaviour, while drowning in dog urine means your dog is regarding the house as his new toilet.
Copious amounts normally means the dog is urinating due to a physical need, and either couldn't, or didn't want to, go out.
Easy solution: If your dog pees during the night it is usually enough to let him drink water earlier, rather than later at night, and take him outside for a pee before going to bed. Careful though! You don't want to dehydrate the poor little guy!
Marking territory.
Why does a dog do this?
The first step in solving a problem with your dog marking territory inside the house is understanding why dogs mark their territory.
A dog has a sense of smell that is significantly better developed than that of a human. Incidentally, this is why it's a bad idea to take your home-grown stash on holiday with you. Airport dogs can smell that stuff a mile away.
While a dog's urine might smell offensive to us humans, it's as good as a letter to other dogs. It tells them who he is, and whether or not he or she is available to mate. It also establishes dominance over other dogs ("I was here first, so this is my turf"), and helps to dispel his feelings of insecurity and builds confidence.
If your dog is struggling with confidence problems, any sudden change in his home environment can trigger this behaviour because they engender feelings of anxiety. For instance; the arrival of a new baby may mean that your dog is now not getting as much attention as previously. He'll start marking territory to establish his dominance over the new member of the pack, and to reaffirm his place in the pecking order.
A dog has a sense of smell that is significantly better developed than that of a human. Incidentally, this is why it's a bad idea to take your home-grown stash on holiday with you. Airport dogs can smell that stuff a mile away.
While a dog's urine might smell offensive to us humans, it's as good as a letter to other dogs. It tells them who he is, and whether or not he or she is available to mate. It also establishes dominance over other dogs ("I was here first, so this is my turf"), and helps to dispel his feelings of insecurity and builds confidence.
If your dog is struggling with confidence problems, any sudden change in his home environment can trigger this behaviour because they engender feelings of anxiety. For instance; the arrival of a new baby may mean that your dog is now not getting as much attention as previously. He'll start marking territory to establish his dominance over the new member of the pack, and to reaffirm his place in the pecking order.
Do All Dogs Do This?
Yes, they do. Depends on you where they do it though.
Usually dogs mark outside the house because they don't feel the need to mark inside the house. They feel secure and safe inside the house, they know everyone inside the house and their position is secure. It's when they feel they need to establish dominance inside the pack that they start marking inside the house.Small dogs are more inclined to pee inside the house than larger dogs; males are more likely to mark than females. Two or more dogs in the same house may regard each other as competition and are then more prone to marking.
While marking is a natural thing for your dog to do, he needs to understand that he does not have to do this inside the house. He needs to feel he is a respected and valued member of the family. Helping your dog feel secure in your love for him will go a long way to alleviating the problem.
Solving the problem.
What can you do?
A few very important things to remember is:In order to speed up the learning process be sure to lavish praise upon him when he pees where you want him to. Your dog learns fastest from your positive responses to his behaviour.
Plan for the future
Prevention is better than cure!
Clean the spots where he marked or peed thoroughly, but don't use ammonia. Dog urine contains ammonia and instead of deterring him it will only make him think some other strange dog is leaving messages. Instead use a solution of water and vinegar to wash the areas thoroughly.If you don't make too much of a fuss over the whole thing you can easily change your dog's behaviour and get him to pee where you want him to, i.e. outside the house!
A resource I found helpful in positively modifying my dog's behaviour can be found at Kingdom of Pets. They have a free course you can download to see if the method works.
Click Here to download the free Introductory 6 Day Course and get you and your dog started with no further obligation.
A final thought to remember:
Peeing is not a problem, it is a symptom.
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- amyjoe531 amyjoe531 Nov 9, 2009 @ 1:44 pm
- i have two female dogs and both was house broken then one of my females had a litter or pups..and one of the dogs .dont know what one..has starting useing my kids room as a bathroom...i dont know what to do how to stop them everything was fine till the puppys came....oh the puppys have been gone for 3 months now ...so if anyone has any ideas please let me know
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- Julie Julie Oct 21, 2009 @ 12:34 am
- Also, he was neutered about 3 weeks ago, and not only has the peeing not improved, but he has started humping since being neutered!
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- Julie Julie Oct 21, 2009 @ 12:31 am
- My dog is a 6mo male boxer/hound mix who my son got from the pound, then left for the Navy. He has issues with anxiety, he was abused when picked up as a puppy, the Vet said his peeing (which is large puddles) is not normal & gave a antibiotic, but it isn't helping, he is intelligent and knows this behavior is wrong, but WHY is he so hard to train? Is it because he has abandonment issues and my son left & he has not had anyone consistent to train him?(this is obviously what I think). I can't believe such an intelligent dog cannot be house trained, PLEASE HELP!
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- nicole nicole Oct 13, 2009 @ 11:27 am | in reply to Irish Eyes
- Dito! I have a yorkie also, and new furniute which I know smells terrible now! I use mr.clean multi surface spray on my coach, it helps ease the oder but does not keep him from going in that spot again.
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- Dawn Dawn Sep 24, 2009 @ 10:09 pm
- I have two dogs, one female one male, and I am not sure who is doing it but one of them is peeing in my husbands bed. I am currently unable to sleep with him in the same bed sue to an surgery on my spine and we own a water bed, so the clean up is rather easy, just washing the sheets and I use Lysol with bleach on the vinyl mattress. I did notice tonight that we were arguing and I was sitting in the master bathroom while it had happened but didn't notice it until he went to bed and of course he was mad. I did notice a pattern that when we argue that, the male i believe that is doing it, does exactly that. Is it because he thinks that my husband is being mean and he's getting back at him, I only ask because he has not peed in my bed at all ever and it's been six months since we haven't shared a bed due to surgery. Is there anything I can do to remedy this. I really need help. Both dogs have a dog door to go in and out at anytime and are fully house broke. They only pee in his bed.
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by Hobgoblin
I love dogs and have been owned by several different breeds from Pavement Specials to purebreds. All of them have one thing in common; they're great a... (more)
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