Advice needed... male puppy marking indoors

Comments

• MapleTwinkie

  March 2016

  I only have the experience of my one dog to speak from, but for him, it was a phase. From about 4 to 5 or 6 months, he was a little bastard. He would hump and pee on everything. I attributed this period to doggy teenage years. He stopped listening to commands, tested his boundaries and violated all acceptable doggy social behaviours. My dog would constantly hump other dogs at dog parks, pee on everything in sight, both indoors and outdoors and nothing worked to correct these behaviours. He snapped out of it after his growth spurt. My dog is an unaltered Japanese Akita. Hope that helps.
• shibagirl88

  March 2016

  Sounds like Raiden! He turned 4 and a half months and started refusing to listen for certain commands that he already learned..very stubborn! He has started listening again somewhat, I'm hoping its a phase like your dog and he will stop marking everything! Thanks for your insight it gives me hope that its just him going through puberty. @MapleTwinkie
• T_Dog

  March 2016

  I go back to the crate training. If they can't be trusted alone they get crated. I crate train for many things from tearing up furniture and rugs to peeing on the floor/marking. If they cant be trusted they get crated. They learn then through consistency what's allowed in the house. Because I am always there to correct the bad behavior.
  
  Right now I have a junior pup that I cant leave anything in the kitchen because it's become his crate. I got lazy I must admit. Cuz him and the other dog get the kitchen a doggie door and the backyard. So they are left unsupervised in that room. As time has passed now nothing can be left in the sink or on the table or it winds up in the backyard because I was not there to correct him. It's my fault. Cuz I turned the kitchen basically into a big huge fun playground.
  
  But crate training works if you do it right. Marking outside and marking other dogs. I never correct marking trees and stuff but other dogs; I scold them for that just like humping.
• Crispy

  March 2016

  I think similar to @MapleTwinkie , that I would continue to correct poor behavior when I could and set a foundation for good behavior, and hope it was just an age thing.
  
  That said, my Shikoku marks when he first comes into a home. He'll still mark beds when something is novel or new, so I give him limited access to new beds, unattended.
• shibagirl88

  March 2016

  Thanks @T_Dog for your story! Raiden is crate trained for bed time over night and has a puppy area that's gated off for when we arent home since we don't trust leaving him loose with the other dogs yet unsupervised. He has never marked in our house, only outside. He just starting marking indoors while at other places besides our house.
• rikumom

  March 2016

  My 1.5 year old intact JA boy started marking when he was about 6 months old. His indoor marking behavior breaks down as:
  - when visiting new places such as new pet stores, hotels, friend's place (he grew out of this one now), or
  - out of frustration (when there's a bitch in hit in the neighborhood), or
  - when he wants to remind himself there's a "resource" somewhere (when his ball rolled under the couch)
  
  We ended up needing to get rid of a couch and a futon due to the later two reasons. Belly band is what we do when we suspect bitch in heat nearby.
  
  My almost four spayed JA girl in the other hand, have marked beds, once her own and once someone else's when she was visiting. Go figure.
  
  
  
• GrayJJ

  March 2016

  My intact boy will mark indoors in new places; I normally just try to encourage him to pee outdoors first, and you can usually interrupt before any marking occurs (I.e. if your dog is sniffing, any other physical sign he will mark).
  The best bet is using a belly band, as you mentioned, it will at least save your friends' homes/furniture!
• T_Dog

  March 2016 edited March 2016

  @shibagirl88 My Shiba has done this in my rental properties. But I didn't lable it marking cuz he was pooping too. I figured he thought the only place he couldn't go is in his house and that other houses were OK. I have also had him mark in Pet stores and hotels. But I figured he was doing it cuz he smelled the markings of other dogs. I just correct him when I catch him and I have learned to crate him in hotels and watch him in Pet stores.
• shibagirl88

  September 2016

  Thought I would update on this topic. Raiden did pretty well with a belly band, but would still mark at times. He also had extreme humping tendencies. We tried everything in hopes of waiting till he was over a year old to neuter. But we decided to neuter him at 10 months old after talking with our vet and breeder. It was like a switch got turned off and since the day he came home from being neutered he has yet to mark indoors at home or elsewhere! It was not a guaranteed fix, but in the end it worked out for us.
  
  He is now much more relaxed, no humpiness or marking, and he is also eating much better. We were having a hard time getting him to gain weight since he would refuse to eat for extended periods of time.
  
  One thing that our breeder said to me was that it sounded like Raiden was a stud and he was fretting his weight away due to sexual frustration. I have to agree... He was hoping to be a stud muffin like his Famous daddy. Lol.