Re: Marking or just not housebroken?

In Reply to: Marking or just not housebroken?
Posted by:  Patricia Price
Posted on:  October 27, 2001 at 15:29:09

: My almost 20 month olk jack russell- male- has been neutered... pees in the kitchen- where we have to keep him because we can't trust him run of the house yet. My question when they are marking do they pee a lot or just a little here and there. He has several places he goes- but when he goes.... he goes.. a big puddle. I was thinking that marking would just be a few drops here and there. He pees around the front of his crate and around the legs of the table and another spot just in front of the stove if we leave him alone in the kitchen for any amount of time. He never does it if we are in there?? Do we need to start the house-breaking process over... What do you suggest?

: Thanks

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Hi Patricia,

Well it sounds to me like your boy is doing some heavy marking in your house. While sometimes a dog will mark and only eliminate a little bit some do like to give some REALLY big messages.

You need to get some enzymatic cleaner like Nature's Miracle to take the urine odor out. If you don't use a product that breaks down and eliminates the smell he will continue to remark the areas.

And yes you definitely need to go back to square one with the housebreaking. By this time he should be totally housebroken, actually he is long overdue to be totally housebroken.

And seeing that you are still having major problems in this area it doesn't sound like your original methods were very effective.

Please do yourself the favor to get the book "How to Housebreak a Dog in 7 Days" by Shirlee Kalstone. It is the best book out there on this subject. Although I have to say I don't think Shirlee has ever tried to housebreak a JRT, she believes that all dogs can be housebroken in about a week, I beg to differ. But her theories, and certainly her schedules are right on and will be extremely helpful in getting your dog housebroken for good.

The book is about 75 pages and does have a section devoted to mature dogs. It is a paperback book and can even be ordered right through the JRTCA site. I'll provide a link. It is probably one of the best less than $10 investments you will make regarding your dog.

So remember, enzymatic cleaner to clean the places he has already marked, & retraining on housebreaking.