Re: older dog was a stray, urinates in my house

In Reply to: older dog was a stray, urinates in my house
Category:   House Breaking
Posted by:  Patty Ray
Posted on:  February 27, 2003 at 19:34:08

: I have a Jack Russell that I picked up as a stray about one year ago. He had lost much of his hair, was extemely thin, and had a serious limp. He is now healthy and so precious to me...I adore him. However, he still urinates in my house. Not all the time, but rather frequently. I crate him when I'm going to be gone for any length of time, and this has helped somewhat, but I still find areas where he has urinated. I do not punish him in any way for I never can catch him in the act, and I have no idea when he does this. When I picked him up he was an intact male. I took him to the vet and posted in the newspaper and pet shops in the area, but no one claimed him, so I then had him neutered. The vet estimated that he was probably about 4 years old at the time which means he would be about 5 now. Is there any hope to break him of this. It is very distressing to me. I love him dearly, but I take pride in my home as well, and I'm tired of finding (and smelling!) urine. Is there anything I can do to break him of this? Please help me.

: Thank you.

Response:

Hi Patty,

My guess is your terrier is marking. This is very common behavior in intact male dogs. This is one of the reasons we recommend early neutering of male dogs as this greatly reduces the chance of this behavior even starting.

Once it does it's a very hard habit to break, even after neutering. You can try to do some basic housebreaking again with him and make sure that his bladder stays empty. This might mean you will have to accompany him outside and make sure he takes care of business.

You may have to start tethering him to you so you can catch him in the act and make corrections. You should also make sure to find all the areas he has marked and clean them with an enzymatic cleaner like Nature's Miracle. You may want to rent/buy a black light to find all the areas he has done.

If all this fails you can do what many breeders do that have intact males. That is to purchase belly bands. These can be purchased through pet specialty catalogs and may also be available at larger pet specialty stores. This will at least keep your furniture from being soiled.

Regards,
Marie