Re: Wetting on furniture from 10 yr old dog

In Reply to: Wetting on furniture from 10 yr old dog
Category:   House Breaking
Posted by:  Georgiana Bishop
Posted on:  April 27, 2003 at 21:56:57

: We have had our cocker spaniel mix since he was a puppy. He is housebroke...except when we leave the room. We have to crate him because he wets on the end of furniture. He goes out regularly. Vet says he is fine. We have 1 cat. When we are in the same room he never wets. It is getting so bad it seems he is crated more than he is out. What can we do? He seems to be marking his spot. Thngs have not changed this furniture has always been with us.
: Help?

Response:

Hi Georgiana,

You don't mention if your dog is neutered or not. Many intact males will mark territory, and some neutered dogs will too (especially if neutered after marking behavior has started).

You need to thoroughly clean all the areas he has marked with an enzymatic cleaner like Nature's Miracle, Simple Solution and there are a few more like products. What you will also need to do is either rent or buy a black light which will show you all areas that have been marked on. This way you can really clean up everywhere.

Marking behavior can be very hard to retrain your dog, especially one as old as yours. The best you can do is to make sure he doesn't have access to areas that are favorite marking areas, when you aren't there to watch him. We suggest tethering the dog to you when training him in not to mark so you can keep an eye on him. You cannot correct a dog that has already marked, it's more effective to correct him in the act.

You might also want to consider the use of a belly-band for your dog. Many breeders use these on their intact males to keep their furniture from being ruined. These can be purchased at pet speciality stores and also in pet catalogs.