SearchUrinating inside
I have a 2 1/2 yo neutered male Doberman. No matter what I do, he won't stop urinating in the house!!! We've tried confining him to a smaller space, installed a doggie door, shampooed the carpets multiple times to remove any urine smell, but he just won't stop. He has been checked by the vet and has no bladder infection or anything else medically wrong with him. The only thing I can think of is that we possibly waited to long to neuter him... he was over a year old when we finally did.
He is a super sweet dog, not aggressive or possessive, gets along with my other dog (a 7 yo female English Bulldog, also spayed), and other than the urination problem, I adore him! I would just love to walk into my home and not smell urine everywhere!
Any suggestions are much appreciated!!
We have had him since he was a puppy, altho when we got him things were a bit stressful. My husband was very ill and I had to work full-time so he probably did not get as much reinforcement as he could have used re going potty outside. but within 6 months of us getting him things were settled down and we have been consistent with him since. He never really seemed to "get" it as far as going potty outside. It just doesn't seem to click with him. He will even mark his own bed which seems odd to me. And when our bulldog goes potty outside he will try to "mark" her as she goes.... so frustrating!!!
start over with him and treat him like an 8 week old puppy. If you can't be watching him closely, then crate him. I'd suggest keeping him on a leash in the house. Use positive reinforcement and treat him when he does his stuff outside. Read up on housebreaking a new puppy and follow it with your adult male - persistance will pay off. This is exactly the advice the rescue I deal with gives new adoptive families with rescued adults.
There are also wraps for males called belly bands - you might want to invest in a couple to keep him from successfully marking indoors.... but use them in conjunction with total supervision.
I have an almost 4 year old intact male that has never marked in the house and lived with an intact bitch for the first 3 1/2 years. Being intact is not an excuse for marking in the house - they have to be taught what is and isn't acceptable.
Thank you Fitzmar for your suggestions! I have "rewound" with my dog and started over with the basics of potty training and it seems to be working. I'm keeping him confined in a small area when I can't be with him and right next to me the rest of the time with a leash and he seems to be making progress. Lots of praise given when he goes outside where he is supposed to. It will take some time and consistency to undo the bad habits but progress is good. I appreciate the tips!
ok, I'm back. I am beyond frustrated. things seemed to be working with my dog for a few weeks, but we're back to square one. I am about ready to try to find my dog a new home, which is TERRIBLE because I love him dearly and I have always been committed to my animals. Once they are part of the family, they are part of the family and not to be shuffled to different homes. BUT he will NOT stop peeing in the house. Everywhere. He now pees on my daughters toys, marked my bed the other day, and pees on the front of my fridge daily (I keep him 'penned' in the kitchen when I'm not with him and that's where he sleeps at night, the main reason being that at least the linoleum is easier to clean than my carpet.) I have to keep everything locked down in the house, no open doors to any rooms, etc, because he pees any time I'm not looking. My house smells so bad from urine, despite constant cleaning, that I can't even have people over without being totally embarrassed. I've been exercising Lex daily and he gets lots of attention and praise when he does good things, and any time I find where he's peed I bring his attention to it and scold him. I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!!! My husband wants to put the dog outside in a dog house and make him a backyard dog, which I know isn't good for dobies, but what else can I do?
Is he marking his territory? Small amounts and frequently? Scold him when you catch him in the act. Hide and wait to see what he does and pounce on him when he pees in house. I would prefer positive reinforcement, but if it doesn't work, step up your game because you sound committed. Lastly, teach him to inform you when he wants to go outside like ringing a bell attached to the door handle or even better, scratch on the door. This might provide an option for him to avoid scolding.
As for bringing him to his urinating transgression spots to scold him, not sure about its effectiveness. Ever heard of that archaic method of rubbing a dogs nose into his urine? Trainers swear it doesn't work (as if they have tried it). Not only does it seem cruel, but more importantly, how does that communicate to the dog that he did something wrong? You can apply this type of questioning to every type of training you conduct.
He is most definitely marking his territory. He's not the dominant dog in our house (my female English Bully totally runs him) and I suspect that is part of the problem. He's trying to assert his claim on things. For a while I thought he might be having physical issues (he had an undescended testicle and required more than normal surgery to neuter him) but we have ruled out any physical issues. It's just small amounts of urine, frequently so I know it's marking. Whe he actually has to urinate (not just marking) he hits our sliding glass door with his paw so I know he needs to go out.
I totally agree that rubbing his nose in urine does no good. It's pretty abusive if you ask me. I don't know that bringing him back to his marking spots to scold him works either, but I figure a stern but gentle reminder can't hurt him. :)
In the meantime, I'm doing plenty of deep breathing and just trying to be patient with the dog while trying to get through to him that marking in the house is inappropriate.
At the risk of getting yelled at here for suggesting putting him outside, I have to ask, would it be COMPLETELY wrong to have him spend the majority of his time outside, with a well constructed and insulated dog house for shelter? We have a completely fenced acre of backyard that he loves to run and explore and he can mark out there all he wants. We live in a fairly temperate climate, it rarely gets below 35 degrees at night, and any time it is really cold or inclement weather he would be more than welcome inside (I can put up with marking on occasion, lol). I walk him or play fetch and interact with him every day, and as long as I can be right with him I love having him in the house with the family. I just can't watch him 24 hours a day and if he won't quit marking it's going to be an issue. For instance, I've taken to penning him in our kitchen with baby gates for sleeping at night (I just can't bring myself to actually crate him) but even at night he marks the front of my fridge and cupboards multiple times which is just unacceptable. I thought that perhaps designating a smaller room in the house as his sleeping area (i.e. the kitchen) might deter him from marking but it hasn't changed a thing.
I intend to continue working with him and hope to god I don't have to resort to putting him outside, but I thought I would ask for some feedback on the issue. Dobies are working dogs and I would guess that historically many of them did live outside and did just fine. Thoughts? If we do go the outside route, I will most likely start to search for a female so that he's not alone during those times that he can't be inside with the family.
I read this somewhere else, and forget who to give credit to, but it's not myself.
Next time your dog pees in the house, go get a piece of newspaper, roll it up, whack yourself in the head, and say "Bad owner!"
If you have a dog that continually pees in the house, why are you allowing him to be unspervised? He has not earned his freedom, so don't give it to him.
Kevin nailed it! you aren't watching him....think of him as an 8 week old puppy and treat him as such. Take him out every hour and say Go Potty! When he does lots and lots of praise! if he doesn't go bring him inside with no praise and continue to watch him. The second you see that leg lift sternly and loudly say NO!...and take him outside and tell him Go Potty! praise him if he does.
keep repeading this until he gets it. It's not his fault that you haven't taught him that its not acceptable to pee in the house. Its your fault.....and if you don't catch him while he's peeing, scolding him is useless. Tie him to you in the house and make him follow you around that way you can't ignore him and let him wander off to pee without you knowing immediately.
keep consistent and don't stop just because he goes a couple days without peeing. The slowly let him a little more freedom...and a little more. Good luck!
Thanks for the help! (and the humor!) I have heard that comment about whacking yourself when the dog urinates. I know it's true! It's completely our fault! I'll keep working with him and hopefully I'll have some positive success stories to post later on. I work so I'm not home the entire day and I'm thinking that crating him is going to be the best way to do this, and then keep him tied to me at home so I can keep an eye on him.
One more question... do I let him lift his leg and mark outside without scolding? Or does that just reinforce the marking habit? When I take him outside about half the time he'll just squat and pee and the other half he lifts his leg and pees.
If he's peeing OUTSIDE, you should throw him a tickertape parade, no matter what position his leg is in! LOL
LOL agreed! Just focus on getting him to pee outside for right now.
Being in a crate is a great way to teach potty training and is in my opinion a better alternative to keeping him outside all the time.
I need to take a deep breath and relax! I'm so stressed about this that I'm second-guessing myself at every turn!!! We'll focus on pottying outside, no matter how he chooses to do it :)
Use the crate! Make it his den, plenty of toys and chews to keep him entertained! The key is to get him to like the crate, just like he is a puppy all over again. Throw his favorite toy and a few treats hidden in there for him to go inside and hang out, praise him when he goes in. The crate is NOT a punishment, and those who say they don’t have the heart to crate an animal is not crate training properly. A dog should willingly enter the crate and escape to it when it wants some alone time. This way when you are at work he can be crated for a few hours and have a friend, family member or neighbor take him outside to do his business. Make sure he has just enough room to stand without his back hitting the top of the crate. Make sure he has room to turn around and that is all he should get.
Crates have shown to be a good potty training tool as long as you don't give your boy too much space. The idea is to teach your dog to hold it. Then lead him outside with a leash say after an hour of crate time. Then extend the duration and so on.
As for leaving him outside, your weather conditions do not sound that chilly, but some owners are quite eager to throw on those sweaters and jackets. My neighbor recently mocked me for having Jax sit in the chilly weather (30 F) before I allowed him to come into the building. Could his buns have been cold? Possibly, but not buying it. He was laying down on the cold concrete on his own (without my command) while I spoke to someone. He didn't show any eager desire to go back in after taking care of business. One thing to consider before sending him packing into the backyard, an indoor cat usually lives longer than outdoor cats (maybe stress, weather, etc, who knows).
you're already having potty issues, don't scold him for peeing outside for any reason, leg lifted or not. If he pees outside and you scold him then where do you think he's going to pee next? inside...and he gets scolded for that too so he won't know what to do. confused doggy...
Outside is a win, who cares if he lifts his leg or not...
Thanks for all the comments! I really appreciate it. It's been two days now with NO pottying inside. That alone makes for a happy dobie momma!
I was able to take a few days off work and we've been going outside to potty every hour, with LOTS and LOTS of praise and treats when he goes (regardless of leg position, ha ha). When he's inside I have him on a leash and next to me at all times. He hasn't even tried to mark inside. Ironically, I'm slightly irritated at that fact, because I would like to catch him in the act to teach him it's not right. He is just smart enough to know not to when I'm with him apparently. I'm going to have to start stalking him secretly to be able to catch him in the act, lol.
I haven't gotten a crate yet, none of the stores around here have one big enough for him. Go figure. I have a friend who has an adjustable doggie playpen that I will borrow this weekend and set up for him as his den/happy area so that I can confine him when I can't be with him.
Bottom line is I've messed up and just not trained him that he's not in charge, which has resulted in him thinking he can do whatever/mark wherever he wants. We're starting over from the ground up... puppy training all over again! He's so tired today from a long walk, a good fetch session, and having to follow me all over the house the rest of the day that he's completely crashed out right now and I suspect he will stay that way for the rest of the night!
Thanks again for all the help and suggestions! This boy is certainly challenging me, but I'm giving it my best shot :)
He there, coming into this a little late but I just wanted to say thanks for trying so hard with your boy. It's nice to see your putting in so much effort for him, it will be hard and probably feel like forever but it will be worth it! Sending you lots of good dobervibes :) Looking forward to hearing how he is going :)
Sian and Harley
Excellent news...just keep it up, don't stop too soon or he might revert back..
Crate train worked wonders for me. I now have a hard time getting her out of her crate because she loves her crate so much.
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