marking problem

[Moose's Ma]

Happy Holidays, everyone. This is Buck, the husband of Moose's Ma.

We are staying with our dear family in Seattle, and they have a 1 & 1/2 year-old unneutered male wirehaired dachshund, Willie. He is a smart, happy dog whom they love very much.

When they got Willie, it appeared as though he had suffered some type of at least emotional trauma. He was very shy and timid. As a consequence of the family's nurturing, he has gradually come out of his shell.

Willie happily shares the house with their 8 year-old mixed breed neutered female, Madison, who plays with Willie all the time and never hurts him, despite being a muscular 60 pounds or so.

Willie is housebroken in that he barks at the door to go out, and pees and poops outside. BUT-- he also constantly lifts his leg to mark things in the house--- furniture, grocery bags left on the floor, people-- basically, anything new that comes into the house, he marks. Not sure what kind of correcting is going on about this, but whatever, it's obviously not working. Currently they have resorted to either crating him, penning him in the kitchen, or tying a diaper around him if they let him in the rest of the house.

At our urging ;) , they are now planning to neuter him. Will that solve the problem, do you think? Has anyone had marking problems with a neutered male? Are there other strategies, in addition to the neutering, that could help?

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

[Mark]

Hi Buck,

Unfortunately it is unlikely that neutering alone will eliminate the marking problem. Marking is a sign of possessiveness or announcing to the world that, "I AM ALPHA".

The first job in breaking this is to make it clear that the hoomans are the Alpha and he is not to overstep his bounds. This is done by the hoomans taking firsts (hoomans get their food first, step thru open doors first, etc.). He should also be made to do something to get his own food and treats . . . like "sit".

Although this is likely more far reaching than just this . . . it's a start. :)

[Moose's Ma]

Mark,

Thanks for your quick response-- very good advice!
We just read your post to our daughter and son-in-law, and some light dawned as they started thinking about Willy's various other "alpha" behaviors that he's been getting away with!-- for example, he'll bring his ball over, put it in front of our son-in-law, Troy, and then sit and stare at Troy commandingly until Troy "obeys" and throws the ball. (Troy's a pretty well-trained hooman!)

I suspect there may be a few changes around here, in addition to the (ahem) nuts-ectomy:) ....

[Meemoo]

Neutering can definitely HELP this problem. Be sure that you have gotten rid of the scent from him marking with a good enzymatic cleaner. Any residue of the scent, he will continue to go there or anywhere else he has gone. Their are many good cleaners out there, Oxiclean, Nature's Miracle to name a few.

[Mark]

You're very welcome, Buck.

Please give us updates to let us know how it's going. Do remember that these changes will not work overnight. There may even be rebellion initially. Stick to your guns though and don't give in even though you get *The L@@K*. :)

[Mark]

Oops, I didn't see Loren's post . . . we must have been posting at the same time. Some good points and clarifications.

Yes, neutering *can help*, but it will not cure or be the only thing that needs to be done. I did not mean to imply it would not help at all. And thank you for mentioning the scent. You're right! It must be eliminated.

[AmberLea]

This is coming a little late to be of any help to Willy's family, but for future owners, I had a wirehaired male named Jake that was terrible with marking (even after being nuetered), so I made a marking post. In a litter box of sand, I buried a 2 liter pop bottle upside down in the box, and smeared some of his urine on it. After that he went to the litter box to mark. I simply changed the sand once a week and the marking on furniture, people etc. virturally stoped.

[Moose's Ma]

Interesting idea, AmberLea! I have to admit that's a totally new one. We will pass that along to Willie's family. Willie is due for his, er, operation :eek: next week-- they're hoping that will take care of it, but if not, it's good to have a back-up plan. Thanks!

[Dapple Dandy]

I'm looking at adding to my family in the next couple of months. Sex of the addition was never an issue, until now. You guys are scaring me with all this "marking" talk.

I'm talking with a breeder right now and one of the pups showing the most potential is a male. Because I intend to try and show this new little one, their sexuality, so to speak, will remain intact. The only real experience I have with males were my Shih, who was neutered and my husband's birddog (GSP) who's also neutered.

In my scans of the board, I'm seeing that males may be a little harder to housebreak and tend to want to mark their territory. Can anyone elaborate on issues with intact males?

BTW - I have three girls which may complicate the matter.

[cruzenmac]

I'm glad I found these postings. Kona is 8 months old and until recently was not marking. He stays with my mother during the day...until yesterday she decided she'd had enough of Kona's markings. She has a Lhasa and Kona has succeeded in marking everywhere Fluffy (the Lhasa) spends time. It's interesting because Kona is submissive to Fluffy, yet where ever Fluffy pees, Kona is right behind doing the same. Mom has decided not to watch Kona until I get his marking under control. He has not been neutered and I also wonder whether it is something I should consider. As far as I have found, he has not done this in my house...only at my parents.

I have always given Fluffy priority over Kona when it comes to treats, food, and affection. Unfortunately, until he stops this behavior he will not be able to play with Fluffy during the day, instead he will have to be crated in my house. HELP!