Urgent advice needed re: marking in the house

[ohgoonthen]

Hi,

I urgently need some advice on how to stop my dogs marking in the house. It's been going on for a long while now and I am at my wits end, so is DH who is wanting to rehome them as we can't see any way to solve the problem and is is getting out of hand

Background is : I have 2 male lab x's, brothers, neither are neutered. We have never felt the need to have them neutered as they are never around other dogs, they don't fight with eachother or any other dogs they have met, completly placid, laze about all day and are inseperable. We have had them for 3 years since they were a few weeks old, they are completly house trained, never had any problems up until about a year ago.

I also have a female malamute, she's spayed, gets on well with the boys. She tends to spend most of her time on her own, sits outside etc. We got her when she was about 6 months old, never had a problem with her either.

Then we have a female cat, shes spayed, doesn't go out, spends most of the time sleeping, pretty much ignores dogs and everyone else.

So, before the marking started, we moved house 3 times with the dogs, replaced furniture, have always had different people coming and going etc and there was never a problem so I have pretty much dicounted the usual triggers.

One of the boys just started this one day (first in the kitchen) and has continued until now. Nothing had changed at all so I am at a loss to understand why.

The first issue is that they only ever do it when we are out so we can never catch them in the act. I know it is not seperaton anxiety as I used to be at work all day and it never happened. Now I am at home much more I only have to leave for 5 mins and I come back to piddle everywhere! I also don't know which one is doing it for sure....I have an idea who and it's not the Alpha dog.

Second issue is that we have a 3 month old baby now. This started before I got pregnant so thats not the reason but it is obviously not right to have a house covered with pee and a little baby crawling soon. The dogs still get the same amount of attention, love the baby etc etc

Third issue is the cat : We have accidently created a territory split now in the house. Just before baby was born, we blocked the stairs with a gate to stop dogs marking upstairs which they did the odd time. Obviously we can't stop the cat from jumping over the gate so now if we forget to close it, the dogs are straight up peeing everywhere and always over the cats things.

My mum has suggested that the dogs are marking were the cat is rubbing herself (table legs, settee corners, along kitchen cupboards) which could be true but they also mark in other places where the cat doesnt go!!

Arrrggghhh!I just don't know what to do!
Obviously, neutering will be the first course of action as soon as we can afford it but I'm worried that this has just gone on too long now that they will carry on marking afterwards. I
cannot afford a trainer and confining them to a room is impossible as downstairs is all open plan. They are angels when I'm at home, but I dread what I will come back to when I leave the house!!

I would be so greatful for some advice from someone with experience

You dont say how often or for how long you walk the dogs, Im sure if they were walked for an hour at a time 3 times a day they would not be able to 'mark' we got our 2nd sibe when he was 9 months old - he was not house trained, it took us 2 weeks to get him clean, but he has never marked again, he too had been through several house moves before he came to us - this did unsettle him somewhat, hopefully you will resolve the matter soon.

Mothernature - The dogs are not walked. We are not living in the UK at the moment and unfortunately in this country, animal poisonings are very common so most people tend not to walk their dogs. We have a big secured garden with plently of room to exercise and an area which the use to go to the toilet.
They are in and out literally all day, somtimes spending most of the day outside if they want to. They know to 'ask' if they need to go outside too which they always have done.
They also go outside at least twice a night when I am up feeding DD.
The Labs were very easily toilet trained (about a week I think) and the Malamute, although she was older and a rescue dog from a shelter, took only a few days as she just followed everyone else.

I can honestly never recall any of them going to the toilet in the house up until they started marking and I know that if it was because they actually needed to "go", the house would be flooded...they are all big dogs!

Our house moves don't seem to have affected them at all and we have been in this house for 2 years now, so they were well settled before this started.

I don't know much about dogs, but don't labs need about 2 hours of "exercise" per day? Don't think this includes time in the garden, but means walking.
Walking would stimulate them and maybe stop this territorial behaviour.........just a stab in the dark :)

How can anyone poison the dogs if you are walking them on a lead? Dogs need walking for mental stimulation as well as exercise, they need to be able to sniff different smells and meet other dogs. What happens if you ever have to give the dogs up after they have been used to living like this?

I would definitely start to address this by walking them. I would also look at crate training them, as this will stop the marking when you are out. Neutering might stop it, it might not.

I understand the importance of walking for dogs but unfortunately due to being here (Cyprus), it is sometimes impossible to give pets the same standard of life that they would have in the UK. It is the one thing that I absolutely hate about here.

I have volunteered in animal shelters here and have seen many many dogs and cats die from poisoning and I honestly believe that, although not ideal, it is much safer to keep my dogs at my home than have them meet a horrible end.

Dogs are poisoned here while walking on the lead every day. Poison is laid out on meat, dog food etc and scattered around and they can easily pick that up especially when walking in the evenings and it's not possible to see everything. Yes, you can muzzle your dog but it is not guaranteed to be safe. Poison is also available in liquid form which is sprayed and during this time of the year when we have heavy rains, poison can easily run into puddles etc.

You may think I am insane but just google Lannate poisoning in Cyprus and have a look.

Yes, I worry about what would happen to them if I gave them up but the fact is, most people here, depending on where they live, do tend to avoid walking their dogs for the same reasons as myself.

However, as the dogs are not used to being walked and have been contented with their lifestyle for the last two years, I don't understand why they should start this. We have many people coming and going, plus their dogs so my dogs are certainly not isolated or bored. I am pretty sure that not walking them isn't the problem but am really willing to try anything at this point.

It may be a problem of hierachy with your 2 boys. They are the same age, un-neutered. Who's got the upper hand? I expect your bitch is top of the tree and the dogs are below her. You may find that it is just one of the dogs who is doing the marking. Dogs, like so many things, like to know their place, and if it's not entirely clear, it can cause this sort of problem. It may be worth talking about the possibility of neutering one of the dogs, and the potential difference it could make.

I would strongly suggest having them neutered.

Having the garden is not the same as good exercise but could you spend a few hours of ball throwing or have a large paddling pool set up and lead them round in it for 20 minutes?

Also the fact that they only do it when you are out means you can trat it the same as seperation anxiety.

When you leave say nothing to them at all. Leave and stay outside for 2 minutes and return. Ignore them as you walk back in and pretend to be busy then let them out in the garden.

If they do pee while you are gone ignore it as you walk in, let them in the garden then clean it up.

Another tip is to wait until they are settled before you leave. SO walk towards the door, if they get up then sit where you are. Once they have settled and are lying down, get up again and make for the door. Again of they get up sit down. Keep doing this until they no longer get up when you leave. Dont acknowledge them while you are doing this or just tell them "basket".

Get them neutered, clean the house with specialist spray.

Make sure no other animal is getting into the house.

Always leave in a crate or safe kennel when you leave the house.

If you have a big garden how about getting some agility equipment to get them exercised and thinking?

I use biological soap powder which apparently has the enzymes to break down the smell of wee and poo. I also have Simple Solution, which is formulated for animals with good noses.