Indoor urination

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I have a dog who is getting on a bit now. He was rehomed to me as previous owners got so sick of
his constant (secret) relentless urination in the house. He basically did scent or territory marking (tiny wee) all over the place when they weren’t looking and in hard to spot places and absolutely trashed their house. So I did know this when I got him. He is a nice dog in all other ways and seems happy, we all love him.

It wasn’t too bad to begin. I bought a carpet cleaner but didn’t leave him alone in carpeted areas and didn’t leave interesting and obvious things on the floor (like laundry or boxes). I put him out to the toilet regularly (watching him go) and taught him to go on a command. I got into a habit of getting the carpet cleaner out regularly and searching for any areas he might have done it and cleaning it with special dog urine cleaner. He is not allowed upstairs alone. He never does it in the main living area or the kitchen and he never does it in front of you.

Last week he got into my DD’s room by accident (total fluke how he got up there, something fell over onto the stairgate and knocked it down) and in the seconds of us realising and rushing to the gate and catching him, he did a big wee all over the middle of her bed. It took us 3 days of cleaning and bicarbonate to get the smell and stain out

it has got so much worse recently and today I reached breaking point I cleaned all the carpets and searched the whole house for wee, I took out all the items he had weed on into the garden either to clean or bin. I filled a bucket of hot detergent water and took it outside. I cried because then I realised he had done it all over the bottom of the bucket as well, so it was all in the kitchen sink, dripped on the floors etc. He wees over everything in the garden too - brooms, bins, plant pots, table, clothes pegs that might drop on the floor so everything is sticky and yellow although I can handle that

He is much worse in wet or cold weather as he doesn’t like to go out. He has even started I think doing pretend leg cocks in the garden then coming in and doing it indoors. It’s all behavioural
and I have had him checked by a vet many many times, as did his previous owner. I walk him twice a day and he always does small territory wee x 30 on everything he smells outside too

I just don’t know what to do with him. My house stinks. he eats nice grain free foods. He’s super healthy. He’s very loved. Is there any suggestions of how to stop this? He’s seen a behavioural trainer and even she couldn’t help 😭

I say good boy and praise and fuss him. I used to give him treats when I was training him to go at the command of ‘go wee’ but I phased that out once he started learning it

he sometimes does big wees in the house (if cold and raining, perhaps). If he needed a big wee he would usually cry and scratch the door to go out. If he ever does a big wee indoors, (if it’s not on DD’s bed) it would always be in the corner of the bathroom on the wipe clean floor. He also had a bad tummy one night and went to the toilet for a poo in the bathroom in the same spot as he clearly didn’t feel well.

He seems to be pretty decisive about where he will have an unfortunate accident and where he will cock his leg. They aren’t the same thing. He’s trained in a squat wee and a poo but he’s not as well trained in terms of leg cocking and trickle wee. He’s never gone on the sofa and he’s never done a big wee on Carpet

Sorry OP, but this post made me smile 😃

Unfortunately, unless you move him to an outside kennel, it's unlikely to change.

I disagree that it is unlikely to change.

You do need to get a qualfifed behaviourist in to help with this. A qualified behaviourist is unlikely to give the only reason as territorial. There is medication that can help alongside a behavioural plan but that would need to be discussed with the behaviourist and vet. Medication alone is unlikely to work but combined with a behavioural plan can be really effective

There are many reasons a dog scent marks but obviously it is totally natural behaviour but that does mean we can not change the dogs emotions so they do it in more favorable locations

Some dogs scent mark to hide smells, some dogs mark when they enter a new area. Interestingly females rarely mark on top of another dogs wee but adjacent to it but male dogs are more likely to wee on the object that has been weed on.

A dog will scent mark if stressed, if they have separation anxiety or resource guard even new items coming into the house that do not smell of the family.

However saying all of that I dont think that is the reason your dog is scent marking. Absolutely yes to the anxiety or slight stress but not so much to cover up scents.

Do as you are doing eg cleaning up with enzymatic cleaner, keep your dog in a small area of the house, s not let him have free reign. The hardest bit is to supervise at all times , this is hard but does need to be done to break the cycle. If you see scent marking about to happen distract immediately, I would use a positive interrupter and reward as they come to you, so still all relaxed, adding any emotion to this will increase stress and increase the marking.

I would also make a note (I make a written note) of when he scent marks out and about. How often, what he marks on, does he do it more in new locations, does he do it in the same place on walks you do a lot. Does he do it more on some days than others?

This info will help the behaviourist.

Thanks. He is a dog of habit, he will mark the same thing and place on every walk and at home. He has places he just seems drawn to. And he likes poles/doors/bins - same as street furniture, bins, fence posts etc. it is a natural behaviour to some extent isn’t it. He also really likes things that smell of his fave humans, like our dirty laundry

Got

Hi, I have a dog who is EXACTLY the same. A pug that we rescued aged two, from a young family with three kids under five who just didn't have time for him. He'd spent most of his life crated and wasn't castrated.

We had him castrated and we went back to basics in house training (I have another pug who is bomb proof with house training). But he is just a dog who likes to cock his leg. On walks he doesn't care about running or balls, it's just one big pissing adventure for him 🤣.

We tried so hard for well over a year but I was just utterly sick of probably once a week discovering somewhere else that he had wee'd. I won't live in a house like that. Our dog, Frankie, has absolutely no anxiety by the way. He's the happiest, cuddliest, most thick as mince dog I've ever met. But he just LOVES to cock his leg.

After accepting we'd never change him we decided that he'd need to wear a "nappy" in the house...Eg a belly band. It has been an absolute game changer. He's more than happy to wear it, we just take it off when he goes outside. He doesn't actually wee in it in the house...when they go to cock their leg it doesn't feel right to them because the band is on and they stop doing it. He doesn't mind wearing it btw, when he runs in from outside he stops and waits to have it put on.

Don't buy the cheap eBay rip offs, I recommend the ones by Glendarcie or something like that. Just bung a cheap sanitary towel inside it, just incase, and you're sorted.

If you can't fix him, this will probably be your best solution. Hope that helps, it has been an absolute game changer for us.

https://glenndarcy.dog/collections/original-hook-loop/products/leopard-male-dog-belly-band

My favourite ones...we call them his Peter Stringfellow pants

This all screams anxiety to me, especially the big bed wee. My rescue dog has weed on my bed before more than once and I think it's something about mixing their scent with yours to feel less anxious. Annoying as hell, but because she's worried.

You can get things like Zylkene without prescription. I used that at times in my last dog. Could be worth trying something like that to see if it helps.

I was also going to suggest a belly band. Good quality ones fit very snuggly and would take serious work for him to be able to get off. If supervised reasonably frequently it should stay in the right place.