Please help stop my poodle pissing on presents :(

Eeeka · 2022-12-05T16:24:05+00:00

I have a gorgeous standard poodle who is 3. Whip smart, knows lots of tricks, good bond with us. He is toilet trained *but* we still have issues with territorial marking on ‘new’ things or items that have moved place :( basically we need to be careful with things like putting a suitcase down by the door or leaving a bag of cat litter in a different space. I haven’t employed a behaviouralist yet as we were waiting to see if it stopped if he was neutered…6 months on, nope. It’s not daily but it’s still too much, a strange item in a new place probably gets pissed on once a week…! can anyone shed some light on this behaviour? He is the loveliest, most good natured, most well behaved dog (apart from this problem). With xmas coming up, I’m really worried about putting the presents out in case we have territorial marking as they are ‘new’ and in an odd place. short term- is there anything we can do? Any guards to practically block him out (does such a thing exist), or any training exercises you can recommend?

ElephantInTheKitchen · 05/12/2022 16:33

The short term solution will either to keep the presents away from him (off the floor), or to keep him away from the presents (by means of a baby gate)

Helpplease888 · 05/12/2022 16:45

Interested to see if anyone has experience of how to stop this! My dog is about to be neutered next week. He is marking all over at the moment! The girls’ mini Christmas trees, the decorations we had out whilst putting them up, toys that have been set up to play with. I have to carry him in pet shops as the second I put him down, he marks! I am really hoping it calms down after his operation!

ErrolTheDragon · 05/12/2022 16:50

I wouldn't leave presents anywhere a dog could get at them. Apart from marking, if any contain food (especially chocolate) you're asking for trouble.

ShouldIknowthisalready · 05/12/2022 16:54

Scent marking is the only behaviour that neutering may alter. However if it has become established behaviour then it may not make any difference.

Scent marking is usually a stress reaction so look at ways of lowering your dogs stress levels in the home. Maybe look at some calming dap infusers (although they dont work for lots of dogs) .

Look at exercise and brain type activities your dog has. it may be increasing these or decreasing them depending on the situation.

Usually scent marking decreases if the dog is not bored so usually upping activity helps.

Get chew toys or natural chews as this is a good way to help relieve stress in dogs.

Best not to let a scent marker free roam around the house so have them supervised in one room.

I would not put down presents in a place that he can get them.
Do you have other animals in the house?

KeiraMetz · 05/12/2022 17:00

It sounds like he is getting too much freedom in the house when he's not ready for it. Scent marking can be a learned behaviour, it's not always to do with being entire. Plenty of entire males do not do this, and plenty of neutered males do. You need to strip it back a bit. I'd either keep him on a long line in the house so you can guide him away from things he is sniffing and about to pee on, or do some boundary training whereby he stays on his bed/on the sofa/in a certain room until given further instruction. So bed means bed, that way he's not free to roam about and risk peeing on stuff. Clicker training is really powerful way for teaching dogs what you want them to do

Sisisimone · 05/12/2022 17:59

I feel your pain as my dog does this occasionally. I spoke to the vet about whether neutering would help and he told me not to waste my money, that it would not stop it and that most male dogs scent mark. My dog boarder told me that every male dog she looks after, without exception, scent marks and that if she has a few male dogs together they all scent mark over each others scent markings 🙈

If anyone has managed to stop it completely I'd love to know how

Schlaar · 05/12/2022 18:00

We don’t put presents out till Xmas Eve. Too much risk of then being poked by a dog or a child!

Helpplease888 · 05/12/2022 18:25

Sisisimone · 05/12/2022 17:59

I feel your pain as my dog does this occasionally. I spoke to the vet about whether neutering would help and he told me not to waste my money, that it would not stop it and that most male dogs scent mark. My dog boarder told me that every male dog she looks after, without exception, scent marks and that if she has a few male dogs together they all scent mark over each others scent markings 🙈

If anyone has managed to stop it completely I'd love to know how

Oh no!! I assured my husband that it would get better after as I had read that it often helps. Mine does it a lot when out, but in the house, it’s mainly in the room where the cat often is- although it can be anywhere.

Original poster

Eeeka · 05/12/2022 18:49

KeiraMetz · 05/12/2022 17:00

It sounds like he is getting too much freedom in the house when he's not ready for it. Scent marking can be a learned behaviour, it's not always to do with being entire. Plenty of entire males do not do this, and plenty of neutered males do. You need to strip it back a bit. I'd either keep him on a long line in the house so you can guide him away from things he is sniffing and about to pee on, or do some boundary training whereby he stays on his bed/on the sofa/in a certain room until given further instruction. So bed means bed, that way he's not free to roam about and risk peeing on stuff. Clicker training is really powerful way for teaching dogs what you want them to do

Really?

it honestly is only if something is out of place, and it’s not constant- it’s just what we notice if we have accident

examples of where he scent marks are the following

a bag of recycling propped by the door not taken out immediately
suitcases down from the loft
a broom not put back in the cupboard

basically anything that has moved

our sofas, book shelves, baby bouncers…anything that has its place, he’s fine. No accidents, beautifully toilet trained.

i think he will be really stressed out to be confined to one room. He is not destructive or exhibiting any signs of stress.

to answer another poster there is a cat in the house- but they cuddle, share a water bowl and sleep together. He also doesn’t mark on any of the cats things.

OP posts:

dawnfromgavinandstacey · 05/12/2022 20:44

We have a dog like this.

Adopted him at six months. Bit of an issue with marking but we resolved this with training and pads by the back door of a night.

Got him castrated and he regressed to being worse than when we got him. It's taken six months to get him back to where we were.

He is let out every hour and he understands to go outside. He still has a nighttime mat by the back door & if we go out and leave them on their own.

Most of the time (last three weeks) he has barely used it.

Hopefully he has mastered it now

KeiraMetz · 05/12/2022 20:45

Yes really. Obviously the staying in one room/ in his bed won't be permanent if you don't want, just until the habit is broken, as that's what it is, a habit. It's unrealistic to try and never have anything out of place, you should be able to move things and put things down without them being peed on. If he has the freedom to roam about the house then he has the freedom to pee where he likes!

KeiraMetz · 05/12/2022 20:46

Of course him roaming free would not be a problem if he wasn't peeing on your stuff

Petalpup · 05/12/2022 20:49

Sorry to say but we had a boy who did this his whole life-as you say not often or always but enough to be a pain.
we kept him in one area (kitchen and hall) when left alone. If we accidentally left a door open we would usually find a sneaky little wee somewhere!

MilkToastHoney · 05/12/2022 20:51

Agree to going back to basics and keeping him in one room until you teach him to stop the unwanted behaviour.

He’s not ‘beautifully toilet trained’ - he’s weeing on you things inside the house! That’s not toilet trained at all.

Once you’ve managed him not weeing in one room then gradually extend the area he’s allowed in. It’s not forever, he can go back to having free roam of the house once he’s stopped weeing everywhere but it will be much easier to deal with starting by confining his areas.

justcallmebozo · 05/12/2022 22:03

I'm wondering if it's a mild anxiety kind of thing, if it just unsettles him a bit when things are not where they "should" be?
Some good suggestions from @ShouldIknowthisalready. Hope you can get it sorted soon.

Nowifi · 05/12/2022 22:05

I totally misread this as poodle pissing on parents 😂 either way hope you get it sorted 👍

justcallmebozo · 05/12/2022 22:07

Nowifi · 05/12/2022 22:05

I totally misread this as poodle pissing on parents 😂 either way hope you get it sorted 👍

Even when you read it right, there's something inherently funny about a "pissing poodle"

Or is it just me?

GreenManalishi · 05/12/2022 22:08

Back to basics with the toilet training as he's missed some of the lectures, meanwhile get some baby gates and so he can't wander round the house cocking his leg on things that take his fancy!

33goingon64 · 05/12/2022 22:16

Don't put presents out til Xmas morning (or last thing before bed Xmas Eve).

ChangedmynameagainforChristmas · 05/12/2022 22:25

Years ago we had a cocker spaniel bitch who pissed on the carpets and destroyed plants and generally ran amok in the house when we went out. Someone advised me to put her on a lead in her bed. She could not move from there unless I untied her. We walked her and played with her but when we went out (which was when the pissing started) I would tie her to her bed. We would not be out for long - maybe to the shops or similar.
It stopped as quickly as it started. I do not what the psychology was behind it but it worked.

Fenella123 · 05/12/2022 22:33

Bad Boy Belly Band or similar (aka dog nappy) on top of what other PPs have suggested.
I have a boy who's MOSTLY good but not 100% reliable if we have to go out at an unusual time. The belly band has saved us a good bit of cleaning up over the years!

Sisisimone · 06/12/2022 16:49

Fenella123 · 05/12/2022 22:33

Bad Boy Belly Band or similar (aka dog nappy) on top of what other PPs have suggested.
I have a boy who's MOSTLY good but not 100% reliable if we have to go out at an unusual time. The belly band has saved us a good bit of cleaning up over the years!

These look just what i need. Thanks for sharing