Marking. It's getting old.

meepitsmeagan

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#1
Rider marks the world. Everything. Not so much at home, but any new place we go, especially outside. Which I don't really care outside, but when we are doing nosework? Come on dude. YOU ARE WORKING QUIT PISSING ON EVERYTHING. And it's getting really old when we go to friend's houses to have to keep him on a leash the first hour.

So, tips? I can normally get him to pee before we go inside anywhere, but he will still occasionally mark, and no doubt he will if it is our first visit. And also, while working. How can I discourage it?

TIA. This is why I've always had females in the past. Ugh.
 

BlackPuppy

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#2
I know how you feel.

When we are training or at shows/trials, I am very strict about no sniffing/no marking except in the potty area.

I give him a small leash pop and I get the, "but MOM!!", look from him.

All my dogs know the "potty" command. Actually, every night I ask them, "Did you go potty?". Sometimes Balto goes out to the yard to show me he knows what I said.
 

Saeleofu

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#3
I had a hell of a time with this for a while with Logan. Even now he still tries to do it in pet stores and dog shows (where others have already marked). This past weekend, though, we were at a show for 4 days and he only marked once (WHILE HE WAS FREAKING LAYING DOWN! How can you pee while you're laying down?!).

Anyway, it took a lot of patience and consistency. He did mark in the house when he first came home, but that was fixed in a couple days with a squirt bottle. Elsewhere, it took not LETTING him mark and correcting HEAVILY when he did mark. At first I'd take him on walks in the same area, and always let him pee in the same place. He knew when we got to that place, it was time to pee, and he didn't have to pee elsewhere. Then stretching it out until we could go for a walk without peeing (I let him pee before we started, and again when we got to the car). At pet stores, I let him pee all he wants before we go in, and then pee again as soon as we come out. And watching VERY VERY CLOSELY while in the store. If he looks like he'll pee, get his attention and either get him moving quickly enough that he won't pee, or get him in a sit/down so he can't pee (well, usually can't pee). I did use a halti for this for a bit, but not very long.

Basically, give him designated times and places to mark, and forbid it everywhere else. You can't go to a pet store to shop and have it work. You have to go for the sole purpose of making sure he doesn't have an opportunity to mark. If you need to buy something, put him in the car and go back in for it. "Leave it" works well for Logan, but only after the marking got under control to begin with.

Barring that, a citronella or e-collar could work, depending on how stubborn your dog is. I never used the citronella collar for marking, just for barking, but I can see it working. I did carry a tiny squeeze bottle of water at times, though, and used it to squirt him if he marked. It didn't work as well outside as it did at home. You can also rub some Carmex on his nose to mask the smells of other dogs, and with the lessened need to mark, start reinforcing NOT MARKING.

It takes a LONG TIME. But it is possible to fix. Teaching potty on command helps, too. Gavroche will even fake-pee sometimes if he doesn't actually have to pee when I tell him to.
 

Saeleofu

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#5
Out of curiosity, do all male dogs mark, and when does it start?
Not all male dogs mark, and if you can stop them from starting, it's a WHOLE lot easier than fixing it later. Apparently Logan's breeder's dogs never really marked...until a visiting male marked all over the place. That made her dogs decide to mark, and that included Logan.

Gavroche doesn't mark, and never has. He was also neutered at about a year old, but I can't say if that has anything to do with it, because I didn't have him before he was neutered.
 

Maxy24

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#6
Out of curiosity, do all male dogs mark, and when does it start?[/QUOTE

No, not all male dogs mark. Most mark outside, but not even all males do that. Tucker did start marking inside pet stores (no other indoor areas) when he was around 4 months. I would simply pull him away quickly when he lifted his leg (he was wearing a harness), and he only tried it maybe three times. We also neutered him around 7 months so hard to say if that stopped the marking. He also tried to mark my aunt and uncle's brand new couch the first time he saw it, and that was recently, no idea why he decided to try and mark that.
 

Dizzy

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#7
Fred has never marked, just wondering if this will start... He still very immature, at 8.5 months.

Sorry, didnt mean to derail!
 

Toller_08

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#8
I wish I had some advice for you! I've never had a bad marker to really give any advice. But I hope it gets better. :)

Fred has never marked, just wondering if this will start... He still very immature, at 8.5 months.

Sorry, didnt mean to derail!
It might. Ripley started marking at about 10 or 11 months. That's also when he started obsessively sniffing/tasting urine (that was the worst) and attempting to mount some other dogs if he was over excited. He only marked outside though or in heavily dog populated areas (breeder's house, parks) and never when he was on a leash thankfully. But life was nicer before he discovered his hormones haha. He was so much easier prior to around that age (his brain also disappeared for a while around 10mths old). But no, not all males will do all of that and some are better and worse than others as well. And with maturity and management and training, Ripley got his brain back and wasn't bad at all. I still neutered him though on his breeder's advice because he was painfully skinny and wouldn't eat, and after that any desire related to his hormones greatly decreased. But I think even if I'd left him intact he would have been fine. Just would have taken him longer to get it through his head that he didn't need to think about such stuff all the time.
 

Saeleofu

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#10
That's also when he started obsessively sniffing/tasting urine (that was the worst)
Both my dogs do that for ALL SORTS of smells. Sniff sniff, lick lick, chatter chatter, drool :rofl1:
 

Toller_08

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#11
Both my dogs do that for ALL SORTS of smells. Sniff sniff, lick lick, chatter chatter, drool :rofl1:
Ugh, I hate it so much lol. It's disgusting. He used to obsessively follow both of my girls around to do that to them, or wherever they sat, and that's basically all he thought about in the yard too. Almost as bad as marking since he totally was lost in his own little world.


Anyway, sorry about all of my unhelpful posts Meagan. :rofl1:
Easily distracted today apparently!
 

Keechak

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#12
Hawkeye marks outside constantly unless he's working. But inside ANY buildings he knows is of limits to pee, and he generalizes fully even to new buildings and even in new building where other dogs have peed. It wasn't always like that however, when he was 1.5 years old he lifted his leg on a chair at a friend's house(this friend has two poorly potty trained dogs that sometimes pee in her house). He and I had a "come to Jesus" meeting about that and it's now been three whole years without an incident. However go outside and give him a tree, or a bush, blade of grass, car, building, pole, house, ect, and he'll make sure to lift his leg on it even after nothing is coming out.
 

meepitsmeagan

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#13
You are all fine guys! I've heard that with male puppies that us dog crazy folks raise, it is not nearly as much of an issue.. but with him being a rescue, I don't know how long he has done it.

I will try your advice Sael. I don't think he needs an e-collar or anything, as he is quite soft. Honestly, he would probably stop if I told him I was disappointed. :rolleyes:

The main thing I don't understand is why he was marking when we were doing Nosework outside. HE KNOWS HE IS WORKING. Not marking time. Any specific tips for this? We've had some drive issues with him (perfectionist, gets frustrated if he can't find it RIGHT NAO), so I don't really want to "correct" him for marking while he is searching, but I also don't want him being a jerk about it either.. :shrugs: But, in the house and in stores, I will definitely make a point to be consistent and not let it happen.
 

Saeleofu

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#14
When he's working you can use marking as a reward. I did a bit of that with Logan, too, and it worked really well.
 

Keechak

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#15
When he's working you can use marking as a reward. I did a bit of that with Logan, too, and it worked really well.
lol actually I do that with Hawk too! After a successful search during training I let him off the line and tell him "go pee" :rofl1:
 

meepitsmeagan

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#16
When he's working you can use marking as a reward. I did a bit of that with Logan, too, and it worked really well.
lol actually I do that with Hawk too! After a successful search during training I let him off the line and tell him "go pee" :rofl1:
That's actually a really good idea! Would you still let them go before you search? How would you approach it if they slipped up while searching?

It's a lot like the "go sniff" if you walk on a loose lead for so long, I would imagine.
 

Saeleofu

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#17
That's actually a really good idea! Would you still let them go before you search? How would you approach it if they slipped up while searching?

It's a lot like the "go sniff" if you walk on a loose lead for so long, I would imagine.
Let him pee before you start, but don't let him mark like crazy before hand. Just one chance to pee. Start small and reward him with peeing after short periods and build it up. Set him up to succeed!
 
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#18
The main thing I don't understand is why he was marking when we were doing Nosework outside. HE KNOWS HE IS WORKING. Not marking time. Any specific tips for this? We've had some drive issues with him (perfectionist, gets frustrated if he can't find it RIGHT NAO), so I don't really want to "correct" him for marking while he is searching, but I also don't want him being a jerk about it either.. :shrugs: But, in the house and in stores, I will definitely make a point to be consistent and not let it happen.
This makes me think he's doing it because he's nervous or stressed.

Back up a bit in your training, up your rewards, make things a bit easier for a while, see if that makes a difference.
 

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