Ugh, marking advice

Hmm, this isn't totally unheard of for a neutered male.

First things first, are you sure he is marking and not just peeing? Is he housetrained? Usually marking is only a small amount. A puddle makes me thing he is just doing his business.

If he really is marking, or doing a combination of marking and relieving himself, then there are a few things that might be causing him to do it. Some reasons for marking might be that he feels insecure, or certain smell of other dogs and animals you might have brought into the house via your shoes might be causing him to mark them specifically.

Though, him trying to mark your fiance might mean he feels insecure around him. Are you and your fiance living together? If your fiance recently moved in with you, or visits often(whichever is the case) then he might feel threatened by him.

Well, regardless of the cause you definitely want to stop it. Make sure you clean the area he marked with a cleaner that eliminates any remaining scent he might be able to smell. After that, when he isn't being supervised he should be crated. Make sure you watch him like a hawk when he is out and about so that when you catch him in the act, or about to you can interrupt it with a loud noise.

aki said:

Hmm, this isn't totally unheard of for a neutered male.

First things first, are you sure he is marking and not just peeing? Is he housetrained? Usually marking is only a small amount. A puddle makes me thing he is just doing his business.

Click to expand...

It is usually enough to fill the liner in his belly band, but I know it is marking because he will do it even after he has been outside and peed to his heart's content.

aki said:

If he really is marking, or doing a combination of marking and relieving himself, then there are a few things that might be causing him to do it. Some reasons for marking might be that he feels insecure, or certain smell of other dogs and animals you might have brought into the house via your shoes might be causing him to mark them specifically.

Click to expand...

I had thought about that with the shoes. The people I work for recently got a 13 month old vizsla puppy, of whom Perry has met and is dominant over (if you can picture that, lol). He was also with me by himself and the vizsla for 10 days while I house/puppy sat and is insanely jealous of my female dog right now. I let her sit in my lap while I was on the computer, and he stood with his front feet on my leg crying. Not a hurt cry, but a very upset cry that I have never heard before.

aki said:

Though, him trying to mark your fiance might mean he feels insecure around him. Are you and your fiance living together? If your fiance recently moved in with you, or visits often(whichever is the case) then he might feel threatened by him.

Click to expand...

The Fiance and I have lived together for over a year now, and Perry didn't come along until March/April this year. Perry loves The Fiance, and doesn't mind cuddling up or even sleeping with us/just The Fiance alone. It could be that and I am just loveblind to the symptoms, but I haven't noticed anything. I will have to ask The Fiance (whom only really pretends to like Perry for my sake.)

Thank you for your suggestions. This is getting bad! I hope it can be fixed with diligence on my part, as much as I treat him like my little boy, he IS a dog... whom doesn't understand that Mommy collects shoes like they might be currency in the future!

YET ANOTHER long one

KPoos said:

Could you use those belly band things for him and if you catch him lifting a leg get him in trouble for it but he's not leaving behind a scent?

Click to expand...

He isn't really able to leave much pee in the area that he so chooses... one upside of the belly bands. He really ends up just peeing on himself, and I figure it out when a small poodle that smells like pee wants to sit in my lap.

Taxtell said:

If this is newish behavior, there is a possibility it could be physical.

Maybe ask your vet if you can drop off a urine sample to check for infection or crystals.

Click to expand...

I hadn't thought about taking him to the vet over this yet, but that is an option... The last time he was at the vet, he was a wooly mammoth, so I'm sure they would be surprised to see him again! (My vet dilemma is another story for another thread topic... essentially, I hate my vet's office. They have several different vets, and you never see the same one. There is only ONE vet that I like, and I've only ever seen him ONCE. However, that being said... I LOVE the girls that work up front and the vet techs I have met. The girls up front always remember us and our dogs and make us feel welcome. One of them in particular is kuku for cocopuffs over TheGreyhound!)

cuddleparty said:

Spencer - could it be that little pee pee pants is pissed off (haha.. sorry.. not funny, I know...) at you? Is he feeling sad? neglected? Is he trying to get your attention? Dogs usually go for their owner's precious belongings when they want some extra love and attention, right? Is he doing this to get attention from you? Even if he is getting in trouble, he is getting noticed.. something is better than nothing!

I hope ya'll are able to work out it.

Click to expand...

See, I was entertaining that idea... that he feels neglected. However The Fiance is quick to point out, that I am "nicer to him than even TheQueen"... which I suppose on some level might be true. Don't tell The Fiance I said THAT though! Maybe I did treat him better and give him more attention when he first arrived at our house because he was lost, obviously scared, and needed someone to take charge and make sure it was okay. Now that he lives with us and knows where his next meal is coming from, I may have backed off a little. He still gets more "picked up and loved on" kind of cuddles than anyone else, because he's the tiny one. TheQueen is 27 pounds, and rolls around like croc when you pick her up. She isn't a fan!

----------------------------------------

I feel like I am making excuses for everything that everyone suggests! (Like my kid is the bad one at daycare that keeps biting all the other kids!) I've just called the vet (whist typing, yes... I am skilled!) and made pee pants an appointment. Also, I've sent an email to my mother's friend whom is a behaviorist for all things that wag, and am waiting to hear back. While it is only noon, and we have the rest of the day ahead of us, Perry hasn't had a selective accident in the house. Yay! I feel like I should get one of those "___ days on the job accident free" signs!

I asked if they would want me to collect a sample myself, or just bring him in... they said because it has been several months since he has been in that they would like to see him and re-evaluate. Which I totally understand. The last time they saw him, he was nasty and matted, and his teeth were disgusting. So they might tell me he is younger than they told me last time upon taking another look at his teeth.

This is my second vet office here in this town. The first ones were snooty and over priced (this was when I only had ONE dog, too!), so I had switched to the current one... maybe I'm picky, but they are MY dogs, after all.

The people that live in this town are either university students, families, or people that are wealthy from old money, and they all have their own little cliques... so it is hard to get good opinions from people. I need a vet that is always on call and knows for a fact that I have TWO accident prone dogs. TheQueen has eaten half of a sponge that had been used to clean and bleach the bathroom, she has also eaten an entire pack of gum that contains xylitol, swallowed a 6 inch roll of rawhide, and licked all of the flea/tick meds off of her shoulderblades. Don't ask me how she did it, but she did, and through all of that she's fine! TheGrey tends to be drawn to chocolate. For Christmas, he managed to open an armoire and eat all of the candies given to The Fiance, The Fiance's Sister, and myself from The Fiance's grandmother. THEN, ate about 4 pounds of M&M's that were AGAIN... in a cabinet that he had to work to get open.

I should own stock in veterinary medicine.

Bumpity bump bump!

Actually, this is relevant. That little p*sser marked me THREE TIMES YESTERDAY!

He only got it on my shoe once, but THREE TIMES! Once while I was at someone else's house visiting (it was in their house... mannnnn), once at PetCo after we had just met and I loved on another dog, and once after someone petted him (he was happy to let them). Marked! Me!

I understand (and see every day) that he is very jealous of anyone touching me or talking to me... dog or otherwise. But he loves to be social (minus the grumbling he does, which everyone assumes is growling). TheFiance and I talked and we think that he might need to be socialized more... meeting new people (he growls and barks at new people from afar, but is happy to meet them when they get close), and meeting new dogs (he growls and barks again, but is happy to meet them, and if he thinks he should be the boss, does a loud yippy bark and let's them know... then everything is fine.)

I just hate people think he is a mean little dog, because he isn't. I was joking with TheFiance that he needs a sign or a shirt that says, "I'm grumbling, not growling".

Personally, I think that Panties Boy has separation issues. I do not think that there are any physical ailment. He is very submissive to Spenc. He does, usually, what he is told. We had an issue with ProblemChild right after he was separated from his family jewels. He was having accident in his crate. Normally he was usually very good, for a puppy, about holding it until it was time to go outside. We knew it was completely out of character for our new addition to be acting in this way. Spencer some research and found that it could be caused by the medicine he was taking for pain. He was half way through the medicine prescribed to us so we contacted our vet and decided to take him off of it. No more accidents of that kind since.

With P we have noticed no abnormal signs. His accidents seem to come one of two ways. They either are when Spencer has left his sight or when he feels that she has been in contact with other dogs. This is my reasoning for thinking that this is a separation issue we are working with. I do not believe that it is a dominance things. Just as I previously mentioned, he is very submissive to Spenc. I think that he feels threatened in some way. He will bark as other dogs or people pass. He is not aggressive by any means. I believe that he feels he is needs to protect her in any situation (I am not meaning dominance protection. I believe that he would give up his tiny body to save hers). This is where our decision to try and socialize him more often than we do comes to play. He has some jealousy issues, no doubt about that.

I am no Cesar Millan but I have watch enough reruns to know that we cannot put human emotion behind our furry children actions. So, with that said we will continue to search for a solution to our problem with out making excuses for him. Thank you so much for you suggestions and concerns. I cannot express to you how much it means us each to have somewhere to turn when we need a little extra advice. Spencer is very concerned for the well-being of all who reside in our household. I know that we will find an answer and give P every opportunity to live a stress free life in his now forever home.

Again, thank you guys so much and we would greatly appreciate any advice or suggestions that you have so please keep them coming!