How do you stop a neutered dog from marking territory in your house?
As with most things, the best cure is prevention. By having your dog neutered before they reach the age when they start marking, you can save yourself a lot of trouble. However, that is not always possible.
You may have adopted an adult, unneutered dog, or perhaps you have chosen to hold off on neutering your puppy for other reasons. Whatever the reason, you might find that your dog is long past the age where neutering will prevent marking. Nevertheless, there are still some steps you can take.
As long as your dog isn’t marking every inch of the house, something, or somewhere, triggers it. Identifying a specific trigger, such as a spot, will inform how you address the problem.
For instance, it may be the neighbor’s cat coming for a daily visit or it may be a new male dog in your household. In either situation, it is best to control your dog’s environment and remove the stressor. Another option is to crate your dog if the stressor is temporary.
If your dog focuses on marking a specific spot or in a specific room, the first thing you should do is try to restrict access. Then, if possible, keep your dog away from that area.
Next, you want to clean the spot thoroughly. The marking instinct can get triggered by the smell of a previously marked spot. Because dogs have a very keen sense of smell, it’s important to clean the spot with a purpose-made cleaning solution.
After the spot is clean, you can use a potty training aid, such as a no-go potty training spray, to deter your dog from marking the area again. In addition, you can use a ‘go-here’ potty training spray to assist in training your dog to go to a designated spot.
New items like furniture, appliances, and decor can put your dog in the marking mindset. It can be a challenge limiting your dog’s access to new things in the house. Avoiding a nasty surprise means vigilance, and you will have to monitor your dog around the new thing closely.
Dog’s peeing on the furniture is a common occurrence.
A deterrent spray may help, but if your dog is adamant, it will take direct intervention to stop them from laying claim to your new couch. On the other hand, if you can keep them from marking it, your dog should learn to ignore the new thing as the novelty wears off.
There could be another reason that your dog marks inside. Unseen visitors, particularly strange dogs that come too close to your home, can trigger your dog’s marking instincts. The solution here is less about stopping the behavior and more about addressing the situation.
A dog should receive proper socialization throughout their lives, which usually prevents this behavior. But, if the unfamiliar dogs are marking territory on or around your property, you can’t blame your dog for trying to bolster their claim to the house.
Unsupervised dogs pose a risk, and if possible, you should identify the owners of the dogs and ask them to help find a solution to the problem. If the dogs in question are strays, you must contact animal control or a similar NPO.
It doesn’t always feel great doing so, but stray dogs pose a risk to neighborhood animals, children, and property. It’s the responsible thing to do.
There is always the possibility that your dog is not marking at all. Some medical conditions relating to the urinary tract and bladder can cause behavior that mimics marking. Fortunately, there are distinctions between the behaviors.
The ‘markings’ won’t usually occur in the same spot. Your dog doesn’t think about how the behavior looks to you. If their body tells them to do something in response to a medical condition, they won’t put much thought into it.
If you suspect that your dog might have a medical condition that has them ‘marking’ in or around the house, you must schedule an appointment with your vet. Such infections can start pretty mild but can worsen if they go untreated.
What’s the Difference Between Peeing and Marking?
Your dog may pee inside if they haven’t been let out enough, if they have a small bladder, or for many other reasons. But the peeing will result in a full puddle of urine.
Whereas, dogs that urine mark will only squirt out a small amount of urine and will often do it on the same spot or object.
Although it’s natural behavior, it’s certainly not acceptable in the house. Furniture, floors, walls, and other items are ruined or damaged when your dog decides to claim them as his own.
Urine marking is not the result of faulty housebreaking. In fact, most of the time, urine marking can be curbed with behavior modification.
Pin Me!
Will my dog urinate in the house after being neutered?
There is a difference between urinating and marking, and neutering may only help if your male dog is marking. Marking is when a dog intentionally urinates on the spot to mark its territory. On the other hand, urinating is when your dog relieves their bladder.
Since marking is only something a male dog should begin doing when their hormones are kicking in, it is unlikely that a puppy is marking.
An adult, unneutered male will typically lift his leg to mark, usually smelling the area first. There may only be a small amount of pee, and it is usually against something vertical, like a wall.
Occasionally, they may do it out of frustration, such as peeing on your bed if you have been gone a long time. Typically, a dog marks if he is new territory, or if a strange new animal is close by. Neutering does typically reduce this behavior.
However, if your dog is urinating in the house, and you don’t believe they intend to mark their territory, several possible causes and solutions exist. Usually, when a dog urinates indoors, it’s down to poor house training.
Your first step is to assess whether your dog needs retraining. If your dog isn’t fully house-trained, you can read our article on Puppy Still Not House-trained: Age expectations.
Training an adult dog can be challenging, depending on the breed and its associated temperament.