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aDULT HOUSE-TRAINED MALE URINATING IN THE HOUSE
Dear Jubilee,
I have a 3 year
old male terrier who has recently decided he has urinate in the house,
particularly things and places related to me. I see it as an attempt to dominate
me and get my attention. What suggestions do you have to extinguish the
behavior?
Fed Up in Frisco
Dear Fed Up,
If a well-housetrained adult dog starts urinating in the house, don't assume a
reason like dominance even if it appears that he is mainly soiling things that
relate to you. We cannot know what dogs are thinking, and such assumptions are
just guesses.
The first thing I would do is have the dog checked out by a vet. He might have a
urinary infection (UTI). Take the dog to the vet, and don't settle for a quick
urinalysis because those can come back negative even if the dog has an
infection. Ask for a culture which will take a couple of days. Then if there is
an infection, treat it according to the vet's recommendations.
Now, if you do not take a urine sample in and the vet takes a sample directly
from the bladder, the vet may miss an infection further down or s/he may miss a
low-level chronic infection. Sometimes, especially when the dog did not used to
do this, it is wise to put the dog on a round of antibiotics such as Clavamox
just to be sure. Ask your vet.
If it is not an infection, your vet may suggest (or you may ask about) using one
shot of female hormones while you are trying to break the behavior because it
may lessen the urge to urinate in the beginning of the re-training period. But
this is not something to do on a regular basis. Again, listen to your vet.
If there is no infection, then you need to do two things: (1) eliminate all odor
of urine from your house and (2) re-housetrain your dog.
(1) Eliminating all odor: You need to use an enzyme urine odor remover. Bleach,
household cleaners and ammonia will NOT work. Your dog's sense of smell is
thousands of times more sensitive than ours and even if you do not smell urine,
he will. And where he smells it, he will cover it with fresh urine. Do not use
ammonia: it ends up breaking down into a smell that smells like urine and your
dog will cover it with his own urine.
(2) Re-housebreaking requires that you supervise, supervise, supervise. This
takes: (a) confinement, (b) scheduled outdoor time, and (c) a special place
outside near the door where he will get rewarded for urinating.
(a) Confinement: if you cannot supervise your boy, he must be crated.
His crate should be in a family kind of room (kitchen or family room that
members of the family spend lots of time in), and if you work at home, the crate
should be in your office so he still feels part of the family. Retraining using
a crate is something that many people don't want to do with an adult dog, but it
is necessary with this kind of problem. Most people who use a crate to re-train
find that the problem is gone within a month or so. Try it and see: I feel
pretty sure that if you follow this program of confinement and going out that
the problem will resolve itself. Remember: you must take the dog out far more
ofthe than you might think necessary, and you may have to stay outside with the
dog upwards of 20 minutes each time.
(b) Scheduled outdoor time: Follow a similar schedule as you did when
you first trained him as a puppy: take him out on a leash when he wakes up from
sleeping, after he has eaten, whenever he has been excited (like when company
comes), after drinking water, and every 20 or 30 minutes when he is playing. Be
sure to walk him four or more times a day . Take him to the place where you want
him to pee, and after he pees, then walk him around and give him plenty of
opportunity to urine mark enough to empty his bladder (males always hold some
back just in case they need to mark something!). When you bring him back inside,
if you can supervise him, allow him some freedom but only under your watchful
eye. If he starts to lift his leg, say sharply "Eh-Eh" or shake a can with
coins in it to divert his attention, and take him immediately outside. When he
lifts his leg outside, praise and treat. Put him back in his crate if you cannot
watch him. Repeat this whole process frequently.
When you start giving him more space than his crate, you really have to
supervise him carefully. You can tether him to you with a six-foot lead; you can
use baby gates to restrict him to a specific room. If you see him sniffing or
circling (indications that he is looking to mark), then take him immediately
outside on a leash to his bathroom spot. When he eliminates, praise him lavishly
and reward him with a treat.
After several hours of confinement in his crate or a small area (an area
too small for him to want to urinate in), take him out to his bathroom spot and
praise and treat when he eliminates.
(c) Special place near the door (but far enough away to not cause any
problem for you). I read somewhere that using a marking post is a good idea: get
a wooden fence post and install it in the part of the yard that you want him to
use as a bathroom. Get your friends to bring their male dogs over to mark it,
giving your guy an incentive to use it. When you mop up his urine in the house
with paper towels or rags, leave them at the base of the marking post for awhile
to show him that this is where you want him to urinate.
Don't punish your dog after the fact. Even a minute is too late because your dog
does not understand why he is being punished. Dogs are not people: they do not
do this out of jealousy or spite or other emotions. I doubt that they even do it
out of any sense of trying to dominate you. They do have a drive to cover urine
smells with their own (and they will cover the smells made by any other pets and
they will even cover their own urine smells); they do mark things that smell
unfamiliar, like new things or even things that smell of other people, and this
is a territorial drive: they are re-establishing that this is their territory.
If he marks something that belongs to a visitor, he is just viewing the visitor
as an intruder and is letting the intruder know that the space belongs to him.
Finally, if all else fails, you can consider using a belly band. This is a cloth
band that is wrapped around the middle of your boy. It is secured with a velcro
closing. A woman's sanitary napkin is put inside. If your dogs lifts his leg and
urinates while wearing one of these, he will wet himself. Don't remove the pad
immediately: they do not like having to stay wet. But don't leave it on too long
either: you don't want germs to grow in it! You also do not want to rely on it
all day long because it can irritate the tip of the penis and bacteria can grow
there. But it is fine for occasional use around the house when you want him to
have more freedom or if you have to run to the store and don't want to confine
him. The belly band is a reminder to your dog and they will start to stay dry.
Here are some sites where you can find belly bands:
http://www.petorphans.com/bellybands.html
http://www.showpaps.com/bellybands.html
http://www.bichonfriseusa.com/ref/bellybands.htm
http://www.wonderpuppy.net/copper/helpfulstuff.htm#band
I hope that you find the help you need in this answer. Please let me know what
works for you.
Jubilee
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