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Last Updated on December 29, 2023 by Thee Puppypreneur
MARKING IN DOGS
First you need to decide if the marking in dogs is territorial or if your dog spraying pee everywhere is for another reason.
Some different reasons for dogs and marking are;
- Urinary infection
- Anxiety
- Fear
- Dominance
- Not being let outside enough to potty
- Underlying medical condition
After you have ruled out all the above reasons then you can assume it is territorial marking.
If your dog spraying pee everywhere is because of a territorial reason, then they will mark their spots with little dribbles of pee.
They also may mark several spots at once. This is different from them fully emptying their bladder in one spot.
DOGS AND MARKING
This could be due to a number of different behavioral reasons.
Dogs communicate by scent, body language and vocalization. By marking their territory outside they could have caught the scent (pee) of another animal and by marking in same location they now become the dominant scent and in turn are saying that this is their turf.
Marking in dogs, on objects inside of the home is another issue. Perhaps, you are somewhere new, such as a friend’s house or you just moved into a new apartment.
Your dog is in an unfamiliar place and the odds of the scent of another animal being there, let’s say from old carpeting could be permeating his scent glands.
Now he is trying to establish his presence and create a familiar environment that he is comfortable with by leaving his scent there also.
If your dog is marking inside of your own home this could be due to another animal you brought home or maybe you brought home some new furniture or maybe someone has just visited your house and left the scent of one of their pets.
Any one of these reasons could be why your dog feels the need to let everyone know “this is my house.”
Another reason that your dog could be marking territory is also because he/she is not spayed or neutered.
The hormones in younger dogs that are intact are usually the one’s that love to make their presence known to either male or female.
Actually, even females have been known to mark their territory too.
Another factor that could influence dogs and marking is the gender of the person walking the dog. In a behavioral study done on dogs in animal shelters they discovered that dogs walked by unfamiliar women had a higher tendency to urinate more then dogs walked by unfamiliar men.1 Sex of Walker Influences Scent-marking Behavior of Shelter Dogs – PMC (nih.gov)
HOW TO STOP A DOG MARKING IN HOUSE
First of all, you need to catch your dog in the act so that you can correct the behavior. Getting upset after the fact doesn’t do anyone any good because your dog will not understand why you are mad because you didn’t catch him at the moment of inception.
Understanding your dog’s behaviors before they mark their territory will give you a better understanding of what type of body language to look out for just before your dog pees.
You want to address the issue firmly and make sure he knows he shouldn’t be doing that inside the house.
You can put him in a crate to prevent the marking if you are away and unable to watch him throughout the day.
Another option is;
this spray has certain essential oils which you in turn spray on the affected areas in the house your dog is marking.
The idea here is that
#1 it will remove the odor and scent
#2 it will detour your dog from future marking in that same spot.
For other problems such as potty training, check out our step-by-step guide below;
