Common House Training Problems

10 Feb 2010

10 Feb, 2010 Dog Health

House training is one in every of the areas of dog ownership that’s most subject to misunderstanding, confusion, and just plain dread!

Today’s newsletter is going to accommodate 2 of the most common issues surrounding the problem of house training:

- Submissive/excited urination

- Scent marking

Common house training problem 1: Submissive / excited urination

What is it?

A ‘submissive urinator’ could be a dog that urinates on the floor and himself (and sometimes on you and any guests you’ll have!) in situations of maximum excitement or stress – like when you come back home at the top of the day, or when he’s being told off.

Why will it happen?

Puppies are the usual candidates for submissive/excited urination, but it’s not uncommon to work out adult dogs with the problem similarly: sometimes, these are highly sensitive and timid dogs, and/or ones from a shelter/with a history of abuse (typically these last two go hand-in-hand.)

When does it happen?
Situations when an excited/fearful dog is likely to urinate:
- Greeting time once a chronic absence
- Play time
- The arrival of guests
- Stressful things at home, eg arguments
- Throughout a correction (you’re telling him off)
- Sudden loud noises (thunder, fireworks)

What will I do concerning it?

Fortunately, it’s not tough to “cure” your dog of his submissive/excited urination.

First of all, you must take him to the vet to make certain there’s no medical reason for the problem (like diabetes or a bladder infection.)

Next, it’s time to take control of the problem:

- Limit his intake of water to help him control his bladder additional effectively. Don’t limit his water intake over a chronic period of your time, but if you recognize there’s a state of affairs coming that would normally lead to urination – as an example, you have got guests coming over, or are planning on a play session soon – take his water bowl away for a amount of your time (perhaps half an hour to an hour) before the event.

- When greeting your dog, keep it calm and mellow. The additional excited he is, the more durable it’s for him to regulate his bladder, thus don’t encourage him to get worked up: ignore him for the first few moments, or offer him a neutral “hello”, a fast pat, and then go about creating yourself at home.

- It’s vital that you simply DO NOT punish or harshly correct your dog for this behavior. It’s not one thing that he will simply management, and he’s definitely not doing it on purpose. After you catch him in the act, you’ll interrupt him (a firm “No!” followed by praise when he stops ought to suffice) however don’t punish him. Keep your cool, and strive to be sympathetic: he doesn’t mean to try and do it, after all!

- If he urinates out of fear (submissiveness) when scolding him for another offense, try to take the strain levels down a notch by keeping a firm, authoritative, but not angry tone. Keep in mind, you’re managing a sensitive, highly-strung dog: if you get angry or worry him more, the matter can worsen.

Common house coaching problem a pair of: Scent marking

Scent marking – where a dog “marks” his or her territory with urine – is technically not truly a house coaching downside, since it’s based on problems of dominance and territoriality instead of insufficient house training (a dog can be perfectly house trained however still mark inside the house.)

However, because – since the matter centers round the unwanted presence of urine within the house – it looks logical, during a manner, to link this problem with house training: and since this is one among the foremost widespread issues among dog house owners, we have a tendency to thought it worthwhile to include some practical advice.

Scent marking and lack of house coaching: how to differentiate between the two

Your dog’s probably scent marking, instead of genuinely relieving himself, if:

- The amount of urine produced is comparatively small, and tends to be directed against vertical surfaces (walls, doors, etc)

- He’s male, unneutered, and at least five or six months old. Unneutered dogs are much more territorial than neutered ones –if you’ve got an unneutered dog in the house, you’ll pretty much expect a sure amount of scent marking. (Unspayed females conjointly mark, but it’s less common; spayed and neutered dogs can additionally exhibit marking behavior, however it’s relatively infrequent)

- It makes little distinction how typically he’s taken outside for a rest room break

- He frequently targets things that are new to the house: new possessions, guest clothing/footwear, etc

- You reside in a multi-dog household and there is conflict between two or a lot of of the dogs

- There are other, unneutered or unspayed pets within the house

What to try and do regarding the problem?

First things initial: spay or neuter your dog(s) as soon as you most likely can. If you’ll try this early enough – ideally, at six months of age – this typically halts marking altogether; but if your dog’s been marking for a protracted amount of time, he or she may continue to try to to therefore after being spayed or neutered, since a pattern of behavior will are established.

Clean soiled areas thoroughly. Use a non-ammonia primarily based cleaner (as a result of it smells simply like pee) and keep aloof from vinegar too (it smells kind of like pee.) Oxi-Clean mixed with heat water is notably effective; there also are masses of business cleaners designed specifically to elevate pet stains and odors, that you can get from pet stores and some supermarkets.

As a result of dogs tend to re-mark the identical places, you’ll need to redefine the places that you recognize he’s marked to stop repeat offending.

You can try this in an exceedingly range of ways:

- Feed him next to or on prime of the spot
- Play with him there
- Groom him there
- Put his bed over or next to it
- Pay time there yourself: hang out with a book or sit down and work

If there is rivalry between dogs within the household, you’ll want to take steps to resolve it. Any conflict is possible to be hierarchical in nature (a “power struggle”), that means that every one you have got to try to to to stop the strain is pay attention to that dog appears to be a lot of dominant than the opposite one (that one eats first, gets the toys he/she wants, “stares down” another dog), and reinforce this position.

How to try to to this: feed the dominant dog first. Pet him/her first. Provide him/her a toy before anyone else gets one. This makes it clear to all dogs within the house that one really is the dominant dog – and when this hierarchy’s been recognizably established, territorial/dominant behaviors like scent marking usually vanish overnight.

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