Male Scent Marking in House - Page 1

Okay, I've reached the end of my rope here...

Since I moved to a new house in June, my male has decided he can scent mark in the sunken living room and the sun room that is next to it. I TRY to keep a baby gate up to prevent him from accessing this area when I can't watch him, but I'm only human, and sometimes I forget.  Then there is a fresh puddle to clean up, next to one of my glider rocking chairs, or, even worse, one of the upholstered chairs.

I have never witnessed him doing it. He must know I wouldn't be pleased, because he always waits until I'm out of the house, tending the kennel. And no, it's not a physical problem because he'll do it after he's just been outside to pee.

I am fairly sure the cause is that there are now two other (intact) males living in the house, in the basement apartment. We don't let them out together, as they don't get along, but they do share a yard where they do their business. Ranger is 8, and the other two dogs are 4 and 1 year. Both are considerably larger than he is.

I've never had a problem with him house soiling before, except when he's sick (diarrhea, and he previously had prostatitis and was dribbling urine). I had him neutered at the age of 3, due to the prostatitis.  Okay, he DID used to pee on the counter at the vet's, and once urinated (scent marked) in a friend's basement, before I had him neutered, but neutering solved both those problems.

If anyone has any suggestions for correcting this, please post them!  I'm really at my wit's end, and yelling at him when I find a fresh puddle is doing diddley-squat!  

Hi

Do you know if the previous people had pets? He may be scent marking on existing smells.
As previous OP says can you crate him on the times you cant watch him,it may help break what has probably become a habit.
What are you using to wash the puddles? I use biological washing powder as it breaks down the enzymes in urine there by removing the smell completely,Ordinary disinfectant removes the"top" smell,makes the house smell fresh but does not get rid of the enzymes that we cant smell but the dog can.

Yogi, I run a boarding and grooming kennel. When I say 'leave the house' it usually means going to tend the kennel, do laundry, etc. I am in and out of the house a dozen times in a morning, which means he'd have to be crated nearly all the time.

As he won't pee in the rest of the house, putting the baby gate up really is the equivalent of crating him, or confining him to a single room. I'm thinking of making one of those swinging gates that will close automatically. That will solve the problem of me forgetting to put the gate in place, and it will look nice, because there is a railing between the sunken living room and the rest of the house. I just need to attach a gate to the railing to block off the stairs.

BTW, I do allow him in the lving room and sun room when I'm there to watch him. If I kept him out of there all the time, he'd start to think of it as not being a part of his 'den space', therefore fair game for scent marking.

The previous people had both cats and dogs. He has peed on the rocking chairs so often that it's probably impossible to remove all the smell now, though I do wipe them down with Nature's Miracle. The floor is hardwood, so it makes it difficult to get all the odour out, as it seeps into the cracks between the boards.  I really believe those enzyme cleaners aren't all they're cracked up to be.  A dog's nose is so sensitive, they are going to be able to smell the urine no matter what you do....

Hi Sunsilver! You're going to have to remove the scent in the areas he's marked or he will continue to mark there. There are professional companies that will come out and de-scent.  I would do the entire room; wood flooring, baseboards, rugs, furniture, etc. Of course, even removing the scents throughout the den may not do it since he had gotten nto the "habit" now, but I would have it done anyway just for obvious reasons :)    After de-scenting I would put up the baby gate with the door to be on the safe side. 
All the best,
Char

No I dont think much of a lot of these "specialty" cleaners that  promise to make everything sparkly clean with little effort either lol. I do think biological washing powder or liquid (the stuff you wash your clothes in) is effective though. The trick is to thoroughly soak the area in a strong solution so that the whole area is covered. With longstanding stains you may have to do it a couple of times. I even use it once a week outside and it does seem to work. My local kennels also wash their kennels and runs with it once a week and they swear by it. Your poor lad must be a bit stressed what with being surrounded by the scents of animals he's never met and your other dogs who dont get on with him. Sorry I cant offer you any other solutions.

Shove his face in and beat the crap out of him. He has no respect for you. A baby gate. Good grief. 

Or, simply put him in a crate while you are out toddering around. LOL

oddly enough I agree with Jeff....if he is doing it maliciously while you are away and waits for you to leave to do it...heck yeah he needs to have his face stuck in it and told "no" because he is thinking he is getting away with it and you don't know who is doing it...also, another thing stuck me odd is you keeping dogs separate because they are not getting along...if you are the boss of them and you are the leader of the pack, they must get along...regardless how much they don't like each other...I had my issues with rotty and gsd years back and it was bad...had to put both of them spread eagle on the ground every time they fought and stuck faces in areas they would mark and over mark and mark again to claim as their own...they would even try to pee on visitors to claim them first...it took a few months but it was a no nonsense approach and you get punished for doing what you know you are not suppose to...separating them and keeping apart only made it worse..so feeding them together would be a good start, walking together and don't even let them eye each other..I am sure you know all of this and I am sure its easier said then done, but it is doable... :)

1) I have to confess, I have lost my temper with him over this, and shoved his face in it and yelled at him. The only thing it accomplished was to scare him and cause him to avoid me. He's spent most of the day in my bedroom, where he sleeps at night, as he's my hearing ear dog, while my other two dogs are sprawled at my feet right now. He was a rescue, and abused by his previous owner. This is the main reason I'm asking for OTHER more positive ways of dealing with the problem.

2) The other dogs are NOT MINE! If they were, I would make an effort to socialize them, but their owner is too afraid of them ripping each other up. One is a year old pup, and Ranger tries to dominate him. She is afraid of him getting traumatized and becoming dog aggressive as a result. She's right, too. I've seen one bad experience scar a dog for life.

And you sneer at baby gates? I bet you keep your dogs kenneled, except for the brief time every day when you take them out to work them!

Using harsh chemicals on the hardwood floor to eliminate the smell is hardly an option. Even the soap, water and enzyme cleaner (Nature's Miracle) I've used to clean with are damaging the finish.