Hi All

Sorry to post again about this subject but with not much experience of male dogs just wondered what your opinions were on this matter, my westie Robbie is now nearly 11 months old we had him castrated at around 6 months because he was constantly trying to mark the furniture and us and no matter how much we told him NO he still continued to do it, once he was done he stopped near enough straight away trying to mark us and the furniture indoors, he constantly wanders around sniffing the floors some days indoors but up to now has not attempted to cock his leg, i have never known a dog to constantly sniff around the house like he does its as if he can smell something, i always thought sniffing meant a dog was about to wee but perhaps not!!
My main problem i am finding with him now is when out walking if he is off his lead he constantly sniffs around for pee and then marks over it with his own doing just little drops at a time, of course when he is on the lead i can yank him away and only allow him to wee a couple of times but off the lead he does seem to wee an awful lot for the sake of it, when we went to the breeders house for her to clip him 1 of her bitches was in season and he cocked his leg in her house which she said a castrated dog will do and not to worry about it.
We went to dog training last night and again he was constantly sniffing around the floor and when i set him up to do his recall he went straight away over to a certain spot in the room and cocked his leg, whether another dog had wee'd in that spot i'm not sure but i was surprised he did this as he doesn't usually wee at training, the dog trainer said we need to be a lot stricter with him otherwise he will start to do this in the house again, but how strick can you be when they are off their lead and get to a spot before you and start to wee, i am strick with him at home and am strarting to feel now where am i going wrong as i thought castrating him would have stopped him marking over other dogs wee.
I am concerned now that if i want another pup next year he will do it in the house again as there is bound to be wee around with a puppy you cannot expect any different, my other dog never did this so not sure where i am going wrong with this one.
Any ideas i would be very grateful for, i am very weary now about taking him to friends houses even if they haven't got a dog as i don't trust him that he won't cock his leg in their house.
Thanks
Helen

Castration won't change male behaviour -LOTS of castrated male dogs even still mate bitches, mine certainly do. You shouldn't stop him from marking outdoors, quite the opposite, LET HIM -because outdoors is where he is meant to wee and it doesn't matter! Let him get all his marking behaviour done with outside. In a strange house with strange dogs it is bound to happen and it's just a question of being vigilant and stopping him. All in all, it's a  training question. Weeing is done outdoors, not indoors -so outdoors gets praised, indoors doesn't. As it isn't the same as house training, i.e. it is not done because the dog can't hold it, personally I do tell my dogs "no" if they ever try to cock a leg indoors -and take them straight outside just like a pup. My feeling though is the more they get a chance to mark outdoors during walks, the less they do it elsewhere.

But it is also a confidence issue and not always the way it seems. A dog may start marking indoors because they feel threatened by another. For instance my male neutered papillon started marking indoors when we had an entire male come to visit for a few days, and he'd NEVER do that normally. (And he stopped as soon as the other dog left.) But here was a strange adult male dog on his territory, and he didn't feel like he could tell him off or claim his own territory back in any other way than marking. Your boy was neutered very early and unfortunately it does affect the confidence so this may make it somewhat worse -he won't be able to mature and feel more secure and not feel a need to mark. So it will mean more work. The only thing castration actually cures is the ability to sire puppies. :)

The worst dog I ever knew for marking was a castrated terrier.

As MarianneB has said the only thing castration stops is siring puppies. They can mate a bitch and tie, they mark there territory were ever there is another dog or bitch. This is a male thing. The smell of a bitch on heat will make them wee over there wee, it goes on in there head not there testicles. He was very young to be castrated, this stops them maturing. This will cause a problem, if you get another dog or bitch. He probly will return to weeing in the home. But! never shout at him from weeing outside, he will not know if he is coming or going.
Because he was castrated young he is going to be hard work.

Denese 

I think Marianne's advice is spot on.  You don't want to be telling him no for marking outdoors, even if he's forcing it out!

No i haven't told him off for weeing outside its only indoors that i am telling him off for, when he did it at dog training last night in the hall the trainer didn't go much on it and said that i had to stop him doing this otherwise he will start doing it again in the house if he thinks its okay to do so, i am just concerned that when i have another pup next year he will start to do it again over the pups wee.
I was advised that he was old enough to be castrated and that it wouldn't stop him from maturing seeing as he was a smaller breed as they said its only the large breed dogs that can't be castrated too young

I was advised that he was old enough to be castrated and that it wouldn't stop him from maturing seeing as he was a smaller breed as they said its only the large breed dogs that can't be castrated too young
I hope that wasn't your Vet? :(

Most males, if allowed to mature, will stop marking naturally.  Of course there is sometimes the odd exception but most adult entire males, who haven't mated a bitch, are fine once their hormones have settled.

> Of course there is sometimes the odd exception

I've got one of the odd exceptions (describes Piglet perfectly! :-D) who, given the opportunity of a misplaced stairgate, is likely to mark either my son's bed or my husband's side of ours. It certainly seems to be a testosterone thing - but he's still staying entire. They're not meant to come upstairs anyway. The other entire male has never marked indoors.

Yes it was the vet and the breeder as i asked both for their advice and they said it would do him no harm in being neutered at that age as he is a smaller breed dog

heres a paper someone on here sent me (cant remember who but thanks hope you dont mind me passing it on) when i was being pressured by my vet to castrat my 7 month old bully i didnt get it done as i didnt feel their was a reason to and from Every bit of advice i have been given even one nice vet told me it wont change my dogs behaviour,

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2045340

oh and my Rottie walks round pee'ing on everything outside sometimes his only doning a a copule of drops hardly worth the leg lift if you ask me , but i think he marks alot and i am always saying it when out, "he dont stop pee'ing" :-)
and his got his bits  so i just think it a male thing , he dont mark indoors tho never has,

> when he did it at dog training last night in the hall the trainer didn't go much on it and said that i had to stop him doing this otherwise he will start doing it again in the house

Understand that one totally.  I took a youngster to ringcraft and nearly died when he went to mark in the hall!  
He had never done it at home, but I guess he had never been among so many other entire males.  :-o

I had my WSD castrated at about 7 months after one of his testicles hadnt dropped - he marks constantly although thankfully only outstside.  My sprollie wasnt castrated until 21 months and hardly marks at all. 

Perfectly normal behaviour, even my spayed bitch seems to mark. She sniffs before she wees & then definitely seems to mark territory, I had a Manchester Terrier Bitch years ago (spayed) that used to stand on her 2 front legs to wee & appeared to be doing the same?

my 8 month old entire rott marks constantly but not in the house.  He even tries to pee on my b***h when she is peeing.  Dirty little tinker!

I am glad somebody elses dog sniffs constantly as thats all he seems to do at times and whatever i do to distract him just doesn't work, i cannot understand what causes him to do this though as touch wood up to now he hasn't wee'd in the house since being castrated but just sniffs the floors like crazy even after they have been freshly mopped.
I would just like to stop him weeing in other peoples houses and in the training hall though as its embarrassing, i can understand him marking like mad when he is out for his walk but just not indoors.