Hi all
After some advice although I have almost decided to castrate.
My 18 mo dog has started marking indoors. Before anyone suggests re-housetraining he does NOT need a wee. There are no other dogs in the house. He marks a lot out of doors and is quite territorial about his garden.
I have never caught him at it so cannot prevent it with a NO. I have found the evidence on doors and a floor plant pot. It was especially noticeable after the cleaning was done on Monday with a strongish smelling detergent. Doors had been wiped down and he marked them that afternoon. He is rarely far from us but obviously sneaks out of sight to have a quick sprinkle!
The main question is whether castration will help. Some of the other suggestions I have read like tying him to you all the time are not practical. He is a keen chewer so I think he would remove a belly band quite quickly.
Regards Louise

Castration may improve it but there are absolutely no guarantees that it will stop it altogether. I certainly have castrated males cocking their legs indoors at times. If I was you, I'd try him on Suprelorin to see, then you don't have to take any more drastic measures for no reason.

It was especially noticeable after the cleaning was done on Monday with a strongish smelling detergent

It may be strong smelling,  but it may not have eliminated the smell of his urine and may have acted as an incentive to remark

Have you tried washing down his favourite spots with diluted clothes washing liquid/powder?     It contains enzymes that will remove the smell entirely,  leaving no cue for him to remark ;-)

Of course this is just part of the cure.

Ensuring that he doesn't get a chance to mark and is seen if he does,  so that he can be dissuaded (NO! /Ah-Ah! )  is as important,  so  yes,  a lead attached to you when you're there and crating when you're out is probably the way to go.

The only one of my males that marks indoors is the one that is castrated so it may not work.

The worst marker I have encountered was a castrated male.

I have had stud dogs of my breed visit, with bitches in season and no marking, though once or twice I caught one doing the kitchen door on way out of it, and another thinking about lifting and told no.

Just remembered my friend had her adolescent male dobe blow the electrics by peeing into a socket.

He was crated and watched carefully and red the riot act if he looked like leg lifting.

After a few month of always being crated if not being watched, he no longer did it.

I keep males and females in my house. My young cocky dog started to 'mark' everywhere when he reached puberty.
The BEST thing is a Belly Band which inhibits the action, stops any scent reaching the areas which might encourage re-marking and stops the owner getting at the dog all the time for their misdeeds.

Within two weeks my youngster had stopped this behaviour and only needs reminding with a verbal cue if he forgets himself and sidles up to things. He only wore it when I was around and supervised.

Great for visits, nights in hotels etc where he otherwise would need containing.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BRAND-NEW-DOG-PANTS-MALE-STRAP-BELLY-BAND-TRAINING-INCONTINENCE-RRP-15-/231084367878?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Kitchen_Washing_Machines_Dryers&hash=item35cdb3a006

The only certainty with castration is no puppies.   So although it's up to you, your decision, whether you go ahead with this surgery (and however simple, it is still surgery with a general anaesthetic and recovery period), you may well be disappointed in terms of stopping what's going on.

Most unwanted behaviour isn't cured by castration, but by TRAINING and avoiding the unwanted behaviour.   In other words, your dog may well have started a habit for some reason, which needs stopping.    And don't rule out this being a medical problem either - UTI!!  You say he pees a lot outside - IS he marking, or just has the need??   Unfortunately males never entirely empty when let out to urinate, always saving some for marking.  However, provided he goes out at least every 4 hours when awake, there should be no need, other than an infection, for all this.   When you can't supervise him, for now, confine him (crate if he's not too big now). 

We have lived with entire males (and entire bitches) for generations and none has DARED empty indoors (other than for a medical need).

I think you need to reinforce the early puppy housetraining rather than look to castration to cure this.

I don't do stuff like belly bands, or diapers for that matter.  

My little pug is the same.
I had him castrated when he was 3 and it didn't make the slightest difference to his marking and he still lifts his leg every time when in the garden. He is also a slow learner and a sharp 'no' makes no difference to him. I try to treat him like a puppy and take him for frequent visits outside and get him to go more than once. It is very frustrating, especially as he marks the other dogs beds which isn't nice for them.

I wonder if nerves might be at play, with you mentioning him marking a lot outside and being territorial in the garden.  Obviously either can be perfectly normal but a worried dog will often mark considerably more, indoors too, in a bid to make themselves feel more secure.

Thank you very much for all your replies. It has given me something to think about.
Nikita-- in general he is not a worried dog, rather the opposite, bold and very sociable. However the marking in a living room might be worries about the Vacuum which lives in the corner. Now and again it gets a good seeing to -- biting it and mad barking. I have moved it out.
Catching him at it is a problem. I set him up to catch him today and a NO, AH/AH did work. I will keep a closer eye on him and not let him rampage through the whole house.
His territorial behaviour is normal for the breed, .....he is a Buhund.
I have used the enzyme washing stuff as well as proprietary spray for dog wee. It seems that the cleaner it is the more he wants to mark it inside the house.
I will buy a couple of belly bands and keep them in reserve.
We will see!!
Louise
PS Never had this bother with 7 consecutive bitches

Just curious so to no one in particular but is this problem more common with smaller dogs? I've had 6 males always with more than one at a time and never had them mark inside. Once they have been housetrained that has been it. They have all been medium/large gundogs, have I just been lucky?

The one of mine that does it is a large breed (Malinois). My other 2 large breed males don't though (Labrador & Malinois)

Almost every small breed/type male that comes into my house will do it (absolutely guaranteed if they are entire), rarely the larger breeds.  But that, ahem, "data" is skewed as the majority of dogs I groom are small!

The only dog of my own I've had do it was my min pin, but he was an intensely stressy dog, and it was entirely because of that - once he'd settled into his little area he never marked in there again.  But let him anywhere else in the house and he did it almost constantly.  I even found wee on my pillows!

I have this problem too - I posted on here a long time ago.  Everyone said it is down to training but my youngster is house trained - marking is a whole different matter - so difficult to train not to mark because you have to know before hand where they are going to do it!   I restrict my youngster as to where he is allowed to go during the day and he is allowed to come and sit with us in the sitting room in the evening.  If I spot him starting to sniff around I can prevent any marking incidents - which are not as frequent as they used to be.  It used to be - anywhere my (spayed) female older dog lay, her food bowl, his food bowl if she looked like she was going to have a lick, and sometimes after play he would have a quick spray especially if Meg had taken a toy that he thought was his - that would be marked too.   I stood over them at feed times and removed the empty bowls,  I have only one chew toy and one ball available and remain vigilant after they have been playing (usually after meal times) and I remove them saying they are mine if he looks like marking them as his!   However I can't stop the sneaky trips out of my sight to spray where Meg like to sit.  Her crate is kept shut during the day with something leaning up to it.  I have been told I should stop him marking when he is out for a walk - but how difficult is that to do when they are off lead!  He is lightning quick when he is on lead too.  My friend just had her dog neutered and she said the marking stopped straight away!   I crate him when we leave the house and at night-time - he is now 22 months old! 

>Everyone said it is down to training

It is training and management.

Training that it is not acceptable, like any other negative behaviour, not housetraining, LOL

:-)  I know I didn't put that down correctly - yes it is mostly management - very difficult to train that it is not acceptable  - I just try to anticipate the marking and say no you don't,  oy or something and call him to me or to lie down - anything rather than sniff around and think about it.  It is the sneaky moments that I can't do anything about - it is a constant awareness of where he is - which can be very trying.   Luckily he is the sort of dog that likes to lie over my feet most of the time! 

It is a case of breaking the habit, by removing the opportunity, until it stops, he is still at the young male stage.

I know it's one reason I don't choose to own males. ;)

My experiences can't be generalised to all small dogs, but I've had 5 males, 4 being used at stud - none of which have ever marked in the house.

Everyone said it is down to training but my youngster is house trained - marking is a whole different matter -

I'm sorry to have to disagree.   If your dog is/was marking indoors, he isn't/wasn't housetrained!!!  

My males were all entire - some were stud dogs and all lived with our mainly entire bitches (until they were retired and spayed).  NONE marked much as I was never totally sure if I left them too long (much over 4 hours) they'd not 'go'.   Males as well as the bitches.    And when I had to go back to working a full day, 3 days a week - 9 hours, they went back to emptying indoors.   I'd leave newspaper down which they used and as soon as our circumstances improved, I stopped working again.  Sadly it took a while beyond that before they'd stop messing indoors if we went out of an evening.   This was a left-over from the time they didn't know when I'd be home.

I'm afraid for me, a dog who marks indoors, isn't housetrained.

My standard poodle certainly is house trained. I got him at 6 months and he is extremely clean, he can go for hours without being let out. My daughter had him for 2 weeks in September, while we were on our holidays, he was 100% clean. Around 4 weeks later, just around his 1st birthday, he learned how to cock his leg. The next time I took him to my daughters he had a wee outside (as usual) and then came into the living room and deliberately marked the carpet. He was definitely marking, he then marked a pile of towels that were on the floor next to the washing machine, back at home. They were the only 2 occasions and he had a stern telling off. Hope I have  cracked it with him, he has been fine for the last 2 months, so fingers crossed!

>I'm afraid for me, a dog who marks indoors, isn't housetrained.

There is a big difference between marking and just going to the toilet!  I call housetraining learning to toilet outside.   Marking is a deliberate 'spray'  not a full bladder emptying and it is done for a reason - I am still trying to work out why mine does it - but certainly where Meg goes to the toilet outside he goes to mark over hers if he is offlead.    I have often wondered if my older girl has a bit of incontinence - she has had one or two accidents in the past but that has been when she has drunk a lot and then gone to sleep heavily - however she may dribble a very small amount that my youngster smells and then marks where my older dog sleeps - this is just a theory as I say because I have never seen any damp where my girl has been lying.   I think it is more to do with him putting his ownership on all the space in our house - Meg is a dog that guards her own space and there is no cuddling up with my two dogs - which I find rather sad in a way - but Meg has been an only dog for 8 years.   

There is a big difference between marking and just going to the toilet!  I call housetraining learning to toilet outside.   Marking is a deliberate 'spray'  not a full bladder emptying and

Whatever.  But having lived for decades with entire males and entire females indoors, and with males who most certainly did over-cock where the girls went outside, for me ANY form of urinating indoors would suggest the dog isn't housetrained.

Further, I'm the boss in our home - so there's no situation where any of mine (infection/other medical problem apart) would be putting ownership on all the space in the house.

If any of my males did this, I'd be back to reinforcing the housetraining, for sure

Evening all
I have read all your replies with great interest. I have watched him like a hawk since the revelation that he was indeed marking in the house. This has cut out all the times he was allowed to play with the cats in the top corridor or go and lie down on his sofa in another room. I have also reinforced the trip outside and "Hurry up""......not allowed in till he has peed.
The belly bands are no good. Too small and in any case he removed it in 10 seconds flat.

Regards Louise

Is the extra vigilance doing the trick.

I had always wondered how belly bands or for that matter bitch pants worked as can't imagine them staying on for long, and also how would you prevent them going in them as soon as let outdoors?

I tend to keep the door open to outside a lot of the time.

I tend to keep the door open to outside a lot of the time.

Me too although with those being housetrained, I tend to prefer to 'dictate' the goings out and in!!!  At least I know then what they might need to be doing.   When the weather goes cold, I tend to get a 'vibe' that one of my now just two, has gone to the back door.   It's usually my boy because my bitch can hold forever.   I know because she held for 22 hours (honestly) when we were away overnight.   In her case, it needs for me to get her out regularly to empty.