Hi

I have s two year old shih tzu male which i have had for two years.  I have been having a battle with him over this period to go outside in the garden to toilete but still struggling.  He cocks his leg everywhere, I let him intot he living area from the kitchen he runs in and cocks his leg up the couch the firplace everywhere, I was adviced to try leaving him in a cage when I nipped to the shops etc and he even wees on his blanket in his cage.  Can anyone offer any help?

Hi. Nightmare isn't it!? My little boy is only 8 months old and has only recentley started the leg cocking He was really bad around Easter time but I watched him like a hawk and yelled 'AH AH OUTSIDE NOW' everytime his back leg lifted off the floor and then loads of praise when he did it in the right place - kind of back to basics and touching wood he now know's that behaviour is SO not allowed! He still does it when we visit friends though which is even worst than at home:rolleyes:......still working on that one! Is he neutered hun? Don't know if that would help matters but I'm sure that somebody will be along soon with some good advice. Sorry I'm not much help but I do empathise with you.

Hayley

Could he have an infection? I have a male coming up two and he has never cocked his leg indoors, i think i would be a little worried as to why if he did. He did scent once when we got him at 5 months but has never done since.  Has there been another animal inside your house? Sorry i am no expert but would not think this is normal if he hasn't done it before.

am i right in thinking that your 2 year old has never actually got to grips with being housetrained, thompson?  because there's a difference between an previously reliable and 100& housetrained male dog marking once he hits cocking age and kevinhood and a dog who isn't housetrained.

there doesn't seem to be any one pattern to marking since some male dogs never mark inside the house, others will try it out both at home and away and some simply save the habit for when they are in other people's homes (yes nips, i am talking about you!!!)

but as louise says, if he's never, ever, marked at home before then i'd wonder whether he had an infection or some other medical reason. however, your message suggests that this is a regular habit and if, as I've assumed, he isn't reliably housetrained then it's a question of cracking that by treating him like a small pup again and going back to basics. in other words you take him outside every 30 minutes and straight after meals and stay outside with him until he performs to whatever command word you've chosen. given that he's old enough to have sensible bladder control it shouldn't take long but it does need to be a very intensive process.

My 4 year old male - Louis - started to do this after being used at stud. I had to take him right back to basics to solve the problem. I moved him upstairs to sleep in our room at night ( he tended to only scent mark when I was'nt around) and took him outside straight away giving him the 'wee' signal and waiting till he performed. I then kept him with me as much as possible going out with him at regular intervals to give him the verbal signal to wee. When I was not able to be with him he went in his kennel so that he NEVER had the opportunity to spray in the house. It was a real pain and took a little while but I did solve the problem and he is now O.K.

When the bitches are in season I have to be extra vigilant as his hormones go crazy and he would spray up everything if given the chance :D. - you basically need to retrain him making sure that your signals are very clear and minimise his opportunities for weeing in the house.

Yvonne

Hi Thompson, I agree with all the above posts. Mine only marks in other peoples houses so it is more difficult for me to train him out of it unfortunately - However if you still have a problem with marking after you have tried the above advice then I would suggest you try a belly band indoors. If you put belly band into the search facility you will find my recent post under general section about where to find belly bands.

Is this something that started at puberty, or has he never really been housetrained re the weeing side of things?

If he was housetrained and then started marking, then it is marking.  On the other hand if he never really got the hang of housetraining before puberty and the wish to mark kicked in you have two problems.

In both cases training is the key.

Never let him have the opportunity to do it.  How you are going to achieve that I am not sure as he seems happy to dirty his bed

certainly I would go back to housetraining basics from scratch (take him outside and use a word for the action every half hour)and really be lavish with praising him for going where he should, and making sure he is in no doubt that inside is unacceptable, by whisking him out as soon as he attempts to leg lift, and praise him for going outside.

I would praise him for weeing on walks, and everywhere where it is OK, so he doesn't get it into his head that the weeing is displeasing you only the location.

I would only allow him in your livng areas on a lead so you can stop him right away.