We have a 2 year old Pug that is fixed and has taken on a new habit of
lifting his leg on anything he can and urinating on the object.
Sometimes nothing will come out and sometimes its such a small amount.
Is he marking? If so, how do we get him to stop? We have a female pug
and she goes potty outside and he used to only PEE OUTSIDE.
We need advice BADLY!!!

Aeroprincess said in rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

Sometimes nothing will come out and sometimes its such a
small amount. Is he marking?

You'll probably hear this a few times: Any sudden change in
behaviour should result in a trip to the vet. In this case, a
urinary tract infection (UTI) could be the cause. A physical
check-up is way less time consuming and expensive than dealing
with behaviour issues.

If so, how do we get him to stop?

A couple of things. First, think puppy - start taking him
outside on a regular basis and praise him or treat him (whatever
works best) when he goes. Secondly, clean up his pee spots
thoroughly with an enzymatic cleaner like Nature's Miracle.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

"Aeroprincess"
wrote:
We have a 2 year old Pug that is fixed and has taken on a new habit of
lifting his leg on anything he can and urinating on the object.
Sometimes nothing will come out and sometimes its such a small amount.
Is he marking?

Sounds like it. Marking is a difficult behavior to stop, because it's not
really related to housetraining. A dog can be 100% housetrained in that he'll
ask to go out before emptying his bladder, but will still mark little bits all
over the house.

First of all, I'd invest in a black light so that you can find all his mark
spots and treat them with an enzyme cleaner (Simple Solution or Nature's
Miracle).

If he has free run of the house, that has to stop. Unless you're directly
supervising him, he should be crated or put in a puppy-proof area where he
doesn't mark.

If he has certain spots that he prefers, block those areas off for the time
being. Or change their association to him, by feeding him and playing with him
in those spots.

For training, watch him carefully and determine what moves he makes *before* he
marks. For example, a lot of dogs will stand sideways to the area they're
about to mark and sniff. If you can catch him at that point, distract him and
reward him. After a gazillion times (won't happen overnight :}, the act of
preparing to mark will be conditioned as a trigger to come to you for a reward
instead.

You have to be diligent. If you don't catch him and he marks, you backslide.
Every time.

--
Family Dog Trainer
"It's A Dog's Life"
http://hometown.aol.com/dfrntdrums/m...age/index.html
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