Male marking inside

[Louise Perry]

Hi, I was horrifield the other day when Reuben peed all over my mums lounge curtains. He had never peed inside at home or never noticed it anywhere else, so why did he do it? My mum has a small female dog who Reuben has known for ages. Was he just being dominant and will this happen in other peoples houses?
How do I deal with situations like this? My mum is so house proud too!

[Alison Ashley-Turner]

Ditto:-)

[eva ciechonska]

Please ladies do not get so intense........there is a big difference between caring for your dog and totally smothering him. You all obssess too much. Honest to god, no wonder vets have pound signs infront of their eyes.....they can see you all coming.
Chill out and let a dog be a dog, let him sleep when he wants to, take him for walks which you both enjoy, when you both want to and let him go through the traumas of growing up with your support and not your intervention.
By the way vets want to castrate all dogs and spay all bitches because they make very good money out of this.

[Louise Perry]

Yes Eva, i agree that dogs should be allowed to be dogs but I can't chill out and enjoy the walks at the moment because i am too busy trying to ;

a) get Reuben to listen/obey me/ come back
b) stop him humping everything that moves
c) get attacked by other males
d) pee and sniff the whole of Nailsea (okay acceptable off lead but not on)
e) probably loads of other reasons too but forgotten

I hope I havent got to wait until he is 2.5 years old before having a leisurely walk! I see what you are saying but not always possible.

[eva ciechonska]

Dear Louise....please be patient. 2.5 years goes very quickly, a hell of a lot quicker than watching a teenage boy going through growing pains...........and you, I believe, have that joy to come!!!!
Let me answer some of your points.

a) This is a puppy thing and males go through it worse than bitches....take lots of deep breaths.
b) He has just discovered he is a boy. Do chastise him, he will stop.
c0 He cannot help getting beaten up, that is not his fault. He is probably a sweet natured non aggresive puppy. Dogs are like kids and will bully if they think they can get away with it.
d) That is a boy thing......every time he passes a strange smell he has to deal with it, on or of the lead, makes no difference. You have to accept this one.
e) What can I say.......you are obviously getting totally stressed out by it. You must chill or you may as well shoot yourself. I have had 38 years of owning males and they are all the same, they all go through this and 95% become normal well adjusted dogs. It is no biggy compared with what you have to go through with kids but you all expect dogs to be obedient, well adjusted etc at the click of a finger........it doesn't happen like that. If you are really concerned talk to a dog trainer, maybe that will help. Please don't go down the route of chemical castration, this is not a quick fix, you could be setting yourself up for problems at a later age.

[eva ciechonska]

???????.......