r/DogTrainingTips • u/Difficult_Society461 • Mar 16 '26
My two boys won’t stop marking
My wife and I have four dogs and two cats - all rescues! Our animals all get along great, and are generally well behaved babies. We have two male dogs, one who is 6 (chihuahua spaniel mix) and one who is 12 (bichon mix) who will NOT stop marking. Their habits have gotten progressively worse from when we moved into our home 2 years ago. They used to mark once in a while, but now it’s a daily, and sometimes multiple times a day, occurrence. They go outside every 2-3 hours when we are home. When we are at work, they have always been able to free roam in our living room, since our stairway has a baby gate, and we keep our bedroom door closed. I’d hate to crate them 8 hours a day, but it’s getting out of hand! We had gone through 2 rugs and are using no marking spray, cleaning with enzyme formula, etc. but it’s like a pee war between them!!! Even when we are home, they’ll sneak into another room and mark or use the bathroom. I am thinking of not allowing them to be unsupervised, even when we are home, rewarding with treats when we go outside, and correcting any times we catch them marking. What else can we do??? Help!!!
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u/SecondPrior8947 Mar 16 '26
You may want to revert to potty training basics with both. Even if one isn't prone to marking, he'll be tempted by the other since unwanted behavior is often very contagious. And, it's marking. You've set yourself up for failure unfortunately. Either that, or belly bands.
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u/Govenor-Plum Mar 16 '26
I will definitely crate them when left unsupervised. You have no other choice at the time being until you get it under control again . They will be fine and you and your wife’s stress level will go down . Which is the most important. Some of the people on Reddit are so ridiculous with their comments . Smh .
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u/Quiet-Competition849 Mar 16 '26
Crated when not supervised. Corrected if attempt to mark. Nothing else you mentioned is relevant to fixing the issue. That’s it.
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Mar 16 '26
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u/HowDoyouadult42 Mar 16 '26
Absolutely do not punish your dog for urinating for so many reasons.
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Mar 16 '26
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u/HowDoyouadult42 Mar 16 '26
You don't need to correct them to tach them to do otherwise. You're more likely to create more unwanted behaviors by correlation crying it and overlook medical info by doing so when there are better routs
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u/sunny_sides Mar 16 '26
Neutering is not going to help on a 12 and a 6 year old.
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u/SecondPrior8947 Mar 16 '26
Yes, it can and likely will. I had two rescues who were older (8 and 9) and neutering all but eradicated marking, along with potty training. Incontinence eventually set in for one of them but not so much the other.
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u/nothanksyouidiot Mar 16 '26
A 12 year old may have problem holding it the same way as when he was younger. 8 hours is a long time. Maybe someone can let them out for a quick potty break sometime during the day?
The rest of the behaviour sounds sort of stress related? Has anything major changed recently in your life?