Can anyone offer advice? Ramsay (aged 3) has recently started peeing in the house - usually the kitchen where all of our 4 dogs sleep at night, but has peed on our bed this morning whilst unattended - he normally isn't allowed in our room unsupervised. He also pees on the TV stand in the living room. He has permanent access to outside and a large run so he can go out if he needs to. His urine is very concentrated but he drinks plenty of water - Olivia, our 9 month bitch is growing up and I wonder if the marking is to do with the possibility of her coming in to season. Any advice will be welcome as Ramsay's freedom in the house is getting more limited due to this unpleasant behaviour!

Our Border terrier has done this all his life...now 6...all manner of beatings later...he still does it...not allowed in the house any more..you could say that repeat marking is the reason...but we have moved house 5 times since 2004...
Even on my son's toys...on the bed..on the fridge,cooker,dishwasher,t.v,stereo,etc...outside now....what a relief...

Sorry , but so, do just move house when it stinks too much due to repeat marking ?????

There is a good chance , that reaching maturity and the up coming heat of your female do play a role in Ramsay's behaviour - still , I wuld most likely have a urine sample taken and checked out , just to make sure it is nothing related to his health .

Both my friends Springer and Bedlington/Whippet do this, yuk, they would have been in a kennel long ago! But if he has just started doing this it does sound like he is marking his terrotory as he knows your bitch is of a sexually maturing age.
I think also, that when they do it, even though you think you have cleaned it down properly, they know the scent is still there. I think there is some special stuf you can buy that completely removes the odour, though not sure if it works or not, haven't had this problem.

My Mums Border Terrier caused her no end of problems when out, because he used to cock his leg up everyone, she neutered him because he had an undescended testicle and it stopped it. My own BT will cock his leg up ME if I stop and talk to anyone, whether he is saying hurry up or just marking ME as HIS territory, who'd have a Border ey Hairybeasty!

How funny..thought I was the only one who got "marked" by his own dog..mine saves it just for the show-ring...true,yukky little beasts aren't they...

Hi Guys
Been on this forum forever, but usually just lurk. Currently I have three deerhounds and I live in inner city Melbourne, Australia. I've had deerhounds now for over forty years, but don't breed. Rather just live with them. Show occasionally, but that's another story.
About peeing in the house. Yes there is stuff that will remove all the pee smell -ask your vet, they often have it. I've also been told that white vinegar neutralises it. My own experience leads me to believe that it may. Citronella, if you can stand the smell yourself, helps dissuade the dog to do it just there.
Many years ago, when I was sharing houses still, my deerhound Finn would pee on the pillows of housemates who had offended him. lol
I've lately rehomed a little bitch, who at nine months old, had never been in a house. I've learned, again, about vinegar and citronella and stuff called Get Off the Garden, which helped enormously.

Cheers
KayCee

Nightmare isn't it?!

I made a similar post a while ago as 1 of mine started peeing on my bed - I put it down to the stress I was under at the time as when I removed the cause of my stress (JOB)the peeing stopped and has not returned thankfully. Has anything changed in your (or your dogs life) apart from your bitch coming into season?

They are sensitive dogs and react to our feelings, emotion and behaviour - just a thought!

Urinalysis shows no abnormality - the abnormality is in the behaviour!

its vile but at least I don't get peed on in the show ring - I don't envy you!

Kaycee wrote:


Wow that's a Deerhound with attitude, would have loved to have met him.

verenav wrote:


No ...just when I get bored...

Marking can be caused by any number of things
stress, health issue, inseasion bitch etc,

Bio washing powder can be used to clean the area, it brakes down the
enzimes in the urine, or if you can get hold of it - theres a product by simple solutions called Stain & Odor Remover, thats good stuff,
if you think it could be caused by your youngster
about to come in to season, you could ask the vet about chemical castration,
i know a few people its worked for.

Our micky used to mark realy badley, but he was competing with the other male
we have, since both have been done - weve never had a problem, not in our house anyway
micky likes to mark up clean washing, and has done it a few times - when ive gone
round to a friends house lol

Tried the Bio stuff. Works well with puppies I found, but totally useless with the 9mth old. But then she was a farm girl and very confused with her radical lifestyle change. She's fine now, it all took much longer than you would expect.

Yes Robb, Finn was a great character. Beautiful too. Stolen out of my back yard at 12. Broke my heart, but hey we know they will.

Good news! Decided not to allow any of the dogs in the other rooms of the house unsupervised and it seems to have solved the problem - I wonder if there was a wee power struggle going on that we were unaware of - Tilly our old lady JRT (aged 12) seems to be the boss but I think maybe Ramsay has been trying to usurp her. Tilly had free rein in the house and I suspect that any opportunity that arose made Ramsay pee on things to cover up her smell. Could be way off beam but seems to have worked (so far) - will keep you posted.

The only time Lockie marked in the house was when he was old enough to know what seasons were all about. He only did it the one season and then it was only at the back door.
An option you could try is a belly band which will stop or block him from urinating while in the house

Bill Ledingham wrote:

Now here's an interesting thing! Tilly (12 yo JRT) was allowed up to our bedroom, others left in the kitchen.......... Pee against the Aga this am! Solution - all dogs remain together in the kitchen. It is obvious really until you get to understand how they tick. In this case, Ramsay was ticked off!

Glad to hear a solution has been found...it is a real nightmare when there is a scent marking battle going on...you wouldnt mind so much if they didnt use your belongings as a battleground!!

I see from your website you're from Aberdeenshire - so are we!
Do you show your Deerhounds?
Against my better judgement we do - it is fun - unless you're at Turriff Show is the driving rain on the 1st of August/ Still well worth it - Ramsay was Reserve Best in Show and Olivia was best hound puppy. We're relatively new to showing so were delighted!