# Marking?



## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

So Comet is now 14 months old, and still intact. His breeder asked that we wait until 18 months to neuter if possible because she wants him to develop as much of an adult male look as possible before he's fixed.

Two days ago, we found a pair of Andy's underwear slightly damp. We thought, "Comet? ....nah...must have been some snowmelt off a shoe, or something."

Just now, Comet disappeared from the living room for a few minutes, and when I went to check where he was, he came out of the bedroom. He just marked Andy's sweatpants that were on the floor! The dampness was warm, no excuses or other possible culprits.

Any idea what he's trying to say here? We'll keep a closer eye on him in the short term so he doesn't make any other successful marks, but I imagine this is fairly common with intact males? We'll neuter him soon, but how do people deal with this? I'm guessing that taking him out more often won't have much effect.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Just to add, he hadn't been out in hours. We'll often go six or eight hours without letting him out, since he doesn't seem to have trouble holding it, and it had been something like that today.


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## Oaklys Dad (Dec 28, 2005)

Sorry to hear you are going through this. Keeping him empty may help a little but male dogs always seem to save just enough to leave a message when they see fit. I'm not familiar as to how you would go about stopping the behavior without neutering.


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## Bogart'sMom (Sep 16, 2005)

My guy got neutered at 9 months old so he never got into marking in the house (he is a clean pig in the house anyway). So I don't have experience with marking males. But what I would do is closing the bedroom doors and keep him close by. When I leave the house, he would go into the crate so he couldn't get into mischief. Then I also would take him outside more often so he is running out of emonition so to speak.
I like that your Breeder wants to have him grow up before getting hin neutered, When ever I will get a male again (unless he is a rescue) I will wait to get him neutered also until he is all matuered. It's better for the joints for sure. 
I hope you're getting a grip on it.
All the best,


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

So nobody else has any experience with indoor marking by a male who's coming of age? With so many breeders on the board, I would have thought more folks would have noticed this with their dogs.

Or maybe I just posted too late at night and it slipped under everybody's radar?


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## Auenk9 (Oct 23, 2008)

At 10 or 12 months my intact male went through a period of what I call.."I don't think I am supposed to do this but I have an urge".....and while he wasn't lifting his leg...I do feel he was marking. The BEST advice I can give you is to keep the dog in your sight at ALL times! As soon as he gets the "look" (as I call it)....even a casual sniff sniff......tell him NO MARK (or something similar)....my command to this day is DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!" Then take him outside and let him do his marking out there if he so chooses! You HAVE to catch him in the "almost" act to be effective!

Now....another thing that I did that my friends thought I was crazy to do...was I purchased what is called a "belly band." It is just a flat piece of soft material with velcro that is wrapped around the dog's belly covering his private part. I have pictures if anyone would like to see it. I used that for about a week. It was on him when he was in the house if I knew I couldn't keep my attention on him 100 percent. I don't think he appreciated the belly band as it was a purple leopard print and looked kind of girly ....but after catching him once in the "almost" act of letting go....and putting the belly band on him....the issue resolved itself!


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## AmbikaGR (Dec 31, 2007)

Well in my experience it is not just an "intact male thing" so nuetering is not always a solution to this situation. I would suggest you keep him out of the area he is marking unless he is being constantly obsreved. Sounds like he is marking only articles with Andy's scent on it. You may want to "set him up" with some of his clothing that you can watch Comet and catch him marking it. Then correct him as he is doing it, just like housebraking timing is important. 
As to why it is hard to say. He may be trying to let it be known that Andy is "his" or possibly has Andy been by other dogs/cats and this is Comet's way of letting them know Andy is taken.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

AmbikaGR said:


> As to why it is hard to say. He may be trying to let it be known that Andy is "his" or possibly has Andy been by other dogs/cats and this is Comet's way of letting them know Andy is taken.


Yeah...part of why I put this out to the forum is that I wanted some ideas as to what he was communicating. Given it was Andy's clothing both times, I'm pretty sure Comet is sending what to him is a clear message. He _loves_ Andy, and they've been spending lots of time together lately, so as we work on eliminating the behavior, I also want to take the opportunity for insight into Comet's behavioral process. I think possessiveness (even though Andy really hasn't been around other animals in the last week or so) is quite likely.


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## bwoz (Jul 12, 2007)

I had an intact male (not my own dog) do that to a pile of laundry that I was sorting. I think it's just instinctual and probably has more to do w/the hormones than having his bladder full. I know Banner always seems to have something left to mark with on our walks no matter how much he's emptied his bladder. I just had him neutered last week at 18 months, and he has calmed down on the marking. I think Comet is just being a normal young man and saying you're "his"


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

I'm debating pushing up the neutering, because it will likely curtail the behavior if he gets neutered before he has a chance to make a real habit of this.

I love the belly band idea! I have no qualms about making him look silly for a while. I will definitely do this if the marking becomes a regular thing.

For the time being, we're going to watch him closely and make sure all the dirty laundry is off the floor. If he transfers to other surfaces, we're going to take more significant action.


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## moverking (Feb 26, 2007)

Might it be because Gus is gone and Comet is feeling like marking all he sees as his own now. 
And think about it, he's marking underwear....faint but similar scents (I know TMI)


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Comet! That's not Andy's favorite kind of valentine . . .


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## Emma&Tilly (May 15, 2005)

I'm not sure if it will be really be automatically stopped by neutering...I know plenty of castrated dogs that mark all the time...my own included (although never in the house). Harry did develop an equally (actually, MORE) unpleasent habit which I thought I might share (if only to make you feel better about the indoor marking) Harry once tried to mark ME! He only ever tried it at flyball where there were lots of other dogs around...so I have no idea what was going on in that odd little head of his...must have been laying claim to me...but he tried to lift his leg on me whilst I was stood having a chat to a friend...luckily she has a keen eye and I have quick responses so I managed to intervene in time! Funnily enough he only did this after being castrated so I think often it is more to do with what is going on in their head than dictated by their hormones...especially as Comet is only marking your husbands clothes...hmmmm...(sorry Im not much help!)


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## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

I don't know if Angel Kody has responded, but I think Jester did this a few times and I haven't heard her mention it being a problem lately. I think he was neutered recently??? Cindy???


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Comet has been known to try and pee on other dog's toys at the park and even once peed on the communal water bowl! Since then, I've been much more careful to intervene if I think he's going to.


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## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

I've seen dogs walk over to strangers at our local dog park, lift their legs, and mark them. I'm glad I never had to deal with my two marking. They are neutered, but they squat like a female.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

I wanted to update this thread. We discovered that Comet is actually licking the underwear and/or holding it in his mouth until it's damp. He still marks on trails and has hit Jax a couple of times, apparently by accident, but he was never peeing in the house, which is great to know.


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