Help with house training/scent marking

[lisahm]

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Hi, does anyone have any advice on dogs urinating indoors and whether at 1yr 7months it’s likely a house training issue or scent marking?

My friend recently got the dog in question from the dogs trust but he never actually went into kennels he was kept by the ppl giving him up until she adopted him so they were vague as to whether he was house trained and just said we think so mostly but not sure. Being so young I’m thinking could be a house training issue but he is a male dog and we have read male dogs sometimes mark their scent (he is neutered). When he goes he doesn’t really seem desperate to go. He is taken outside regularly and does go out there. She knows to watch fir signs he needs to go and that she needs to try to disrupt him and take him out but when he goes indoors he gives no sign he is about to go and it happens really fast.

Do belly bands work as an aid to help house training and potential scent marking? We have no experience of house training a dog. I have my own rescue dog but she is female and was already house trained when she arrived.

Probs relevant to add that he is a pom-a-pug and she has only had him 5 days so far. He doesn’t really have any interest in treats so can’t really use food as a training reward.

 

[Shalista]

only advice i can give re house training is act proactivly. that means like every hour take him out and don't come back until he's peed at least 3 times. he only gets free reign of the house if he's on an empty tank. I've found that for male dogs especially who may be insecure and feel the need to mark you really need that tank fully empty or they will find the last couple drops to leave on your couch leg when you arent looking. if you don't have time to take him out he's attached to a lead at your waist. if he isn't house trained he may not know to give you signals to go out or you may not understand the signals he's giving you since he's so new. if you start racking up a few accident free days you can start increasing the time between walks.

 

[JoanneF]

Hello and welcome. At that age, he will barely be into adolescence so I'm going to guess house training. You say he isn't interested in food and treats, that's possibly because he is still a bit stressed from the move, or the treats aren't good enough (try roast chicken or frankfurter sausage). All dogs need to eat, so food is inherently rewarding.

Then treat him like a pup. That means taking him out more often than he actually needs, so his bladder and bowel never need emptying urgently (ie indoors). The moment he toilets, praise him and reward him immediately and generously. It has to be immediate to be clear that it is for toileting and not for anything else, and it has to be generous to make it worth his while to try to hold his toilet until he is outside.

As he is actually performing the toilet you can introduce words he can associate with it (like 'do weewee' and 'busy busy') that later when he is reliably trained you can use these to tell him when you want him to toilet.

If you take him out and he doesn't toilet after five minutes, bring him in but don't take your eyes off him. Any hint of a toilet inside, scoop him up and get him out fast. If he doesn't try to toilet indoors (great!) take him out a second time and repeat until you do get outside toilets. You need the outside toilet to happen SO that you can reward SO that he learns.

If he has an accident inside don't react at all. If you get annoyed he may learn to fear your reaction and avoid you if he needs to toilet (by going off and toileting out of sight) - the opposite of what you want. Dogs cant make the distinction between you being annoyed at him TOILETING, as opposed to toileting INDOORS. Take a rolled up newspaper and hit yourself over the head for not having taken him outside in time. Not when he is there though in case you scare him. Then clean the area with an enzymatic cleaner to remove any trace of smell that might attract him back to the spot.

Indoors if you see him circling or scratching the floor, that can sometimes precede toileting so get him out fast.