My pug is a little over 1 year old and is generally very well behaved, however, he keeps peeing in the house despite the fact that the door to the garden is always open... he does go outside to poo and and pee but he continues to pee inside aswell. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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peeing in the house
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Proper toileting as opposed to scent marking?
If this is a new thing, have a vet check first to make sure it is behavioural, and not medical.
Then, keep the door shut - honestly! To a dog, an open doorway blurs the distinction between indoors and outdoors. Take him out, don't let him out; on a schedule, regular enough to keep him empty. And when he does pee outside, you need to be right there with him to praise and reward. The reward has to be immediate to be clear that it's for toileting and not for anything else, and has to be generous to make it worth his while to hold his toilet until he is outside.
Have a look at our toilet training thread for more advice.
House training
If it is scent marking, you might want to consider neutering him. Also, remove things he likes to pee on, block access to his favourite places, have him either tethered to you or in a pen to help prevent him getting to favoured spots.
If this is a new thing, have a vet check first to make sure it is behavioural, and not medical.
Then, keep the door shut - honestly! To a dog, an open doorway blurs the distinction between indoors and outdoors. Take him out, don't let him out; on a schedule, regular enough to keep him empty. And when he does pee outside, you need to be right there with him to praise and reward. The reward has to be immediate to be clear that it's for toileting and not for anything else, and has to be generous to make it worth his while to hold his toilet until he is outside.
Have a look at our toilet training thread for more advice.
House training
If it is scent marking, you might want to consider neutering him. Also, remove things he likes to pee on, block access to his favourite places, have him either tethered to you or in a pen to help prevent him getting to favoured spots.
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Thank you! I will definitely follow your advice about the door.
I have a feeling he is marking rather than proper peeing because it doesn’t happen every day. He tends to pee up against the curtains so I remove them and wash them immediately to remove the smell and the temptation for him to return but he always does. We do take him out regularly and praise him when he pees outside. My husband is not keen to have him neutered at the moment.
I have a feeling he is marking rather than proper peeing because it doesn’t happen every day. He tends to pee up against the curtains so I remove them and wash them immediately to remove the smell and the temptation for him to return but he always does. We do take him out regularly and praise him when he pees outside. My husband is not keen to have him neutered at the moment.
Neutering often doesn't help anyway, as it tends to lower confidence and he is trying to be the big man when he marks. At a year old, he is very much jack-the-lad, but as he matures out of the awful adolescent phase, he is much less likely to mark inappropriately. Meanwhile, how about wrapping your curtain hems in heavy-duty bin liners? It isn't a good look, but it's only temporary, and may well stop him as he'll get splashed.
Or you could make up a bio detergent spray and spray the curtains, if the fabric can take it without discolouring. Avoid any cleaners with ammonia in, though. We used to be able to buy a spray that didn't harm surfaces and was repellent to dogs, but he may start marking elsewhere instead.
Or you could make up a bio detergent spray and spray the curtains, if the fabric can take it without discolouring. Avoid any cleaners with ammonia in, though. We used to be able to buy a spray that didn't harm surfaces and was repellent to dogs, but he may start marking elsewhere instead.
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Try an enzymatic cleaner, be sure to leave it for 10 minutes for the enzymes to get to work before wiping it up. And if it is something you dilute in water, don't have the water too hot or it will kill them.
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In case peeing on the curtains has become a habit, could you hook them up out of reach, or stick a table in front of them to block access till he's grown out of this?
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Biological laundry detergent diluted in warm, not hot, water.
I'm sorry to go back to this but I am at my wits end... I took him to the vet and he did have a slight urinary infection so we treated that with an anti biotic, I have lifted the curtains, blocked access to certain rooms, shut the outside door, sprayed with an enzymatic spray and he has just found new places to pee .... help......
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Are you taking him out hourly, like in the thread linked in post #2 above?
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Washing anything he pees/marks that can be washed and use a cupful of white vinegar as a rinse agent. 50/50 mix of white vinegar/water on anything that can't go into the washing machine to clean it will remove/neutralise any smell FOR HIM, as washing liquids and eucalyptus oil will mask the smell for humans but certainly not dogs.... many chemical cleaners have ammonia in them and to a dog that smells like another dogs pee, which your dog assumes another dog is in its territory and so your dog will mark, same with curtains, as they are at a window your dog may have seen another dog walk by and mark......
Marking once established is a difficult behaviour to break and as you are 'at your wits end' that also creates frustration/anger and that will effect your dog making it anxious and more likely to pee/mark if it is peeing in the house then as already said close the door and establish a regular toileting routine, you need to take charge and stop giving the dog options to change the behaviour himself ( as he is making bad choices)
Marking once established is a difficult behaviour to break and as you are 'at your wits end' that also creates frustration/anger and that will effect your dog making it anxious and more likely to pee/mark if it is peeing in the house then as already said close the door and establish a regular toileting routine, you need to take charge and stop giving the dog options to change the behaviour himself ( as he is making bad choices)
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