Peeing inside after long walks?

[Jenkins150]

So I have an issue that I have tried to tackle for months and nothing is working.

My one dog Max likes to pee on my clothes or anything that has come from outside. When I come home if I take off my coat and put it on my bed he will jump out of his crate and pee all over it.

If I take him for a walk as soon as I get home once we get back inside again he will go straight for my coat and pee on it! It doesnt matter how many times I wash it, or change detergents or move my coat ( he just find something else like my purse etc) but he wont pee on freshly cleaned items.

He even does it to other peoples stuff when they come over. ( My friend brought over something and placed it on the floor and Max went right over to it to pee). He has pee mats and I just changed them today only to turn around and have him peeing on my stuff on my bed again after a 30 minute walk.

Its become impossible to let him out of his crate especially when other people are over because I am afraid he will pee on their stuff ( I have to watch him all the time it is crazy). He hasnt touched shoes yet which is strange because they are the easiest for him to get to. What is his deal? Any tips? I'm losing my mind here he is peeing on everything!

[jenninator]

Is your dog neutered and housetrained/paper trained?

Male dogs often mark their territory. It sounds like his peeing is related to marking territory because he does it on stuff that's come in from outside. Your coat and your friends' coats smell different so he marks them because they're inside his territory. Rather than crating him, is there a room you could confine him to so he has more room when people are over, or an area of the house you can keep off limits to him and just put your stuff and your guests stuff in there?

Other than neutering him (if he's not already) and making sure there are no other health problems (though I doubt it because his peeing seems very specific), it sounds like your dog thinks he's the alpha in the household. I don't have much experience in this because my dog is quite submissive, so I have separation anxiety issues, but you have to be the leader. Having a routine and sticking to it in terms of walks, meal times, basic training etc would be helpful. Plenty of exercise to tire him out in case he's bored. If you catch him in the act, make a loud noise to startle him, but if it's already done you shouldn't discipline him. You could also try just keeping him on a leash when guests are over so you have more control over his behaviour.

Hope this helps!

[Jenkins150]

My dog is neutered and pee mat trained. When I first got him he would never go to the washroom outside I think because he didnt understand to go outside. He has never made a mistake except to pee on stuff from outside. It didnt happen the first little while I had him. I havent changed anything in my routine so I dont know why he started.

Sadly my apartment is basically one room unless I want to put him in the bathroom which he would freak out. He also has separation anxiety that I cant seem to conquer. I have had him since November and still when I leave the apartment he freaks out. Nothing works with that either. He gets worse when I bring new people into the apartment because he freaks out more when they leave.

[Scarlet13]

Is he kennel trained? I would do that if he isn't it can be a big help with anxiety and at least some of the peeing.

[jenninator]

Wow, that's tough. Do you know anything about his history before you had him? I know that dog behaviourists are hard to find in Korea, but I think I saw someone who gives consults over Skype on one of the threads in the forum. It's worth a shot since your dog has a bunch of different things going on.

When I talked to my Korean vet about separation anxiety, he recommended sound therapy and pheromone therapy. He gave me these cds to try, but it didn't do anything. I can send you the mp3s if you like.

I expressed interest in the pheromone therapy, but he told me that he couldn't get the product in Korea, but maybe you can buy it online from a US company. I saw it on Amazon and Petsmart. It's called Comfort Zone DAP and there's another product by Nutri-Vet. They have plug-in diffusers (you need to use a converter) and sprays as well. I read that it's the pheromones from a lactating dog and it's supposed to calm dogs down.

[Jenkins150]

Wow, thats all great info. I am stressing out more now because I will be moving in April and so I am nervous how Max will be in a new apartment. I don't know anything about his history. I got him at Karama with the help of Dr Choi. :)

Where did u see about the dog behaviourists?

That would be great if you could send me the mp3s. I am going to look up the comfort zone luckily my mom can send things here cheap :)

Max is crate trained. I had to crate train him because Nina ( other dog) had separation anxiety before I got Max . He didnt like being away from her so they are in the same crate. It helped a bit with the barking. The peeing was a very random additional problem.

As for his peeing, I dont keep him in a crate all the time I am just being very picky when others come over and trying to make sure their stuff is far away from him. It so embarrassing

Thanks for the help!

[jenninator]

Here's the thread about the dog behaviourist who gives phone consults. It's the 5th message in the thread about half way down.
http://www.animalrescuekorea.org/forums/showthread.php?t=720

Could you send me your email address via PM? I'll send the mp3s to you when I get home from work.

[Scarlet13]

You could try the calming agents. I first used them to help my cat during his finals days. The vet suggested at the time that I also dose myself! I did, and it worked. Its called Tromos. Its just a flower extract and its perfectly safe.

There are lots of others to, you can buy them online (bio-calm is also good)
They are very helpful when dealing with rescue dogs with anxiety issues. A friend of mine used them to help rehabilitate her daejeon dog, I was so impressed with her progress. I think it just helps take the edge off of things, it would be ideal for use during your move. Or storms or when meeting new people.

I wouldn't suggest constant permanent use but a little bit with breakfast and on especially stressful days may do wonders for your doggie.

[Karen]

I just found a short article on urine-marking by the Humane Society that seemed pretty helpful: http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/our_pets_for_life_program/cat_behavior_tip_sheets/urinemarking_behavior.html

It gives a few ways to identify if the behaviour is territorial (urine-marking) or if it's house-soiling (for dogs and for cats, too). There are several ideas listed of things you can do to try to fix the problem (a few which jenninator has already mentioned). There's also a link to the "Nothing in Life is Free" training technique.

Hope this helps. Good luck!