# 8 months marking urine



## Westowner (Nov 23, 2016)

My West is acting weird. He is marking pee inside the house in familiar places like my daughter's dance bag and my aircast boot (I had ankle surgery 7 weeks ago). Also, he is marking pee on furniture, walls. He has about 3 days with this behavior and last night for first time ever he pee inside his crate where he sleeps at nights. I cannot identify anything new for him. I don't now if this behavior is normal for turning 8 months. As fact he is not castrated yet.


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## HenryPup27 (Sep 28, 2016)

Hi there - I have just asked my boyfriend about your little pup, as he has extensive experience with dogs. He was wondering if something/another dog has scared him when out on a walk? Or something else that might have confused, upset or frightened him in some way? It sounds like he has had a little dip in self confidence and is therefore feeling the need to mark his territory in order to get some confidence back. As we all know cockapoos are very sensitive and if something has spooked him outside it might mean that he's reluctant to go for a pee whilst outside or on walks, meaning he's holding it in and doing it in your house. If he's repeatedly doing it in the same places it sounds like he's feeling the need to constantly re-mark his boundaries and territory. First of all my partner says don't tell him off for doing it, as that will upset him further and might make things worse, just clean it up quietly. And second of all you might need to go overboard with congratulating him when does go and pee outside, almost rewind a bit to when he was doing his toilet training, so be really supportive and give him loads of praise and treats when he wees outside. This will build his confidence and hopefully stop the marking in the house. As a last resort if he's not getting better you could try putting a Thundershirt on him just to keep him on an even keel and keep him feeling safe and secure until the phase has passed. I hope this helps xx


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## Westowner (Nov 23, 2016)

HenryPup27 said:


> Hi there - I have just asked my boyfriend about your little pup, as he has extensive experience with dogs. He was wondering if something/another dog has scared him when out on a walk? Or something else that might have confused, upset or frightened him in some way? It sounds like he has had a little dip in self confidence and is therefore feeling the need to mark his territory in order to get some confidence back. As we all know cockapoos are very sensitive and if something has spooked him outside it might mean that he's reluctant to go for a pee whilst outside or on walks, meaning he's holding it in and doing it in your house. If he's repeatedly doing it in the same places it sounds like he's feeling the need to constantly re-mark his boundaries and territory. First of all my partner says don't tell him off for doing it, as that will upset him further and might make things worse, just clean it up quietly. And second of all you might need to go overboard with congratulating him when does go and pee outside, almost rewind a bit to when he was doing his toilet training, so be really supportive and give him loads of praise and treats when he wees outside. This will build his confidence and hopefully stop the marking in the house. As a last resort if he's not getting better you could try putting a Thundershirt on him just to keep him on an even keel and keep him feeling safe and secure until the phase has passed. I hope this helps xx
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Since the weather has been changing it's been really muddy and messy outside. Everytime he comes in from the backyard (which is everyday) I have been placing West in the bath and giving him a good rinse. I've just started doing that recently and I don't know if that is why West has been acting up. Also today he spent about 1 hour locked outside to make sure he peed and everything and when he came back in I rinsed him again and he "marked his territory" everywhere in the house and also fully peed 3 different places inside the house and after he hide out behind the table as he knew he did a bad thing. seems like he is doing it on purpose. Right now I have him crated to calm in his safe spot. I am very confused with this behavior.


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

I have learned that Beemer's capacity to hold urine and bladder control are phenomenal. So I've had to leave them alone more as my schedule has changed and he would mark all over. No amount of enzyme cleaner made a difference. So I changed it up to plain old baking soda and vinegar and now when he does pee outside he gets extra special cuddles. I don't know if he's gotten used to it but only one accident in the past two weeks. So you may want to change up how you are cleaning. And up the rewards. 


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

Was he reliably trained and then out of the blue started to mark indoors, or was he always a little "iffy"? If the former then I'd talk to a vet about what could be going on. He might have a urine infection or just need to be neutered. If the later then I'd invest in floors that are easy care because it is really, really, really hard to correct toileting issues after the fact. My sister has a rescued basset that was never properly trained and the minute we let our guard down we go back to square one.


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## HenryPup27 (Sep 28, 2016)

It's a tricky one – I agree that a vet's visit might be in order just to rule out any infections. I would go back to the beginning of your house training with him, a pain I know but I think that's all you can do. Wait with him outside until he pees (hopefully you have a command, Henry does both 1s & 2s if we say 'go wees') and then congratulate him hugely for doing so and reward with treats and a game or something. He needs to feel safe and secure with you, I wouldn't lock him outside as he might feel like he's done something wrong. They are really sensitive animals and want to know that they have pleased you, and also want to be with you as much as possible. If you are able to keep your eye on him all the time in the house, you can look for the signs that he's about to pee, then quickly rush him outside for him to do it (then praise after).


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

I think that you need to go right back to basics with your West. Do not shut him out for an hour on his own - obvioulsy he did not do what he needed to do... and he got more attention from peeing inside (any attention is better than no attention in a dogs eyes...) Go out with him - wellies rain coat and a box of treats, walk around and around the yard with him, not really interacting just walking quietly - when he pees say 'just quietly say 'good "be quick"' or whatever your command is and when he has finished give him a treat - keep walking for at least 10 mins not playing or interacting but rewarding calmly for any pee or pooping. Walk the boundaries of your yard and past any bushes or ence posts where he is likely to have peeeed before. After 10 mins have a nice game with a ball or a tugger for 5 minutes then walk around the boundary calmly before coming back in. In the house restrict West to the area that you are in, keep him on a house lead attached to you if necessary - any sniffing or circling behaviour that might indicate he is going to pee again take him right out again and repeat as above.
Inside if he has an accident completely ignore him and make sure you clean up properly.
The more effort you put in now the more likely you are to break this habit. We rescued an 8 month old rottie cross that was not toilet trained.... we got there by consistent and persistent training.


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## Michele (Nov 12, 2015)

When one of my boys acted similarly and out of the blue, it turned out he had a urinary tract infection. Does he drink plenty of water? Could you be getting soap in his urethra when you're rinsing him off?


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