Does My Couch LOOK Like a Fire Hydrant To You???

Life with male dogs can be fun. It can also be very frustrating if your dog is 'marking' the furniture and walls of your home. Today I thought I would address the subject of male dog marking.

Marking in the house is usually done to an upright surface such as a doorway, table leg or piece of furniture. Dogs often mark on objects. Quite often the object is something new or different with unfamiliar smells that has come into the house.

Dog urine marking is not a toilet training issue but rather an issue concerning a whole range of instinctive behaviors. Your dog may be fully house trained and would never think of peeing in the house, but to a dog, lifting his leg to scent mark is not the same as wanting to have a pee.

If you have a female dog in your home that has come into heat, you may find that your male dog, if not neutered, will start marking on  furniture and walls as his testosterone reacts to the girl.

We as humans tend to think of dog urine as something unpleasant but to a dog it is something of great interest. A dog leaves it's scent in urine to tell other dogs a message. This message could be about whose territory it is, about the dog's social order or advertising mating availability. Dogs use urine marking to show their dominance or to claim something as belonging to them. Dogs with feelings of insecurity or who have separation anxiety may also mark, as territory marking builds the dog's confidence.

Interestingly, this is not completely a male dog only trait. Female dogs will urinate on a spot that another dog has peed. I see this some days when I take my girls out to potty. Most days they will roam the yard and find their own spot, but if they have been having 'issues' with each other on a particular day, I watch them run over to the spot where the 'offender' just urinated and they will urinate on top of that spot.

Sort of a "Ha! I'll show you!" type attitude. I have mentioned that they are Divas, right?

Dogs who have never had a problem with marking in the house before can suddenly start doing it if there is a change in their environment such as a new dog, or new person that has come into the home, even a new baby's arrival. If there is a big change in their environment, this will make a dog insecure and can bring on the marking. We have even seen Cooper doing some marking lately, since we brought a male puppy into the house this last month. Kind of unusual as he has been neutered for a very long time now.

But, what can you do? For most dogs, early neutering is the best way to prevent it from ever occurring in the first place. Those macho hormones never get the chance to develop if the dog is neutered at an early age. This is not always a guarantee, but if is the best deterrent. If you have had another dog in your home that previously marked furniture, doorways, etc., it will encourage future dogs to do the same.

Kind of a "Oh! This is what we do here." attitude. We like guests to feel comfortable in our homes, just not THAT comfortable.

Some dogs will mark when you take them to visit in another home. This can be very embarrassing for you and doesn't put you and Fido high on the invitation list.

A popular way to prevent this bad habit from becoming a problem is to have your dog wear a Belly Band. Belly Bands are made of a thick absorbent type of fabric, such as fleece. They are wrapped around the dog and fastened by means of a velcro strip sewn at each end of the wrap. Usually a good fitting belly wrap requires no elastic and will stay in place quite well. The idea behind wearing the belly bands is that when the dog releases urine to mark on something, it instead is retained in the fabric of the band. Dogs usually do not like the feel of the wet fabric against them, so they learn to quiet marking. 

You can also use a self adhesive feminine pad inside the belly band. These will hold more urine than the belly band alone, and you won’t have to launder as often. Belly bands should be machine washable and reused as needed.

Belly Bands are a very popular selling item at Cody and Company Pet Products as more people are learning of their great value. We design them to be a pleasant fashion statement as well as a training aid. Many people have had success in ending the problem completely after their dog has worn them for a while.

Dogs get very used to wearing them and it solves a lot of problems!

Our good friend, Kilo, from The Cheeky Chis (found on both Facebook and Instagram), always looks so dashing in his belly bands. Or wrestling trunks, as he prefers to call them.

Some other good friends, the Stardom Chihuahuas, (also found on both Facebook and Instagram - go check them out!) look great in their belly bands too!

We will never completely eliminate the marking that the boys do. It is a dog's form of communication. However, it is something that can certainly be left for the outdoors!