my dog won't stop marking

[pratimapthk]

my rescue dog had been doing well uptill now. i have been taking him to petsmart, petco, lowes, homedepot all of his favorite stores with no incident. we have been through 2 basic and intermediate ckasses together.
the problem started 2 weeks ago. everytime i take him to these stores, he has started marking the ailes. if i catch him in time i tell him no and move him on, but most of the time i am too late. can anyone help me? or do i have to carry papertowels for the rest of our life. i don't want to leave him in the car, because he truly loves these stores.

[Nettle]

Take him to all these places but keep watching him so that you will not be too late. It's all about raising your alertness levels. Also take him for walks outside where he can be a normal dog. Marking is normal for a dog so he needs to understand that in our world, it is okay out of doors but not indoors - which means he needs a clear definition of outdoors and indoors. Big stores can look and smell like outdoors to a dog, especially if other dogs have marked there (and I expect they have).

You will need to watch him all the time, and as soon as he gets That Look and sneaks the side of his face along a surface, take him away from that surface and distract him by making him Sit or Down. Then reward the Sit or Down. At first you will need to keep him away from vertical surfaces and keep his attention on you, so no letting your attention wander, talking on your phone and so on, and he must be on a short lead. When people want to stop and chat, keep him away from vertical areas and if you think he will mark into fresh air, put him in a Sit.

[jacksdad]

two quick things to add to Nettle's advice.

First. Telling your dog "NO" is to general. No to marking here, no to marking there, no to jumping on people, no to saying hi to another dog etc. Since NO is always changing there is no way for your dog to ever really understand what NO mean. No seems to work, but that most likely has to do with tone of voice and or a persons body language. using the same body language and voice you could say sunshine and most likely get the same response. far more constructive to work on what Nettle advises.

Two. Do make sure you dog has a chance to go to the bathroom outside before going into one of these stores. When he does, take a page from the "house breaking book" and give him a quick reward. If your dog's bladder is empty before going into the store, hard to actually pee on something when there is nothing in the bladder to release. I always give my dog a chance to go to the bathroom before going into a place other dogs may have been. By it's self, this won't solve the issue, but combined with Nettle's advice you should see a difference.

can you give us an idea of how long you have had your dog, roughly it's estimated age, any nervousness around people, dogs, new places etc?

[pratimapthk]

thank you both so much nettle and jackdad. i have had him since May 2011. When i go him from the shelter they said he was about 1 year old. they had no history on him. Apparently he was thrown out of a car in oklohomma and then transferred to the boulder humane society. he is a boxer heeler mix. I love him to death. he is afraid of other dogs. i keep taking him to the dog parks, but he wont play with other dogs. he will sniff them but that's about it. if they try to get too close to them he will growl and start whining and wanting to jump in my lap. any advise on that. i am afraid that one day it might get too much for him and he might one of them. Also how do i get him to play on his own? as soon a s i get back from work he sticks to me like glue and keeps insisting that i throw the ball for him.

[Erica]

Some dogs just don't like other dogs. If he doesn't like the dog park, I wouldn't take him - other dogs can tell and some get mean about it. The second (and final) time I took Opal to a dog park, another dog approached her and they started sniffing each other, then the other dog just grabbed Opal's back and bit her. After Opal shook otherdog off, it took a bit of fancy maneuvering (and a very helpful Onyx!) to get the rest of the dogs to stop chasing her - when they heard Opal yelp, they seemed to think it was fun chasing time! She was okay, no skin broken, but obviously not a good experience. If I'd known what I've learned from this forum, I think we would have left pretty much as soon as we got there. Her body language would have told me that she wasn't comfortable.

[jacksdad]

Erica is right, about no longer using the dog park. by it's self avoiding the dog park won't rehabilitate your dog's fear of dogs, BUT it won't cause it to get worse either. it is quit common for a dog who fears other dogs to appear to be better or "ok" off leash so people with the best of intentions take their fearful dog to places like the dog park, let them off leash and hope they some how learn to no longer fear dogs.

The problem is, being off leash IS sometimes just enough to make a small difference in your dogs outward reactions sometimes. being off leash they can choose to move away from the other dog, run away etc. BUT if even off leash they are "forced/encouraged" to be social with other dogs they can still be building stress on the inside. stress that shows up the next time you are on a leash walk and encounter a dog. Now take that same dog and put it into a dog park and things can get even more misleading sometimes. Dog parks are in some ways for some dogs really no different than being on a really, really long leash. yes they can move a round a whole lot freer, but ultimately they run into the fences. which is like the limit of a leash if your trying to get away from something scary. combined with a dog park that is full at a peak use time and what people mistake as their dog being ok is often a dog shutdown trying to be invisible so they other dogs don't enter act with them.

so for now just keep the greatest distance possible from other dogs. avoiding them all together is better, but that isn't always possible. so when not, greatest distance possible is what you want to shoot for.

There is more to helping your dog over come it's fears, but it would be better if we discuss that in a separate thread. Please start a new topic/thread about your dog's fear of other dogs and we can go more into what needs to be done.

[pratimapthk]

he did it again. before we even entered the petsmart store, i made sure that he had peed outside. as soon as we entered the door, he marked. sos

[Nettle]

You need to be more vigilant and keep him back from vertical surfaces.

[Suzette]

I agree that vigilance is the key. Because the thing is, male dogs seem to have an endless supply of urine in them and letting him eliminate outside before going into a building is still a good idea, but rest assured, there will be more urine in him to mark once inside. So don't let your guard down and keep watching him. Soon you'll see the signs he's about to mark almost before he thinks of it himself!

[pratimapthk]

Thank you I'll try again and again and again. I'm not giving up on him. He is the love of my life.

[Secret Someone]

With my border collie boy I've found several things that help. The main one is what has been suggested... watching extremely carefully for the signs. Keeping him away from vertical surfaces also helps, along with making sure he goes outside before and after. The other thing I do is make sure his attention is on me. It's quite usual for us on a walk, for example, to 'talk' to each other. He smells something and looks up at me in a way that says 'look!' and if I find something he might find interesting, I'll point and tell him to look at it. I also take things like cardboard tubes with me so that I can 'find' them in the grass and give them to him. We're constantly looking at each other to see what we're doing, and without interaction he does not enjoy walks. Now, I know these aren't walks... but with him I make sure I do the exact same thing with the pet shop. I have something with me that interests him, and as we go around the shop we look at things together, chatter at each other and make sure the experience is one we're doing together. If he's focussed on me... He forgets to mark! So if you can carry something on you that he really values (it does need to be high value... something extra smelly and tasty or a favourite toy) and engage in the process (we even 'discuss' whether we should go left or right, or which aisle to go up... he looks with me and then at me for a decision. It makes me look like a proper crazy dog woman ) you might find he doesn't have time to mark. I would say this needs doing with the other techniques though... which is the hard bit. If I go to the store with Pan when I'm exhausted and unable to give any concentration... he marks. I miss signs and miss cues where I would normally see them. I also don't interact as much. However... Since we do it regularly now, it's less hard work for me each time. And he really enjoys it. Especially if he gets to choose sweets.

[LeeMedic]

I broke my dog in 1 day from this. I fostered a 3 year old Flat Coat Retriever. He marked all over inside buildings. When I picked him up from the vet I put a "Belly Band" with a female pad on the inside. I then wrapped it around his waist covering his penis.

When I took him to my home, he entered the house, lifted his leg 3 times in an attempt to mark in my home.

When he realized he was wetting in the pad, he stopped. He has lived in my home for a month now, and has not lifted his leg in my home or any other building including the vet and Petco.

I purchased the belly band at Petco.

I hope this helps.

[Nettle]

We do not recommend the use of the belly band on this forum, and while your advice was given with good intentions, I stress that this device is outside the ethos of positive training.

[pratimapthk]

he did it. i made him do his business before we entered the store, and praised him like crazy. then we went into the store and i kept a close eye on him. i told him to sit, everytime we stopped and he didn't mark. my clever baby. as soon as we went outside, he peed again and i praised him again. ofcourse he got a ball for his good job. i love him like crazy. thank you all. merry christmas and happy new year.

[jacksdad]

good job. it's almost like house training isn't it