will neuter stop random urination???

[bauer12]

I have a 20 month old male maltese who is ALWAYS urinating on every thing in the house, every single day. I have to keep a mop on hand to clean up after him atleast 5 times a day. Even after he is taken outside and he goes, he will come right back and go somewhere. Im at my wits end with him and husband is going to kill one of us!! Would having him fixed solve our problem? 9 times out of 10 he will go to the same spots over and over again. We also have a 5 year old pug and she is spayed, no idea if another dog makes any difference at all. We have considered giving him away if this problem does not stop. He is a sweet little thing and would hate to get rid of him, but with a baby in the future, it is much to unsanitary. Thanks to any one who can help!!!!

[Dax]

Your dog is almost 2 years old. I think it might be too late for the neutering to completely cure the behavior. Check with your vet to be sure.

You could try training with a water bottle (ever time you catch him - spray in his face) and make sure he doesn't have access to the spots unsupervised.

[erdog3]

Neutering is only effective in preventing the problem, once maturity is reached, appx 6 months, neutering is less effective, as the behaviour is already learned.
He will probably have to be an outside dog I'm afraid.

[weimlover0816]

I don't think he will have to be an outside dog. I think that you can solve this problem, but that it is going to take a lot of hard work on your part!! Do you think he is marking his territory, where he urinates on everything? Does he completely empty his bladder when taken outside? Maybe he needs to be let out longer...? Does he let you know whe he has to go out, or does he just start peeing? Maybe you could teach him to let you know when he needs to "go"... we have a bell on the doorknob that Roslynd rings when she needs to go potty, it works very well!
I'm sure you clean up after him very well, but try using a solution of vinegar and water, to completely remove the smell of urine. If you clean with ammonia, this smells like urine to a dog, and he may think it is okay to go wherever he pleases.

What about crate training? Especially when you aren't home....

Good Luck!

[gypsy]

Yap, at this age neutering would not be as helpful anymore. If I were you I would start from scratch with the crate technique. Do some heavy training and make him understand that it is unnaceptable. If the problem persists then I would take it to the vet to make sure it's not a health condition. I see a lot of work ahead of you!! When you let him out of the crate, take him imediately outise, and let him spend time there, praise him like mad while he does his business outside, then when you bring him back inside keep an eye!! I hope it works, it should! Good luck!

[bauer12]

I am using a crate when Im not home and at night. He goes right outside and is out there for a while. When he comes back in, 10 min later I find these little yellow puddles next to the trash can, fridge, toliet, couch, etc. He lifts his leg on what ever he can find. He is definetly marking and we absolutly can not take it anymore! So sorry I didnt have him fixed right away, now he is ruined and I dont think anything will work.

[lou3]

neutering cant hurt and can help ease the problem, but as everyone already said is much more useful for preventing problems than solving them. Re-education may be the way to go, marking in the house is often a sign of some pretty major dominance issues so i would recommend speaking to a behaviourist as to how to establish with this dog that YOU are top of the pecking order not him.
Lou

[ivysaur]

weimlover0816,
How did you train your dog to ring the bell when she has to go?

Also, to crate train, how long do you keep the dog in the crate? And do you put him back in there after you take him out to relieve himself? I am having this same problem with my dog!!

[weimlover0816]

Chipper,
When she was a little puppy, we would take her out after everything, eating, drinking, sleeping, playing, etc. Before we would take her out, we would say "What do you need??" and praise her when she would jump up and hit the door knob. Well, as she got older, she would just lift her head and "nose" at the door knob. She has a problem with separation anxiety, and this resulted in peeing in front of the door when we were home, if we didn't see her "nose" the knob. Hence the bell. She started right off ringing the bell, just because it was in the way of the knob I think. Anyway, when she would ring the bell, we would go over, say "what do you need?" and when she rang the bell again, tons of praise and then out to pee. But only to pee.... we didn't want her to, as we call it, "use the bell for evil" lol.... meaning, ringing it just when she wanted to out and play. She's very good with it now, and only rings for potty breaks [img]smile.gif[/img]

Are you going to train your dog on the bell?? It is such a good tool to have [img]smile.gif[/img]

[erdog3]

Hi you two, we actually taught my first lab how to open the door, in much the same way, we left it unsnibbed, it had an automatic closer at the top, we attached a tennis ball at the bottom, and just showed her to pull on it, pretty soon she learnt to pull the ball, open the door, let go of the ball and catch the door with her snout, and come in. After a while she didn't use the ball, she would put her paw and nail just under the door and open it. Only problem we had was visiting vets who had sliding doors, one couldn't believe she would be able to open it, I said sliding doors are easy peasy for her, she just puts the paw under it and pulls it along. LOL!!!