Cody "marked" four times during our Thanksgiving stay at my sister's

[nowwown]

Hi, I usually "lurk" but was disturbed by Cody's behavior this holiday weekend at my sister's home. We had a 12-hour drive to their house, Cody was his usual excellent traveler self, although he was somewhat stressed and didn't take any water or food during the trip. But once we got there, he was great with everyone, including for the most part the family's Shih Tsu, Chelsea.

 

The six-year-old ShihTsu was not that friendly to Cody. The two dogs were territorial around their own food, although we fed and watered them in separate rooms. Cody got himself a bloody nose from pushing his food to "bury" it each time. He never does that at home. I had to lock him up in the laundry room with his food for 15-20 minutes in order to get him to eat his food.

 

Also, Chelsea the ShihTsu was very protective of her "mom" and "dad" whenever Cody came near, some growling and snapping. For the most part the two dogs just ignored each other and they were happier focusing on the people.

 

Anyway, I think it was a total of four times Cody that peed on their carpet, in different rooms/places. At first we thought it was Chelsea, but then my nephew saw Cody once, and another time my sister caught Cody starting to lift his leg near the chair leg.

 

It is possible that Chelsea had peed in those spots in the past, and I know that even a great professional carpet cleaning wouldn't erase the smell of urine to a dog. But why was he so intent on leaving his scent in the house?

 

He got ALOT of attention of everyone. Lots of ball playing, games, etc. Lots of walks, etc. Chelsea got a lot of her regular snuggling/loving from all.

 

We ended up having to leash Cody in the house so he wouldn't stray from us and go into another room and potentially mark/pee.

 

Any ideas about this behavior, and what we can do to avoid that in future visits to their house? We try to visit several times a year.

 

Thanks and hope all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

[jvw]

I would either keep him leashed to you the whole time (a pain) or get one of those belly bands.

 

Jennifer

[Root Beer]

I'd continue with the leash in the house since that worked. Once he is settled, and comfortable, I might take him off in areas where I could supervise and then leash up when I couldn't keep an eye on him. If the other dog is peeing in the house, he might not understand that this particular house is meant to be a place to live, not to eliminate, so I would start with house training 101 and keep the dog on leash or in a crate when I could not supervise.

 

For the mealtimes, will Cody eat in a crate? In a similar situation, I would probably feed in the crate at home once or twice a week so the dog gets used to it and then feed in the crate when travelling. It might make him feel more comfortable and less inclined to "bury" his food since he will know that it's safe in his crate.

 

Given that the other dog doesn't like him and there is tension, I would set out to make the visits as stress-free for my dog as possible. I know that can be tough in someone else's house, but those two things might help.

[Ninso]

Marking over other dogs' pee is just something that comes with having a male dog. My male will do the same thing--generally outside. But at a friend's house a couple weeks ago he did lift his leg to mark in a corner. I'm pretty sure another dog had been there first. If you know it's going to be an issue, I would just keep him on a leash so you can stop him if he tries to mark.

[jvw]

I just want to play devils advocate. It very well may not have been places the other dog already peed. Sometimes males (and females too!) will mark coming into a new place where another dog is present. Its just part of the dog world. I wouldn't really spend too much time figuring out why it happened. Just manage the problem since its only a couple times of year.

Jennifer

[Sophinator]

I think it all had to do with the tension between the two dogs and Cody was responding in doggy terms. Chelsea was being understandably possessive of "her house" and "her people" and "her food." She threw down the gaunlet and Cody picked it up. By marking all over creation, he was making sure Chelsea knew he was taking no guff and was marking the house as his territory too. Not very acceptable by our standards but made perfect sense to the dogs, just like "territorial" disputes between kids can make us nuts. "Mom, he's on my side of the room. Mom, he's looking at me again." As an adult, listening to the bickering is maddening--who decided that Susie had possession of half the living room? But it makes a lot of sense to the kid.

 

I agree with the posters who suggest that maybe Cody should just stay on leash and/or under supervision when the family gets together. It's not like Cody and Chelsea have to share the house for the rest of their lives.

[painted_ponies]

Any ideas about this behavior, and what we can do to avoid that in future visits to their house? We try to visit several times a year.

 

It's not uncommon behavior. Next time, just take his crate with you, and crate him when you can't watch him.

[bcnewe2]

I wasn't going to post on this topic cause I thought I didn't have anything to add. But I kept seeing it in the new post sections and something came to mind.

I travel everywhere with Mick and Dew who's just as inclined to mark as Mick. I can take them in anywhere and I thought I wasn't worried about them. But as I've been thinking about it, I don't let them out of my site so they don't get a chance to mark. they are expected to stay in the same room with me and I guess I always keep one corner eye on them. If I go to the bathroom they come with. If I go to bed in a strange bedroom they come with and I shut the door. If there's small children around (we're just getting used to that) I expect them to be at my feet so I can make sure nothing is going to happen. I don't think I"ve gone anywhere where there wasn't at least a dog or 2 at my feet.

Guess what I'm trying to say, is that I really think any dog might be prone to mark where other dogs live, it's a dog thing. But it's also easy to keep one eye or even half an eye on them at all times. If I can't have them inside or I can't keep a bit of one eye on them, I keep them in my car (it's like a big doggy crate) where I don't have to worry about them getting into anything.

Good luck

I think the crate idea might be your best for unsupervised visiting.