Dog Behavior Problems and Urinating

November 3, 2008 · Filed Under dog behavior problems

Dogs can develop an array of dog behavior problems such as urinating throughout the house. This can be fixed with a little bit of time and a little bit of patience. Usually when a dog is using the house as an indoor bathroom it is more than likely that they are not trained to know to go outside to do their prospective business. What you need to do is house train your dog, and while it sounds like it is going to be a rather difficult task, it really is not as bad as you may think.

: Image by Doc Artemis via Flickr

One of the best ways to house train your dog is by using the method of positive reinforcement. Using various treats and rewards will let your dog know that going to the bathroom outside in the yard is a rewarding thing. Because the dog is an animal of habit, it tends to return to the same spot where it urinated over and over again, once they find that spot outside, they will not even think of ever doing their business in the house again. When dogs are puppies and you first bring them home, you want to start house training them immediately. The younger they are, the easier they are to train, but that is not to say that older dogs cannot be trained as well. If you have adopted a more mature dog, house training it may take some time, but sticking with patience is going to get a lot farther than simply giving up. Remember , dog behavior training begins at home.

But let’s say that your dog has already been house trained, and it suddenly starts marking places around the house with its urine. This is called indoor marking and it is most common in male dogs. Male dogs will lift their legs and mark anything from chairs and furniture to various toys. When a male dog does mark their territory, it usually just a small squirt, rather than a flow. The best way to fix this is to get your dog neutered. The sooner you can do this, the better, and dogs can get fixed around six months of age. If you wait any longer than that, and your dog becomes mature, it is going be rather difficult to break your dog of this habit.

Be sure to clean up your dogs mess as soon as it happens. This will quickly eliminate the chances of your dog marking that spot all over again and it will conquer your dog behavior problems. You can buy various solutions at the pet store to clean the mess and eliminate smell or you can look on the internet for various home remedies. Usually vinegar and water will help take the stain and the smell out. Both of these habits are easy to break, and can be broken if caught early enough, and acted on.