Boston Terrier Male is Marking EVERYTHING!

[Deleted]

Our Boston male is very territorial. He has peed on every chair, table and couch leg in the house and on the porch. He is 1 1/2. Earlier today, my husband repaired a wall by taping and mudding the sheetrock. Our Boston went in there and peed on the corner of the wall!

The question I have is will neutering him stop this behavior? Any info, advice and suggestions are welcome.

[Woodpecker]

@ljsunflower, We have a Jack Russell Terrier, he is 13 now. Ever since he was a pup and still now, whenever we buy him a new bed, he pees on it immediately. With our Boxer that we lost last year, she didn't have that problem. Her problem was eating the sheet rock off the kitchen wall! Both were neutered.

[Deleted]

Jan 8, 2018 19:25:48 GMT Woodpecker said:

@ljsunflower , We have a Jack Russell Terrier, he is 13 now. Ever since he was a pup and still now, whenever we buy him a new bed, he pees on it immediately. With our Boxer that we lost last year, she didn't have that problem. Her problem was eating the sheet rock off the kitchen wall! Both were neutered.

Well, dang it! I was hoping that if we got him neutered he would stop this stuff! LOL

Thanks for the info.

[countrymom22]

It should help, but you can't be sure it will fix the entire problem. Some dogs are so territorial that it doesn't work completely. And neutering usually works best when done around 6 months of age. But the are other benefits to neutering, so I would do it anyway and hope for the best.

[aoconnor]

Neuter him as soon as possible, then reprimand him every time he starts to lift a leg on anything but what's outdoors. You have to retrain the dog to stop the behavior.

My dogs will all pee on a brand new pillow type bed. They all claim every bed that comes in the house. So I stopped using them:-) After a while I brought home 5 beds, one for each dog. I let them choose their own bed, and because there were enough for each of them, they haven't peed on the new beds.

I would definitely neuter him no matter what.

[mollymckee]

You could put belly bands on him, it would contain the urine. Getting him fixed will help, he's marking for a reason. If you are usually around when he is out of his kennel you could spray him with water or shake a can at him when he goes to mark.

[Deleted]

We have a doggy door and he goes out when he needs to. He has been house trained for a long time. This behavior is recent. (I have to tell you that the sheetrock mud that hubby used smelled like sewage or bad gas. We don't know why but it does) but he has done this on chairs in the house or on the porch so I'm sure it wasn't because of the smell.

[Maura]

I foster Boston terriers for Midwest Boston Terrier Rescue. I have had dogs come into the house and immediately start marking.

Neutering won't stop the behavior. Probably any dog would have peed on the fresh drywall mud. The problem is peeing on everything else.

There are a couple of things you can try. The first is to put a belly band on him, as suggested by Molly McKee. You would need to use them for at least a week, and possibly up to a month.

Be sure to wash everything he has peed on or you will just be spinning in circles.

My second suggestions involves what you are doing to exacerbate the problem. Don't let him sleep in your bed. He can sleep in the bedroom, but not in the bed or the children's beds. Bed sleeping has a remarkable effect on some dogs. Don't let him on the furniture. Turn the cushions up, teach him on/off, but no more in your lap. I have had many rescues, mostly Bostons, and nobody gets on the furniture until I have determined they won't take over the house if allowed to do so. I have had Simon since July and I only started letting him on the furniture a few weeks ago. Not the bed, which is too high anyway.

If you want the dog on the furniture (not the bed) Wait until he has been on good behavior for at least one month (starting after good behavior has begun), then you can try it out.

If you don't already, have him sit nicely before setting his dinner down. Work on having him sit/stay for ten seconds before giving him a release command to get the food. Once he is clear on that, you can use sit/stay and the release when ever it is appropriate, you'll have to practice. Like, before getting in the car, before getting a treat, etc. I'll add that if you give treats, stop. No bits of food off your plate, no Milk Bones. He only gets a treat as a reward for proper behavior (getting off the couch, getting off the bed, sitting at the door, etc.). What this does is knock him down a peg and reminds him that he is the dog, not the king.

I have an intact male, so the rescue males will sometimes think they need to show their masculinity. I've never had a failure.