urine marking indoors

[monicaxyz]

hi everyone, just to give you an update: things have improved dramatically!!! these are the changes i made:

i've been leaving my bedroom door open during the day while i'm at work, so he can go in there, which is where he sleeps at night (under my bed). i think this helps with any stress issues as that is his favorite hidey hole.


i always give him a treat when i leave the house, but now i crumble it up and sprinkle it all over the livingroom rug, which is where he usually pees.

i used the homeopathing remedy "ignatia amara" 30C, made by boiron, 3 pellets once a day in morning before breakfast four days in a row.

so far, no more pee incidents ... will keep you posted!
thanks again for all your kind and helpful advise.
monica

[Merlin]

hi, my chow, mr. pookiface, 1 year 4 months old, is housetrained and has been since he was a puppy. HOWEVER, he will urinate in the house sometimes. It does not seem to be related to anything I can discern, he does pee outside, the indoor peeing is unpredictable, it can happen right after a long walk where he did pee outside, or during the day when he is home without me. However, many days he doesn't do it at all. It does not seem related to actually having to go, or to stress, or to any change in our life. Has anyone else had this happen? (i posted this on "training" first, but i think more people will see it here)

Firstly, is this chow neutered? If not, it explains everything. I looked over the messages and could not see if that was the case.

Secondly, I find it impressive how easily everyone here immediately councils to take a "pill" or a "sedative" to help solve the problem.

Unless you can rule out anything physical, and you certainly should, it's more than likely that it's a behavioural problem and pills are NOT going to help you. Paying attention to your Chow certainly will though. Your chow is giving off signals that you are either missing or unaware of.

It's also possible that areas in the house have previously been uriniated on by other dogs, and your dog is simply following suit, in which case, a serious clean up is necessary.

If the dog isn't neutered, and you're not going to be showing or breeding, then have the chow neutered. It will fix the problem (if it's not too late).

Leaving food on the urine spots is a helpful idea, so is the use of a crate.

Best of luck to you on this.
(please take your chow off pills - that's awful)


Cheers
MM

[Layla]

to answer your questions: he is neutered, had done promptly at 6 months old.

can you help me with why herbal remedies are bad for dogs? Thanks

[Merlin]

Have you heard of a belly band? This is the most successful tool for males who mark.

I'm sorry, I just don't believe in giving remedies for a urinating problem to a healthy dog. I think it's a ludicris practice. If the dog has a medical problem, then that's a different story, but that isn't being mentioned as the problem here.

You can find out information about a belly band at:
http://www.dog-breeds.net/dog_diaper_belly_band.htm

Best of luck
MM

[monicaxyz]

hello again fellow chow lovers,
just another update on our situation. we had a few setbacks and i tried a few different approaches, what i'm finding is that feeding both dogs where mr. pookieface urinates has worked best. after they eat i leave the empty food bowls right there until the next meal. i think the homeopathic remedy also helped. and i've added salmon oil from timber wolf organics to his diet. so far so good...

[Layla]

Yay for you. Timberwolf is great huh. Millie is far less ichy on that. I think that she likes it more than Solid GOld as well....