# 5 month puppy marking territory in house



## angie701 (Feb 18, 2009)

Hi there. We have a 5 1/2 month old Bernese Mountain Dog puppy, Ollie who has been fully house trained since about 4 months. He's recently started to urinate on his bed (like marking his territory) and also humping his bed quite frequently! He's quite a dominant puppy and although we're managing to do the basic training with him, it's much harder work than with previous dogs we've had.

We used to own another dog so its possible he's getting his scent as his bed is in the same place in the kitchen as our previous dogs was (although Ollie has a new bed).

Just wondered if any of you had similar problems with your puppy? Should we be looking at getting Ollie castrated early as obviously he's going to be a big dog and don't want this behaviour to continue. We were planning on getting him castrated at some point anyway but is it too early to be thinking about this and will it solve the problem?

Any advice welcome, thanks!


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## goodvic2 (Nov 23, 2008)

In my opinion it is always best to get the dog neutered asap. Sometimes behaviour can begin out of frustration and hormones, but can continue out of routine/habit. I am not an expert on what the minimum age is to neuter a puppy, but I'm sure your vet can tell you. x


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## cpatel (Nov 3, 2007)

Hey, very cute puppy!!!

re: Urinating

How often does he urinate on it. is this something that happens just over night or many times during day and night?

How do you deal with this behaviour of him urinating on his bed?

re: Humping

Humping his bed is probably him maturing and yes neutering him will most probably eliminate or reduce this behaviour. There are many opinions and thought on neutering, mine are "neuter if you are not going to breed from your dog / bitch". (However I will consider dogs individually but my general advice is ...)

I advice my clients to get their dog castrated before 10 months of age and smaller dogs earlier. Most vets in the UK will neuter from 6 months and some will now do this much earlier.

Although I am "pro-neuter" I do say to my clients NOT to think of neutering as a "cure for all" as it is not. Neutering will effect behaviours which are 'linked' to testosterone (ie. decrease humping & decrease roaming) also there are a number of other benefits (to both owners and dogs). There is also an element of learn't behaviour (as the poster above mentions) after a dog has being preforming the behaviour for a while and also behaviours which are not linked to testosterone which neutering will probably not effect.

re: "Dominant Behaviour"

Can you explain to me what you mean by "he is quite dominant" as many people mean so many different things by that phase it would be easier to provide you advice if you could explain in a bit more detail... (such as saying; he pulls on lead, he jumps up, he bites people...)

Finally:

I have seen many owners with similar problems with their puppys behaviour and I am sure with some help you and your pup will both be fine. I would suggest if you are not already doing so working with a local trainer as I am sure this will help sort out some of the problems your are probably experiencing and strengthen the relationship and bond between you and your pup. You can find details of local trainers at: Local Dog Trainers - Association of Pet Dog Trainers UK

Chirag

Chirag Patel DipCABT, CPDT
San Francisco SPCA Certificates in Training & Behaviour and Dog Aggression
Member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers #00923 (UK) #71093 (US)
Pets as Therapy Assessor

Dog Star Daily Blogger - Please check out Dog Star Daily for loads of free puppy & dog training articles, videos and blogs.

Telephone: 077 2531 0204
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.domesticatedmanners.com

(DipCABT = Advanced Diploma in Practical Aspects of Companion Animal
Behaviour & Training from the Centre of Applied Pet Ethology)
(CPDT = Certified Pet Dog Trainer with the Certification Council for
Professional Dog Trainers)


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## angie701 (Feb 18, 2009)

Hi, many thanks for your helpful reply! Will certainly look at training classes for him - we live in Scotland but I think there is a class locally.

Re the urinating - Ollie has only recently started urinating on his bed - so far its only through the day and is maybe 2 or 3 times a day. Most of the time he does it when we're not in the room but if I catch him doing it, I just say no loudly and put him outside which is what we used to do if he did something in the house before he was toilet trained. Then I take his bed away to wash it. He's usually very clean and even when he had accidents before he was toilet trained, he would never urinate on his bed. I should perhaps mention that Ollie doesn't ever sleep on his bed - since we got him he's always chosen to just sleep on the kitchen floor, and especially in doorways. He will lie in his bed chewing his toys etc but just doesn't use it to sleep on.

I will make an appointment to see my vet and see what he says about getting Ollie castrated - if he's happy to do it as soon as possible, hopefully it will help with some of the behaviour.

When I say Ollie is dominant - it's mainly inside the house rather than outside and its mostly towards me rather than my husband (I'm obviously the soft touch!). He barks at me a lot for attention or when I'm preparing food in the kitchen he just stands and barks at me. He also jumps up on people and pulls on the lead when I'm taking him out for walks. I have managed to get him to pull on the lead a bit less recently with some training and the jumping up is now mainly at visitors in the house as he gets over excited. He isn't dominant towards other dogs - if anything he seems quite timid with other dogs when he's out for his walks and he isn't showing any signs of aggression towards us or anyone else. If anything it's the opposite - he is extremely affectionate and I'm the one that probably gives him the most attention (hard not to when he's so cute!). Maybe this hasn't helped.

Would be great to know what I'm doing wrong!


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## cpatel (Nov 3, 2007)

Great! I really think that looking for and attending a well run local class will be beneficial.

Re: Urinating

Could I suggest that you try removing his bed altogether (the one he is urinating on). If you want to put a bed down then use a new one or a blanket for the moment and see if taking away the bed which carries the urine odour on it stops him urinating indoors.

Also I would take him out more and reward urinating outdoors (like you probably did when your first started) over the next week and the issue may "go away".

If you catch him doing it indoor I would just say "uh uh" or "no" (like you do) but not loudly just clearly and take him outside if he hasn't already finished.

I know it sound simple but often its easier and quite successful to try the basics before making too much of what could just be a house training relapse.

LOL I know some one with two rotties and one of them loves to sleep in the shower in their ensuite.

Re: "Dominant" Behaviour

It sound like attending a well run basic training class will resolve many of these issues for you. Some time it could be down to the way you work with your dog.

Usually if a dog gets reinforced for something (ie. like the barking) they will continue to do it. The reinforcement could be loads of things (ie. telling him to shut up, stroking him, feeding him, trying to 'punish' him...).

You could try teaching him an alternative behaviour in this situation. This could be something you want him to do which is not standing in front of you barking when you prepare his dinner (ie. sit, quietly). Because punishing him alone for what you don't want, won't give him any feed back on what you want him to do instead.

I would suggest that you practice this many times a day (for a few minutes each time) not just at meal times as it will speed up the training.

If Ollie does bark I would say "too bad" (not shout, just say it once clearly) and walk out of the kitchen (leaving everything you are preparing there out of Ollies' reach, other wise it won't be much of a punishment) shutting the door behind you. Wait for 30 seconds (and until Ollie is quiet) walk in and continue and reward Ollie for quietly sitting.

I think he sound like a great dog who just needs some one to teach him what they would like from him in a way that he understands. (This should NOT involve any form of physical punishment or being nasty to him). So if you can find a trainer to guide you and teach you how to do this effectively, I think after a few weeks of training and maybe even sooner you will probably be seeing a great difference and have lots of fun!!!

Chirag

Chirag Patel DipCABT, CPDT
San Francisco SPCA Certificates in Training & Behaviour and Dog Aggression
Member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers #00923 (UK) #71093 (US)
Pets as Therapy Assessor

Dog Star Daily Blogger  Please check out Dog Star Daily for loads of free puppy & dog training articles, videos and blogs.

Telephone: 077 2531 0204
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.domesticatedmanners.com

(DipCABT = Advanced Diploma in Practical Aspects of Companion Animal
Behaviour & Training from the Centre of Applied Pet Ethology)
(CPDT = Certified Pet Dog Trainer with the Certification Council for
Professional Dog Trainers)


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## angie701 (Feb 18, 2009)

Hi Chirag

Thanks a lot for your replies and your excellent advice! Hopefully with the correct training we'll see an improvement soon. Will keep you posted.


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