Female Dog Marking

[GoldenGirl85]

Im trying to stop my JRT from marking on walks, she has been getting more and more obsessive with it and its getting very annoying to have her constantly tugging on the lead to sniff each and every tree/post/tyre or whatever a boy dog has found to be a good place to take a leak...anyone have ideas on stopping the behaviour?

[VJB]

I am having the same issue with my GSP at the moment. I am confident that there is no urine infection happening, just marking a lot since turning 2. Will be interested in the responses.

[Aidan]

Don't let your dogs pull you over to the post or bush. If they go there on a loose leash then begin to mark, and you think they've done quite enough marking along that stretch, keep walking.

[GoldenGirl85]

I dont let her pull me lol. I walk Tess on a walking belt and its just annoying to have her constantly straining on the lead when I know she just wants to mark

[bedazzledx2]

I had a very doggy bitch that would lift her leg to mark and would back up to a tree to mark over the boys. She was also sterilized. It never bothered me as all my dogs know the toileting command. If I'm walking them on lead they should wait until I give them permission.

I dont let her pull me lol. I walk Tess on a walking belt and its just annoying to have her constantly straining on the lead when I know she just wants to mark

[Adele]

My sterilised female will also try and mark on our walks but I make sure she has had a chance to toilet properly then after that we don't stop! She knows if she tries to stop that I'm going to keep walking and she will have to too. I do have a command for her though ("sniff") that means she is allowed to stop and sniff what has taken her fancy.

[GoldenGirl85]

Lol, even if she does toilet properly first she always keeps a 'reserve' for the trees

[Aidan3]

I dont let her pull me lol. I walk Tess on a walking belt and its just annoying to have her constantly straining on the lead when I know she just wants to mark

How long have you not been letting her pull?

[Nekhbet]

give her a firm correction for even starting to walk towards trees. Unlip the dog from your belt and do some training while she learns. Praise for leaving trees alone. I give my dogs a pee command so they know its wee time and the rest of the time tough luck. Remember to also reward the dog for paying attention to you, take a few steps backwards in her training and treat her a bit like a pup again.

Marking in bitches means you have a dominant animal, not necessarily an infection and it is not uncommon at all. As for marking inside supervise at all times and give her a big punishment for marking inside. A gruff HEY NO or bang two pot lids together and put her straight outside for a while to go pee if she needs to. Keep an eye on her closely as well. I see you also have another up and coming dog which I assume is a bitch also, get a tighter reign on the jack russell before she starts having a serious go at your golden.

[OSoSwift]

I had two very dominant bitches that cocked their legs and would get into peeing competitions with our then entire male. They cocked their legs on car tyres the works. One was entire one was desexed. The only fight they ever had (deadly serious one) was when they both cocked their leg on the same spot at the same time!

My bitches were allowed to pee before the walk - not hard, they wanted to mark everything - then after that we walked. If they tried to pull towards something they had a small correction on their collar. It didn't take long for them to figure it out. They also had a toilet command. They were never allowed to pull me towards anything. If the lead tightened they got a correction.

Edited July 21, 2010 by Rommi n Lewis

[GoldenGirl85]

I might put her back on a collar then, I put her back on a harness and attached her to the walking belt so I could concentrate more on my pup and get her walking nicely, she responds to a check of the collar mostly so Ill see how that goes tomorrow

I dont have any problems with her marking inside, its only on walks, and she will sometimes mark over Lexis wee in the yard, I know it means I have a dominant dog but she isnt aggressive at all, she will put Lexi in her place if she is getting too bouncy for her. Lexi isnt the slightest bit dominant so they make a good pair, Tess says 'jump' and Lexi says 'how high?' I know Lexi is still a pup and that may change, but for now things are working fine and I cant see that changing in the near future

[Nekhbet]

if she's only started marking recently and it's progressing she's telling you she has a problem with Lexi, or the beginning of one. If you're walking the pup too the jack russell is asserting herself and her territoriality. I think you need to help Tess feel more comfortable, sounds like she's shouldering a lot of the work, getting less then required leadership and guidence from you and she's in panic control mode yet not really cut out for it 100%.

Lexi is a baby, most problems hit around the 12 month mark in a harder dog, or 18-24 month period. THats when they lose the attitude of 'OK I'll take it, I'm a baby" to "no F you, who do you think you are snapping at me that way, i'm a fully mature adult". Thats when it hit between my males and thats the end of that. No more playing nicely at all and now there has to be at least a baby gate between them or one starts on the other (one dog is the main perpetrator of this)