Desex Or Not?

[Boronia]

I have just bought a 10y/o male Westie.

Not desexed

He is weeing on the chair-legs, door-ways, dog-trampoline-bed legs...you name it and he will wee on it...just a small amount of wee but he is happy spreading it around from place to place.

I think he has been an outside dog as I was told he slept in a cubby house.

Apart from keeping him outside (I won't do this) can anyone suggest tips on how to stop this...do you think desexing will help?

I am inclined to desex anyway as there appears to be health benefits (ie more chance of testicular cancer) in desexing an older dog

he also has a crook ear, cleaned it well with Epi-Otic yesterday after picking him up,it was full of black gunge...his owner gave me some 'PNP' ear suspension for dogs and cats (she couldn't have gotten any of the drops into his ear; it was so blocked up!) , is this treatment successful?

Thanks

Edited September 18, 2016 by Boronia

[tdierikx]

Desexing at this stage probably won't stop him peeing on things... he's already learned the habit. You could try putting a belly band on him until he settles in and stops needing to make everything "his"...

If you want to desex him for non-behavioural reasons, I'd say that's a good thing... he doesn't need them any more, right? *grin*

As for his ear, I'd probably get a vet to have a look and find out exactly what you are dealing with before using anything to try to clear it up... there are different treatments for different issues, remember... I'd probably give it a good clean with a cleaning solution like Oticlean for starters, then go with whatever the vet recommends, depending on whether it's fungal or not.

Oh... and we need PICS!

T.

[juice]

If he hasnt been inside he could just be marking and may settle? When i first brought my cattle dog inside he did the same, but soon stopped and he was desexed.

I would be inclined to desex if it will benefit his health and you can get the vets to have a good look and clean his ears while he is under.

[Scottsmum]

Desexing at this stage probably won't stop him peeing on things... he's already learned the habit. You could try putting a belly band on him until he settles in and stops needing to make everything "his"...

If you want to desex him for non-behavioural reasons, I'd say that's a good thing... he doesn't need them any more, right? *grin*

As for his ear, I'd probably get a vet to have a look and find out exactly what you are dealing with before using anything to try to clear it up... there are different treatments for different issues, remember... I'd probably give it a good clean with a cleaning solution like Oticlean for starters, then go with whatever the vet recommends, depending on whether it's fungal or not.

Oh... and we need PICS!

T.

I agree 100% with T.

[Willem]

...marking in the house is just another house training issue - like the normal toilet training. If allowed it becomes a conditioned behaviour and of course will be harder to erase. The recipe is simple, but time consuming: you have to watch your dog 24/7 to be able to apply corrections when it happens (you only can correct it while it happens - 10 seconds later is too late). Just positive reinforcement (rewarding him when he does a wee or marking outside) won't be enough to eliminate the behaviour as it imprinted now and gets reinforced by instinct, and I doubt that just de-sexing him at such an age would do the trick. Hence there will be some aversives required, the right 'tool' will depend on the individual dog and his trainability - for some dogs a harsh 'NO' and getting him outside will do, others might require to throw a bonker / towel to link the unwanted action to an unpleasant response. The key is persistence, hence the 24/7 supervision. If you can't supervise for a period, get him outside for this period or - dare that I say this - crate him. The training will only be successful if you don't allow him to do it - not once!

At the end it is a training issue...and there is never an equivalent replacement for the appropriate training.

[fbaudry]

What a horrible and outdated piece of advice Willem.... Since you're so keen on "researching" I suggest you go and educate yourself about training and behaviour.

How to instil fear in a dog.... Can't believe some are still touting this kind of advice.

Completely agree with Tdierixx and Juice. I've fostered for a bit a terrier mix out of a shelter who was exactly the same. He'd been desexed a few days before I took him on.

Back to basics with him, i.e. I treated him like a puppy. Never left unsupervised, so he was on a leash tethered to me when inside, taken out very often and rewarded heavily for toileting appropriately, and put away in a puppy pen (with belly band) when I couldn't watch him.

He sooned learnt to toilet on cue and now happily lives inside with an elderly lady.

[Willem]

What a horrible and outdated piece of advice Willem.... Since you're so keen on "researching" I suggest you go and educate yourself about training and behaviour.

How to instil fear in a dog.... Can't believe some are still touting this kind of advice.

Completely agree with Tdierixx and Juice. I've fostered for a bit a terrier mix out of a shelter who was exactly the same. He'd been desexed a few days before I took him on.

Back to basics with him, i.e. I treated him like a puppy. Never left unsupervised, so he was on a leash tethered to me when inside, taken out very often and rewarded heavily for toileting appropriately, and put away in a puppy pen (with belly band) when I couldn't watch him.

He sooned learnt to toilet on cue and now happily lives inside with an elderly lady.

???...the only difference of your recipe and what I recommended is that you use a leash as the aversive to correct him...or do you think your dog enjoyed it to be tied to you all the time and get pulled outside when he actually liked to mark something????...it is still a correction and I bet you wouldn't have been able to do it if you would have replaced the leash with a fine string...

[fbaudry]

It was actually a piece of cooking twine so pretty flimsy anyway and the dog WASNT pulled outside.

Throwing a "bonker" or towel? Seriously?

I used to ignore your posts but I can't let that one go through.

[Willem]

It was actually a piece of cooking twine so pretty flimsy anyway and the dog WASNT pulled outside.

Throwing a "bonker" or towel? Seriously?

I used to ignore your posts but I can't let that one go through.

...yes, seriously...for a lot of dogs this is a very good tool to link an unwanted behaviour to an unpleasant response without hurting them...but let us know how you interrupted the marking?...because this is the problem of the OP, it is not just about adding wanted behaviour by using positive reinforcement or normal toilet training, but about eliminating an already established unwanted behaviour of a 10 year old dog....being happily rewarded outside for a wee won't convince him to give up on marking in the house as these are 2 total different behaviours for him despite that the smell is the same...

[Boronia]

we are taking tiny steps here,

he has his bed in the lounge room and another in the office and I put his leash on with the end tied to a chair-leg, we go outside every hour or so and he has a wee...lots of Good Boy's and pats

I thought his arthritis (he has a slightly stiff lefty back leg) may have been paining him when he went down the steps (17 of them) as he squeaked about 1/2 way down, well it was fear and he has conquered that and now whizzes up and down happily (lots of Good Boy's for doing that as well)

I had an old calf-hoof that Daisy had chewed on, Saffy won't touch it but he found it and thought it a great treat.

I also shout Oi if he cocks his leg on the way to the outside door...this works and then he gets praised for weeing on a tree

I think I'll call him Henry; he looks like a Henry

he has been clipped short all over so doesn't have a lovely Westie skirt..he looks pretty awful as he is fat as well...poor bugger :-D

some piccies as T and Scottsmum demanded

Edited September 19, 2016 by Boronia

[Scottsmum]

What a lucky man - he'll never know what hit him landing at casa del Boronia.

I can see a Henry in there, but I'm curious, why does he need a name change?

Hope you can sort the marking business out - I'm so grateful Scottie never marks in the house. Out on walks - good god - I'm sure the boys have a second bladder reserved completely for wizzing on stuff.

[Boronia]

What a lucky man - he'll never know what hit him landing at casa del Boronia.

I can see a Henry in there, but I'm curious, why does he need a name change?

Hope you can sort the marking business out - I'm so grateful Scottie never marks in the house. Out on walks - good god - I'm sure the boys have a second bladder reserved completely for wizzing on stuff.

because his name was Milo and I don't want to call him that

I hate that name

[fbaudry]

He's surely landed on his feet with you Boronia! You'll have him looking smashing in no time....

I'm sure you'll get on top of this with a bit of time and patience (which you have in bucket loads!).

It's so sad to see them getting neglected as they get older...

[Scottsmum]

What a lucky man - he'll never know what hit him landing at casa del Boronia.

I can see a Henry in there, but I'm curious, why does he need a name change?

Hope you can sort the marking business out - I'm so grateful Scottie never marks in the house. Out on walks - good god - I'm sure the boys have a second bladder reserved completely for wizzing on stuff.

because his name was Milo and I don't want to call him that

I hate that name

He's not a Milo - that's for sure! I often wonder what Scotties name was before we got him. Good news is they learn new names fairly well. :)

[JulesP]

If he is wanting to mark on the same spots some cleaning with bio-zet or similar might help.

Glad you have little white dogs back in your life!

[tdierikx]

OMG... he's a very pretty boy, isn't he? And I think Henry is an awesome name!

T.

[Boronia]

OMG... he's a very pretty boy, isn't he? And I think Henry is an awesome name!

T.

thank you T

he will be prettier when he loses some of his wombat-fat and his skirt and beard grow

he may even look like a Westie and not a little white doggie with the world's worst haircut

[luvmybulldog]

Henry is beautiful Boronia and such a lucky boy to have you - I so miss having a little boy in my house. Both he and Saffy have hit the jackpot coming to live with you.

[Boronia]

Naughty Henry chased the chooks

sigh....

[_PL_]

Completely agree with Tdierixx and Juice. I've fostered for a bit a terrier mix out of a shelter who was exactly the same. He'd been desexed a few days before I took him on.

Back to basics with him, i.e. I treated him like a puppy. Never left unsupervised, so he was on a leash tethered to me when inside, taken out very often and rewarded heavily for toileting appropriately, and put away in a puppy pen (with belly band) when I couldn't watch him.

He sooned learnt to toilet on cue and now happily lives inside with an elderly lady.

Yep. I've seen a lot of boys taper off their interest to 'mark' everything. Combine it with appropriate re-training like a pup and they catch on, easier than with marking girls who will pee over the top of each other's pee!!