# Marking his Territory on Walks



## luv2laugh (Oct 6, 2011)

Hello my fellow Vizsla owners,

Oso started lifting his leg to pee a few weeks ago and while I was thinking it was natural and no problem, it has interfered with our walking routine. 

So, for two hours every morning, Oso gets to romp and play, typically off leash. In the afternoon we go for a leashed walk. This walk does very little for his exercise requirements and is really more to maintain our relationship and to continue working on heel with the boy. We only go about a mile. 

Anyways.... I am now at the point, where he walks calmly next to me in a heel position throughout the entire walk on an entirely loose leash. The big BUT is that now that he marks, he breaks his heel to go mark things. Now, I allowed him to to this when he first started lifting his leg, but he does it many times throughout the walk and without telling me. It seems like for training purposes, I should allow him to go sniff, smell and mark before he does autonomously.

Keep in mind, he gets plenty of roaming time, this walk is for other purposes. Right now I have him on a long leash and let it hang down, should I change to a short leash and not let him do this. What do you all do_

Than


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## born36 (Jun 28, 2011)

My Mac will mark 20 to 30 times on an hour long walk if I let him. I now have the rule that he isn't allowed to pull me to anything to mark. I can introduce him to things but he is not allowed to pull me whether to mark or to get something he is excited about. Don't get me wrong he still does try and it can be really bad sometimes but I don't let him pull. I too would love for him to stop pulling when he wants to mark.


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## luv2laugh (Oct 6, 2011)

Hi Born! Can I just say I love this forum? Thank you for your quick response. I guess it is more difficult to feel bad for them when they mark their territory so darn often. 

'' Forgot to say____Oso actually does not pull. He ends up staying behind. So, we are walking by a bush and he just pops his leg up. I either pause or walk slower so it does not pull him. Then, he hurries up to go back into a heel. At this point, any time he just walks in front of me, I make my error noise CH and he gets put in a sit for a moment before we continue. We have come a long way from constant pulling. The exception is when we run into another dog. But, that is another issue.


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## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

L2L,
http://redbirddog.blogspot.com/2011/09/vizslas-and-marking.html

Bailey is 4 years old and I only allow one mark for every two city blocks. If he had his choice it would be every bush and tree, fire hydrant, fence, light pole. And of course EVERY time Chloe pees, he HAS to over-mark.

Communication you know.

RBD


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

If my male is on his own time he can mark what he wants other than people. If we are working he gets ample time to take care of his business then we go to work. There is no marking while we are training.

The only time Cash has ever tried to mark a person was at a trial. A older gentlemen came over to the truck to see us just as I was letting Cash out to air before his run. I luckily saw the hind leg start to go up and gave him a quick sideways jerk. Pulling him off balance made his leg go back down. I quickly walked him to a fence to relieve himself.


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