# Urinating in the house



## [email protected] (Oct 8, 2015)

Rocco is 9. He has been urinating in the house. It is to the point he is ruining carpets, walls and furniture. It does not matter how often he is let out. He will even do it when we are home. He gets very defensive and aggressive when caught and corrected. He is not crated when we leave. He does have a very aggressive side when he feels threatened like putting him in his crate and closing the door. As a puppy he could not be crated he was very destructive and I thought he would hurt himself. He is not nurtured. Really need to know if there is a way to stop this urinating.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Some dogs you can build a working relationship with, even though they are the type to turn nasty when made to do something, they would rather not. If he has been getting his way when he gets defensive for 9 years, its going to be tough to change your relationship with him.


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## gingerling (Jun 20, 2015)

Has he been doing this for 9 years?

Dogs typically don't like to mess in the house. My first step would be to contact the vet and see if there's not some biological problem for this, like a UTI or a prostate problem.


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## Canadian Expy (Feb 27, 2013)

If this has not been occurring over the last 9 years I wonder, has anything recently changed in your home? A new person staying, new pet, etc? I ask only because this can sometimes trigger a marking response in a dog that is used to being in a dominant role. Even if it is a change you might consider minor.


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## [email protected] (Oct 8, 2015)

He has urinated in the house when he has been left alone during the past 9 years. It has never been been to level of damage that it is now. I would say in the last 3 years it has really become an issue. It is no longer just when we are not home. If you put something in a room that is new he at some point urinates on it. Yes there have been some changes in the house. Everyone working different shifts, which causes no set schedule of when someone is home. Martial issues which has caused a variety of problems and tensions within the house. There are probably more but those are the 2 biggest. What can I do to stop this problem?


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## gingerling (Jun 20, 2015)

First, the easy stuff: Bringing new things in the house shouldn't result in him needing to mark it. But, I'd let him sniff it first, let him check it out, and praise him for being casual around it, take your time so he can get a sense of it and be OK with it.

Now, the harder part: V's are extremely sensitive, and yours sounds particularly sensitive, and if your "Marital problems" are serious, he's aware of that, and his marking might be a response to the stress he's picking up btwn the two of you, as well as the tension he feels btwn either of you and him. The best response to that is to get some marital therapy or otherwise resolve your differences so the tension level drops. This would be good not only for him, but you as well. In the meanwhile, you might try to get some "Private time" with him where the tension is down and you're both doing something fun, a hike or a walk in the park, a play session.

But if he's reacting to what we all know can be some pretty significant stresses at home, the cure lies with you, not him.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

The only way I have been able to fully house train a dog, is by limiting their freedom.
It didn't matter if I got them as pups, or they came to me as adult dogs that had never been kept in the house. Either I had my eyes on them, or they went to the crate, or outdoor kennel.
With them only getting to relieve themselves outside, they get the idea that doing it in the house is off limits.
As long as your dog has free run of the house, I really don't know how to help.


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## Canadian Expy (Feb 27, 2013)

TexasRed said:


> The only way I have been able to fully house train a dog, is by limiting their freedom.
> It didn't matter if I got them as pups, or they came to me as adult dogs that had never been kept in the house. Either I had my eyes on them, or they went to the crate, or outdoor kennel.
> With them only getting to relieve themselves outside, they get the idea that doing it in the house is off limits.
> As long as your dog has free run of the house, I really don't know how to help.


I agree with TR. Though your pup is likely sensitive to the stresses in your life, if he has been doing this for the past 9 years (not suddenly), it sounds like it is more of a habitual problem that needs breaking. If it was my dog, I would do as TR has suggested, as free reign isn't going to solve the problem. I would also keep a lead on the dog when your home so that if you notice him going to sniff as if to mark you can intercept with the leash and get him outside (for this to work, you need to be diligent in supervising though).


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## gingerling (Jun 20, 2015)

The OP states that the problem has been habitual only when the dog is left alone. The obvious solution to the wetting at those times is to crate the dog. A dog that wets when left alone in the house shouldn't have free run of the house.

However, the sudden increase correlates with marital stress, so the solution to the dog's urinating in the house when they are home is to solve the marital problems.


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