# Suddenly Marking in the house... why????



## 2Vizslas (Sep 22, 2017)

Our male V (Cooper) NEVER pees in the house. He is 4 years old. We left for a few hours yesterday... which is not uncommon. Cooper stayed inside - perfectly normal. He has not urinated in the house since he was a puppy. We have a flight of stairs (15 steps or so) that leads upstairs to the bedrooms. we came home to the first step being marked, the very top step (in front of my daughter's bedroom) being marked and each of the four bedroom doors and the wall just inside my daughter's room. It's almost as if he was guarding them. My teenager was in and out throughout the day and let him out multiple times to go to the bathroom - so it seems really odd that he would have peed in the house. First thing this morning, my husband let him out to go to the bathroom as he always does. Cooper stayed out for 10 minutes or so and then came back inside. A few minutes later, my husband goes upstairs to get dressed for the day and Cooper had snuck upstairs and marked our bedroom door again. What in the world is going on? Any thoughts on this??


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## PhilipL (Sep 28, 2018)

Might it be 'Separation Anxiety'? We have been in lockdown here in the UK for around three months now, due to Covid-19 and there has been a lot of press coverage about pets' potentially having SA as a result of having had so much extra time with their owners and then experiencing them suddenly going back to 'normal' routines and a lot less time spent with them.


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## 2Vizslas (Sep 22, 2017)

PhilipL said:


> Might it be 'Separation Anxiety'? We have been in lockdown here in the UK for around three months now, due to Covid-19 and there has been a lot of press coverage about pets' potentially having SA as a result of having had so much extra time with their owners and then experiencing them suddenly going back to 'normal' routines and a lot less time spent with them.


That could potentially be the issue... we have been gradually getting much more active and out of the house, although we haven't stayed out all day yet, like yesterday.


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## 2Vizslas (Sep 22, 2017)

He marked my daughter's bedroom door again tonight... as well as the corner of the stairs leading up to her room. He's not marking inside the room, but just the entrance. This is beyond weird...


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## PhilipL (Sep 28, 2018)

Found this if it helps any Dog marking in house


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Have you considered gating the bottom of the stairs, while you work on the problem?


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## 2Vizslas (Sep 22, 2017)

texasred said:


> Have you considered gating the bottom of the stairs, while you work on the problem?


Yes - we are going to use a gate now. He's 4 and hasn't gone to the bathroom in the house since he was 4-5 mo. old, so this is just really weird... 
he sleeps with my daughter every night and although the first time he marked, he marked all 3 of my children's bedroom doors, he has singled out just her door the past couple of times. It's so, so strange. There is obviously something he is suddenly very insecure or protective about - I just can't figure out what it is. I thought about the possible Covid/separation anxiety issue, but I homeschool my 2 younger children and our lives really didn't look that much different during the lockdowns. We are home a lot in normal times, so there wasn't a drastic change. We just had our female V spayed in early May... but I'm not sure that would affect him. When he marked last night, my husband and I had gone to dinner but my teenager and tweens were home. He snuck upstairs and marked while they were watching a movie. VERY odd behavior. 
We do have to board them in 2 weeks, so I'm hoping that doesn't make it worse. I plan to send their bed, favorite toys and food with them.


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## Ffion (Jun 5, 2020)

Once we had an insect repellent sprayer in the house. Our puppy came in from the garden and immediately started barking and growling and sniffing rapidly around. We discovered that the smell of the insect repellent had her thinking that there was an intruder in the house! Maybe there is something similar happening with your vizsla? A new smell or object that he doesn't like?


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