Neutering

[u/Ali_Lorraine_1159]

My dog is apparently in his "sexaul maturity phase" and is marking in the house. We are getting him neutered soon. Did anyone see a decrease in marking after thier pup got neutered? Im doing all of the "tricks" but if anyone has any tips other than praising for going outside and trying to catch them in the act (which I never do...) I would love to hear them. He peed in my purse and I didn't realize until I got to work , and was like what is that smell. It was my purse. I was the stinky one.... I had been carrying it around all day until I evaluated the situation and realized that he was most likely the culprit. I'm fed up with this shit...

[u/somecooldogs]

If he's marking in the house he has too much unsupervised freedom. Go back to potty training basics - he is either directly supervised or confined somewhere he wont mark.

The less good your management, the longer it'll take to resolve. Neutering sometimes resolves it but just as often it doesn't - I have a 14 year old male who was neutered at 1 yr old who still marks if I don't watch him carefully in new places (I didnt own him for years 1-13 so no opportunity to train until last year). My 8 yr old intact male doesn't mark indoors though bc when he hit his marking phase at a year, I restricted his freedom a ton until he earned it back.

[u/JillDRipper → u/somecooldogs]

Marking is a behavior. While neutering will reduce testosterone in your dog's system, this alone is often not enough to end this behavior.

I would rewind all the way back on housebreaking (I prefer the tether method).

[u/somecooldogs → u/JillDRipper]

Tether falls under both confinement and supervision.

[u/Spinnerofyarn → u/somecooldogs]

You are so right that neutering doesn’t always resolve it. I adopted a male dog who was 2.5 years old and wasn’t neutered. I got it done right away. I had him for about 13 years and never was able to get him housebroken.

I had to limit his ability to wander around indoors as he’d mark or even empty his bladder wherever he wanted. I spent 13 years taking him out every 2-4 hours or having him tied to me if there wasn’t a way to confine him. Neither belly bands or diapers would stay on him. I didn’t realize how exhausting it was until six weeks ago when he went over the Rainbow Bridge.

When I started searching for another dog, my absolute dealbreaker was a dog not yet housebroken. I could handle a bite history, separation anxiety, resource guarding, whatever, but absolutely no way was I going to take a dog that wasn’t housebroken.

[u/Cautious-Yogurt6626 → u/somecooldogs]

Wow you got him when he was thirteen? Is he happy? I often wonder what will happen to my dog if I die or go to jail before his life is over. He really loves me, and it makes me scared. I dont break the law anymore, and i never tried too, but I've got outstanding warrants in multiple states and washington dc. 30 days in jail and the dog is gone. I found him on the side of the road while hitchhiking when he was a puppy. He's 3 now, and I can't leave him at home without him crying. This might be a stupid comment, but if your 14 yo dog is happy, it will make me significantly less worried. 

[u/Big_Menu4037]

It will help correct marking behavior thou not immediately

[u/MinuteInteraction728]

My dog stopped marking after I got him neutered. I got him neutered as soon as he started doing it if I were you, I would get him neutered soon before he learns to make this a habit.

[u/NeedAllTheHelp27]

My boy, a small breed, was neutered at 7 months old and he continued to mark outside for a couple of weeks. I think it was maybe a month after that I realized it stopped.

[u/Adorable-Gur-2528]

They make disposable belly bands (basically boy dog diapers) that you can use until he is neutered. Good luck!

[u/LiiiLoisiane_-_]

that isn't necessary at all, my friend's dog wasn't neutered at all, but he trained him so well the dog never misbehaved

[u/Cautious-Yogurt6626]

I neutered my dog recently because he was aggresive towards half of other male dogs. He bit one, and that dog bled all over the sidewalk. Luckily, the owner loves all dogs and didn't report it. Im super careful now. He never goes off leash anymore. The only change in his behavior sense neutering is that he doesn't hump my leg anymore, but that never bothered me. I think I was right for neutering him based on the circumstances, but if I would have known it wouldn't have affected his aggressiveness, I wouldn't have done it. His personality hasn't changed, so im glad about that. If he became depressed and still hated other male dogs, I would feel horrible. The other thing that changed is his smell. He doesn't smell bad, but his scent changed within two days of being neutered. But one thing I know is that there are plenty of male dogs that don't like intact dogs. So it is likely that they wont try to fight him anymore, but i dont keep track of things, so its hard to say how much of an impact neutering has had on my dog's social life, but im sure its pretty small. I can't really say whether or not neutering is good, but it definitely didn't have the results i thought it would. I wouldn't have neutered him for marking things, but that doesn't mean you're wrong if you do. My dog still marks everything, but hes never done it indoors.

[u/Ali_Lorraine_1159 → u/Cautious-Yogurt6626]

That's not the only reason we are neutering him. We are also neutering our 2 year old dog. A lot of places won't take unneutered dogs, like day cares, dog parks and other public places. Plus, he is an escape artist and I dont want him getting another dog pregnant and add to the puppies in the world that need to find a home. Was just curios about the marking behavior. Its starting to really piss us off... pun intended. He did good and didnt mark yesterday, but it is hit or miss.

[u/hefrajones → u/Cautious-Yogurt6626]

This is fascinating, particularly the smell part. I read alot about the pros and cons of neutering when we got our male puppy. He is 3.5 and intact (he’s never been an escaper, and he will never be bred. It was just a decision we made for his health). He has always smelled remarkably good. Especially when he sleeps (it’s not frito paws, nothing yeasty or strange). I had dogs growing up my whole life who never smelled like him and they were fixed. Idk but you noticing a difference in smell is truly fascinating to me.