TLDR: male dog (2y) marks female dog’s (10y) room constantly despite our efforts to discourage it and it’s getting out of hand.
Hi! I have a ~10 year old chihuahua mix (Zoey, F, spayed) that I adopted from the shelter when she was 2. My parents (who I live with) decided that they wanted a dog 2 years ago, so they got a male yorkie puppy (Oliver, M, neutered). We figured that since he was a puppy, my dog would warm up to him slowly, and he would know that she was “boss.” Unfortunately, he’s now 2 years old and both he and zoey push all of each other’s buttons and try to be the “alpha dog” of the household. Fortunately, they’re both good listeners and we haven’t had any major problems between them (fights, etc), except that Oliver marks EVERYWHERE. He comes into my room (also Zoey’s room) and just inundates it with marking. It’s damaging our laminate flooring and it’s gross to have to clean up all the time, not to mention when he pees all over my bed. We’ve shown him the pee and told him no, reminded him that he needs to pee outside, reinforced successful potties hugely since day 1, used spray/cleaning products that claim to deter marking, used homemade ammonia/vinegar solutions, verbally discouraged marking behaviors, but he just keeps marking. It’s gotten to the point where we have to keep him in a belly wrap diaper whenever he has access to my room or the basement or else there’ll be puddles of pee everywhere. I work from home so I put both of them out at least once every 2 hours, so it’s not like he has to hold his pee for too long. And he’s potty trained. He asks to go out when he needs to pee/poo. He’s a crazy smart dog, too. We’re at a loss, we don’t know how to get through to him lol. I’m certain this behavior is due to the conflict between him and zoey, and hopefully I’ll be able to move out of my parents house with her soon. But in the meantime, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Hi! I have a ~10 year old chihuahua mix (Zoey, F, spayed) that I adopted from the shelter when she was 2. My parents (who I live with) decided that they wanted a dog 2 years ago, so they got a male yorkie puppy (Oliver, M, neutered). We figured that since he was a puppy, my dog would warm up to him slowly, and he would know that she was “boss.” Unfortunately, he’s now 2 years old and both he and zoey push all of each other’s buttons and try to be the “alpha dog” of the household. Fortunately, they’re both good listeners and we haven’t had any major problems between them (fights, etc), except that Oliver marks EVERYWHERE. He comes into my room (also Zoey’s room) and just inundates it with marking. It’s damaging our laminate flooring and it’s gross to have to clean up all the time, not to mention when he pees all over my bed. We’ve shown him the pee and told him no, reminded him that he needs to pee outside, reinforced successful potties hugely since day 1, used spray/cleaning products that claim to deter marking, used homemade ammonia/vinegar solutions, verbally discouraged marking behaviors, but he just keeps marking. It’s gotten to the point where we have to keep him in a belly wrap diaper whenever he has access to my room or the basement or else there’ll be puddles of pee everywhere. I work from home so I put both of them out at least once every 2 hours, so it’s not like he has to hold his pee for too long. And he’s potty trained. He asks to go out when he needs to pee/poo. He’s a crazy smart dog, too. We’re at a loss, we don’t know how to get through to him lol. I’m certain this behavior is due to the conflict between him and zoey, and hopefully I’ll be able to move out of my parents house with her soon. But in the meantime, any advice would be greatly appreciated.