People who own male dogs quickly figure out that intact males are more likely to mark than neutered males, however neutering a dog is not an option if you are showing in conformation classes or plan to use the dog in a breeding program. Adding to the problem is that when an intact male who doesn't normally mark inside a house is introduced to a female who is in season, a male dog may take up the habit of marking. After the female is gone, the dog's habit can remain. Male marking inside a household is a difficult habit to deal with and that habit will not necessarily disappear when the dog is neutered. Although teaching a dog not to mark inside a household is tedious, it can be done.

In an attempt to resolve this issue, some people have used punishment to reform a dog who marks. Whether or not the dog changes his behavior when punished, punishing dogs that mark can create a dog who becomes insecure with the owner, learns to become sneaky about the habit, or begins to show neurotic behavior as a result of the punishment. It may surprise some people to find out that dominance isn't always the reason a dog chooses to mark. Insecure dogs will mark when a new dog comes into the house. Some dogs mark because of frustration or because the dog is feeling stressed.

There are several steps to securing the reform of a male dog who marks. The first is to buy a black light, which can be obtained from many pet suppliers. This handheld device allows you to identify all the areas where the dog has marked inside the house. Be aware that a room needs to be fairly dark when you go on your search. Once you locate areas aglow from previously deposited dog urine, you need to completely eliminate the odor. Cover-ups like vinegar solution may appease the human nose, but won't fool a dog. Buy an enzymatic cleaner such as Natures Miracle to digest the smells that dogs seeks out when looking to mark. If you have a lot of soiled areas in your carpet, you may want to hire a carpet cleaning service. Find someone who specializes in removing pet odors. Again removal and not cover-up is necessary to stop this problem.

Some males tend to have a favorite place they consistently mark. One male tended to run from one window to another when he saw another dog pass by the house. In between the two windows, the male would hike his leg on a piece of furniture. If you find that your dog tends to mark excessively in certain areas, you can use a product such as Boundary Guard to repel the dog from a particular place. This product needs applied at least once a day. Be aware that you may need to establish a repelling area a foot or two away from the targeted zone in the initial stages of retraining. As the dog's begins to stay away from the marking area, you can use the repellent more specifically on the target spot.

Once you've clean up all soiled areas, and have establish barriers around frequented spots, you need to put a girdle on the dog. Some people use a product known as a Belly Band. This girdle is designed to go around the dog's waist and catches urine when a male attempts to mark. Preventing a dog from marking helps in several ways. The dog's failure to mark begins to discourage this behavior, and he has the urine next to him instead of on target. Some males do not like this feeling.

Some people have found that the Belly Band rubbed their dog and created sores. Fortunately, making your own belly band isn't difficult. Even if you don't sew, you can use a strip of blue jean material, a couple of safety pins to attach some Velcro, and a feminine napkin to contain any attempts the dog makes to mark.

Another advantage to using a belly band is that you can look for patterns in marking which can help you target your behavior modification efforts. Some male dogs mark for more than one reason, meaning you will have more of a task retraining the dog. My daughter had a Parson Russell Terrier who was successful in the conformation ring and had sired litters. Unfortunately, this dog, whose call name was Lestat, took up the habit of marking inside the house. When it came time to retire him to a pet role, we had issues with him marking, even after he was neutered.

Typically when you neuter male dogs later in life, the male hormones take around a year to subside in their influence. By using the belly band after neutering, the habit often begins to subside in a few months and may completely vanish in half a year to a year. However, Lestat would still, on occasion, mark inside the house a year after he was neutered. What we discovered was that being intact only created one kind of marking habit and that Lestat's other marking issue wasn't so easy to resolve. By leaving on a belly band, we discovered Lestat sometimes became frustrated when we left, and as a result of that frustration, he would mark. This is known as frustration elimination. By learning what initiated his marking, we could work to stop the habit. If we went outside during a time he was acting too attentive, we put him inside a crate. He didn't mark when he was inside the crate, which we verified by checking his belly band.

After Lestat had a few months of getting out of the habit of marking when he was frustrated, we left him outside the crate when we'd leave. At first we had success and the belly band was dry. But then, one time, it wasn't. We made note of what activity we were doing and what Lestat's attitude was before the incident. We again employed the crate for the next month before giving him another try. With close observation and keeping on a belly band, we found he began to go several months in between incidents. However, being the more emotional dog that he is, it took another year for him to completely reform from the frustration elimination, and to be honest, there are still some times when we crate him as a precaution. Although his marking from being intact seemed to resolve in half a year, his frustration elimination took much longer.