Our question this week was:

I have a 3 year old male german shepherd. He has become very hard to live with since he now regulary uses the house as his bathroom.

He is cocking his leg up on my leather sofa and my NEW dining room chairs at will. He was doing very well at staying out of his crate at night, but now he can't be trusted. Before he would stay out from the time I arrived home from work until I returned the next day. I tried to get him to stay in my room at night, but he would just lay across the front door. Now he just lifts his legs and squats as if I am not there.

Answer

Thanks for your question. It sounds like a really frustrating problem. To start, we would recommend that you take your dog to your veterinarian to make sure that he does not have an underlying medical problem that may be causing the inappropriate urination. If he is not neutered, you may want to discuss that with your vet. Leg lifting is much more common in male intact dogs. We'd also recommend that you use a good quality odor eliminator to ensure that you remove all trace of previous accidents. If your vet rules out any medical problem, then this article might be helpful: Urine Marking (For tips on odor elimination, CLICK HERE). Whatever you do, don't use the crate for punishment.



Our question this week came from Wendy, in Baltimore,        Maryland
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