What can I do about my dogs marking behavior?

Our question this week was:

I have a 2-year old male, very mellow, non-aggressive neutered yellow lab who is house trained and does not mark in our house or the home of friends with female dogs (so far). However, he marks if there is or was a male dog in the house, and thus is not welcome in friends home, which eliminates overnight visits with him because we don't know how he will behave. Is there anything we can do?

Barbara Prynoski

Answer

Hi – thanks for your email. You wrote that you 2-year-old neutered male lab will "mark" territory where other male dogs are or have been. Most commonly the treatment for urine marking evolve around neutering (already done in your dog), dominance control programs (it may be worth considering this), anxiety-reducing measures, and thorough clean up are ineffective. Pharmacological intervention may be the last resort.

I have a couple very good articles that might be helpful to you.