Dear Fixation: Any dog that jumps on table and makes his mark, is not "almost" housebroken. In fact, that is what your dogs are doing is marking their territory. I have to ask are your dogs intact or neutered? If they are not yet fixed, I strongl
Dear Fixation: Any dog that jumps on table and makes his mark, is not âalmostâ housebroken. In fact, that is what your dogs are doing is marking their territory. I have to ask are your dogs intact or neutered? If they are not yet fixed, I strongly recommend it.
First it will help with their urge to mark their territory and second it will help when they reach maturity. Then when they reach about two years old they will no longer be best puppy buds, but might start acting like boy dogs.
Turf Wars
From what you describe, it sounds like your male dogs are having some sort of âcontestâ between the two of them for either dominance of each other or maybe some other dominant figure in the house, such as your husband. I had an intact male Schipperke once who would urinate on every pillow where the male head of household slept.
I would suggest you start their housebreaking all over again and crate them while unsupervised. If they do this in front of you, the one dog may be doing it to get attention as well. Make sure you spend equal time with each dog. You may be inadvertently creating jealousy in one of the dogs. Since the dogs are young, I would urge you to take them to obedience training if you havenât already. Give the dogs an outlet for their energy and taking them to class will teach them you are the boss not them.
Double Trouble
On a related note, raising litter brothers is always risky because they tend to stay in that pack mentality and look to each other for guidance rather than the human member of the pack. When breeders keep two from the same litter, many times they send the pups to separate homes until they are much older, maybe even a year old, before reuniting them. They need the âaloneâ time to focus on training and to develop independently of the other one for a better temperament and much needed socialization with other dogs.
In my experience many times puppies outgrow such antics, but a firm âpack leaderâ must step in and show the dogs exactly what you expect of them, which is not to mark the furniture or try to dominate each other or the human members in the den. Through training and establishing a happy routine full of exercise, fun time and training for the dogs, they will get your new message loud and clear.
Lisaâs Pick Of The Litter
According to the American Kennel Club, dressing a dog in a costume may seem over-the-top to some, but with Halloween just around the corner, the American Kennel Club (AKC®) surveyed dog owners to learn first-hand just how many plan to turn their Fido into a Frankenstein for the evening. It turns out that one in 10 dog owners canât imagine not dressing up their pup for the holiday and nearly half (49 percent ) admitted liking the idea.
The poll also found that women are six percent more likely than men to dress their pups up for all holidays, while men are 12 percent more likely than women to wonder why anyone would ever consider dressing their dog in the first place.
The American Kennel Club study about dog ownership habits, which was conducted by Kelton Research in August 2005, surveyed a national probability sample of 1,000 adults (500 dog owners and 500 non-dog owners) in the U.S., 18 years of age and older. The margin of error is approximately +/- 3.2 percent.
Lisa Peterson, a long-time breeder of Norwegian Elkhounds, is the Director of Club Communications at the American Kennel Club. Contact her at ask@lisa-peterson.com or Dogma Publishing, P.O. Box 307, Newtown, CT 06470.