At six months our boy Kairoe [he's 8 months now] started to lift his leg and has started to mark his territory / neighourhood which made us proud humans and thought, "hey, our pup is growing up!"…Right now we're in a catch 22 position as we like the idea of Kairoe marking close to home, as we've figured that if he were to ever run off we would have at least 30 seconds to catch up to him as we'd know where he'd go first. He'd go straight to his first ever pee post / ground at the corner of our building. He got away from us one day but lucky for us he stopped to mark THE spot. So to this day, I think it is essential for any dog owner to ensure their pup has a marking spot away from the backyard in a strategic location and close to home...I let him mark areas like a map that will enable him to sniff his way back home if he were to ever get lost...that's the catch.
HOWEVER....here's the smoking gun...
By letting him lift and mark, it has somewhat come to a point that he will mark a post over and over and over again, like it was a game to him - FYI: He's healthy, no UTI here. I counted him marking the same post 5x's in a matter of minutes. I figured he was trying to get the hang of the leg lift and after making a call to his breeder for advice, she proposed that we limit this behaviour as it can get out of control...and it has...he has now begun to pee on people at the dog park and has now been labelled "that dog..." lol. Which sucks, because last April we were the couple who's "dog did not want to walk in the cold and would rather sit and scream by a stop sign.." in view of everyone. Glad that had past...
The last week we've been limiting his leg lifting but it's been hard because he won't go unless it's a pole and now I've resorted to timing his leg lift with giving his leash a slight tug to throw him off balance while doing his deed and making him pee on the grass. I do not want to continue doing this with thoughts that he'll associate me not wanting him to pee...any suggestions or advice?
AT THE PARK:
I watch him closely but give him the distance that he needs to socialize. I do not stand still and will walk with him unlike some of the coffee tree people at the park, and I'll often have him check in or at least 'watch me or slow down' as his recall has been lagging since he's been maturing. Unfortunately, it's at times when he's with his lil pack and doesn't give me a cue that he's going pee on someone. Sniffing and then marking trees | bushes | grass, I can tell but when he toddles off to somene to say 'hello" in his B way I can't tell. Only when their back is turned that he lifts his leg and by the time it takes me to run the 10 feet he's done the shocking deed. It's come to a point where we've started to warn people that if he comes near your leg to watch out because your fair game at the park...Any suggestions or advice what we can tell people at the park?
The post is a bit long winded but Clarisse usually posts for us...
Cheers,
Emm
