Dog Behaviour Question

Shortie

Hiya, I hope this is okay to post, even if anyone can point me to some reputable links and not advise on here themselves...

We have 2 dogs, one male one female neither have been 'done' but both have always remained healthy, ideal weight dogs. They are 6 years old, the breed are expected to live until 8 years old. Nothing has changed that I can precieve - food etc is the same, our routines are the same, no new pets.

Our male has always been slightly dominating - flopping over his bowl in case the female wants to have a munch, and has always had spells of being a fantom piddler but nothing horrendous (just once a month at worst, month and month between usually)

We always deal with the bowl obssesion by moving it away from him etc (ie we don't advocate the behaviour) but we seem to be facing bigger issues now...

.. so.. while he's still fab with our other dog, cats and kids (all inseperable) he's upped the piddling something shocking. And I mean here, 3 places over night almost every day!

We waited to see if it would settle, disinfected to get rid of scents etc.. I've believed from the off it's a territorial thing - he'll wee near the cats bowls, up a dining room chair leg, by the back doors in the dining room.. but some places we do go 'eh..??'

They all have ready access to the outside world via a cat flap (they are a small breed - King Cav) so access is not an issue, and sometimes he's peed up the back door right by the flipping cat flap!! (not the doors in the dining room)

He's been at the vets recently when we twigged it wasn't going to stop of it's own accord - they've ruled out a water infection, and today he's been back with our lady and they've both been given a perfectly clean bill of health and there are no reasons the vet can see that are causing the boy to wee all the time (she's not in season, she's not ill, de nada... except we foubnd out today that she has a heart murmur which is not unuual for the breed)

The last few nights we've resorted to locking him in a dog crate in the kitchen as, quite simply put, I can't face any more puddles and feeling like my house is one big toilet. He doesn't seem to mind, willingly going in it etc (they are used to the crate anyway as we use it in the boot when travelling with the dogs).

The vet suggested our next moves are to keep up the cage treatment overnight to see if it breaks the cycle, or otherwise a pet behavioural specialist but I can't afford one of those right now..

*If* I can get advice from others here that would be great, or if anyone could point me in the direction of a reputable website if not?

krlyr

http://www.apdt.co.uk for trainers and http://www.apbc.org.uk

These trainers and behaviourists should not use the dominance theory though - an old theory that has been disproved. Dog's behaviour is usually much more simplicitic..it's more likely, for example, that the male is flipping the food bowl because he wants your female's food!

libra10

There are some excellent posters here at MSE. Otherwise, try http://www.champdogsforum.co.uk

Their forum specialises with all kinds of problems, and you're certain to find help there.

Good luck

Shortie

Thanks both - I just wasn't sure if I was allowed to ask people to post advice within the thread itself, so any thoughts and suggestions welcome

krlyr, in our boy's case I don't think he necessarily wants her food as they have the same food and because of his behaviour over the bowls she is fed in a different area. He just sits there guarding his food, uneaten.. he generally gets bored as she's not interested after she's had her fill from her bowl, he then wanders off eventually if we haven't already moved the bowl away from under his head. I think it's purely a territory thing? That said I'm no expert (by a long shot) and I could be waaaay off mark - I totally accept that

krlyr

Sorry, misread the post. Sounds like possibly a case of resource guarding - I would continue to feed them separately and perhaps instigate a more physical barrier as it appears he still feels the need to guard his food. It may even be worth ditching the bowl altogether and feeding with an alternative method, e.g. scatter feeding (but again, physically separate from your female). A behaviourist would advise on this though too.

Shortie

Thanks krlyr, that's actually helpful to have a phrase to google too. I'm on my way homr from work now (Mr Shortie is a stay at home Dad) so will have a look at those links after dinner and also google that phrase too.

meritaten

I would say he is feeling like a male under pressure - hence the territorial 'peeing'. he isn't neutered and even though your female isn't in season - there could be another female in season nearby he can 'scent' and its driving him nuts!

zaksmum

Op, if you have insurance, it may pay for the services of a behaviourist.

Mine does (M&S) so that could be worth checking out.

Shortie

Hmmm... I wondered the same about another female but it's been going in now for getting on to 2 months which seems a long time? Or I wondered about a new cat in the garden but seen nothing and our younger cat would show them where to go..

No we don't have insurance on them, never realised they may have covered things like this

Thanks again all

krlyr

Just had a quick thought, for the meantime, Patricia McConnell does some short books (so they're not overwhelming for newbies to dog behaviour, they're quite good summaries of the 'why it happens' and 'what to do') on common issues, and has one on multi-dog households and the issues you can face. Also available as Kindle books so quick to get hold of too

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Feeling-Outnumbered-Multi-dog-Household-ebook/dp/B005PZAT92/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1382508055&sr=1-1&keywords=mcconnell+outnumbered

Jean Donaldson is another good one to check out, if it does seem to be resource guarding. Check out the preview on Amazon as it does have a few pages to read, which includes a list of the common symptoms of resource guarding - which aren't always all present, so you may just be able to recognise one or two (the bits about freezing up in particular?)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Practical-Guide-Resource-Guarding-ebook/dp/B004Q9TCOG/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1382507997&sr=1-1&keywords=mine+a+practical+guide+to+resource+guarding

Shortie

Thanks so much krlyr I think the second book looks much more likely what I need to get my mitts on... I was thinking about it a bit more last night and something I never twigged before has probably always been a part of this is that he's such a jealous-pants around a fuss.. He'll be happily sat somewhere but the minute I go to fuss the other dog he runs over and pushes her out of the way.. there is no (noticable to a human) aggression other than the 'I'm just shoving you out of the way' movement that happens, but we're a resource in this scenario aren't we? Not just one person, he does it with anyone - me, Mr Shortie, the kids, guests... he shoves anyone out of the way (cats included) in order to get the fuss instead

This has been really helpful - by being asked questions or had things suggested, it's made me realise there were bits of the puzzle I wasn't piecing together...! The more I think about it, the more it sounds like resource guarding