[dagwall]

It's almost been 2 weeks with the new foster Duncan now and he still can't be trusted not to mark in the house. So far I simply don't let him out of my sight and if he lifts his leg I'm in a combination of saying "eh, eh", clapping my hands if he's too far away to reach, and moving over to him to physically touch him to stop him and usher him outside. Mostly he doesn't respond at all to any verbal correction/interrupter I've tried so far for any of the undesirable behaviors he's demonstrated so far (marking, "digging" on the carpet, digging in the yard, jumping up on the counters in the kitchen (paws not entire body), and mouthing).

He hasn't tried to mark in the house frequently and is let out to potty more frequently than he actually does go potty. Other than the first day when he did mark once and I stopped him 3 more times I've only seen him try and mark twice more in the house, my brother said he tried once with him as well. One of the times with me was the first time he was in my room after I got him over his fear of going UP the stairs, he still won't go down into the basement.

Other than just not letting him out of our sight and interrupting him anytime he tries to mark in the house is there anything else I can do to help him understand it's something he should NEVER do in the house? I'm sure it doesn't help that he doesn't recognize (or acknowledge at least) any phase as "don't do that." My default is usually "eh, eh" so I'll try and be consistent with that and see if it helps cutting out the occasional "no," "stop," "quit it," etc that slip out.

 

[trainingjunkie]

I would add a belly band. I would still continue watching closely, but the belly band will help.

 

[dagwall]

Does it help actually teach then not to mark in the house or just keep them from making a mess? Never actually seen/used one.

 

[trainingjunkie]

If they do mark while wearing it, they feel the wetness. It actually stopped the marking for mine. My male came in as a degenerate marker. In fact, while trying to walk him into my front door and down my split-entry steps for the first time ever, he marked 3 times! It was pretty severe.

I used a bellyband, supervision, and a crate and he never marked again after that first day. For sneaky marking fosters, the bellyband has been a godsend.

I DO crate train for house breaking and foster dogs are not out of my sight until they are trustworthy. By "marking" isn't a house-training issue in the purest sense. The bellyband helps a lot with that.

 

[dagwall]

Thanks for the info. I'll probably give him another week and see how he does before getting a bellyband but it sounds like it'd probably help. He is crated whenever he can't be supervised and thankfully seems to be happy enough in the crate even though I have to have him in there for longer than I'd like. I just have to think of it in terms of overall it's better than his life at the shelter the last 2 years. While the crate is smaller than his run was he gets out for two nice walks a day, play time, snuggles, and anytime I'm just chill in the living room. Once marking isn't an issue we can try sleeping in the bedrooms (now that he'll go up the stairs) and cut a big chunk out of his crate time.

 

[trainingjunkie]

I think that just about any dog would prefer the crate/rotate life in a home with people and fun to living in a noisy, hard concrete, bleach-smelling, stress filled shelter run. I appreciate shelters, but they are no place for a dog.

Good luck with the marking! Good luck to your foster. I hope he finds a great home soon!