[Cockapoodledoo]

I have to ask a question and I am sorry to ask.

We are getting a new Shih Tzu puppy at the end of September and it is male, only because there are no females left. I have never had a male dog, I have always had females, even as a kid growing up at home. Getting to the point, somebody told my spouse that male dogs pee in the house all the time, especially in the corners and such. Is this true? Is there territory marking? Thanks for any help.

 

[Abbylynn]

I am sure you are going to get different replies on this. From my real life experiences ... in over 50 years I have had neutered males and in tact males ... and I have only ever had two male dogs who marked in my house. I have had many many dogs ...almost all males. It is a training issue that can be resolved. The last one who marked no longer does it/with training. The other one is my new dog Eddee ... and he is almost potty trained out of doing so.
Now .... if only Eddee would quit pooping in front of the commode!!! Lol!

Every dog is different.

 

[Miss Bugs]

your getting a puppy, so it wont be a problem, just teach him its not OK from the start. retraining an older dog that had already been permitted to mark in the house for a long time is a different story entirly lol

 

[Willowy]

It's a training issue. If you potty-train him properly he should not pee in the house at all. Males do tend to mark a lot outside, but, well, so do some females, LOL.

If you really want a female, why settle? You're going to have the dog for 15 years (hopefully), so it's worth waiting (or finding another breeder) for what you really want.

 

[hanksimon]

I have the same experience as Abbylynn... and I agree with Willowy. Males that are house trained do not mark in the house. In fact, my guy used to have the urge to mark in PetsMart. No problem training him not to. However, I let him mark outside.

 

[Tankstar]

I have 2 intact males neither mark in the house. It's about training.

 

[Cockapoodledoo]

Thanks for the replies! I figured as much that training will help with this. I just wanted to hear from some male dog owners and see what they had to say. I would prefer a female, but I would like to get a male just because I never had a good ole boy. The thing I am worried about is that I have two females and a male may go marking crazy!

 

[Abbylynn]

Well .... I had two males ... Leeo and Blu Boy and got a female (Abbylynn) ... and they did not mark. Leeo passed away ... and I got another male ... and the marking began ... but only because Eddee was a previously owned dog whom I am guessing had little to no potty training. Then Blu Boy began to follow suit ... who is completely potty trained since a pup ... but quickly stopped once he was accepting of Eddee invading his space.

IMO it can go any old way!

 

[CptJack]

I have a 5.5 year old, intact, male dog. He does not mark in the house at all. Nor does he hump anyone or anything.

 

[LuvMyAngels]

It's very possible to teach a male dog not to piddle indoors. My 3 1/2 year old intact male Saint Bernard is a house dog. Other than the one incident his first Christmas where he marked the tree we havent had any issues with him marking inappropriately.

 

[Fade]

I have 3 male dogs. 2 where neutered whey I got them and they never mark in the house. Leo my husky we did not fix till he was 2 years old and would not stop marking in the house no matter what we tried. when he got fixed , he came home from the vet and he never marked again not a single time. was very weird it does not normally fix a problem like that from just neutering them. not that quickly anyway. once in a great while he has had accidents due to my husband forgetting to take him out and when he has accidents he still will not mark he squats. its weird usually neutering does not work so quickly. but that was just my dogs. everyone has different experiences.

 

[Avie]

None of our males peed in our house. Then again, we got them as adults and fully house trained.

What I can 'warn' you about is if you decide to leave your male intact, there is a probable chance your dog will leak green drops throughout your house. Mike had it really bad when he was still intact. We had him neutered (not for this reason) and the problem was over. Mike doesn't pee in our house and rarely urinates in our yard. If you walk your dog often enough, he won't need to. I'm sure there are male dogs that do pee in the house, scentmarking or whatever, but we've never had an issue with it. As far as I'm aware of, it does seem to be a big problem with intact male cats. But again, no experience with that because our male cat has been neutered since... forever, it seems. Long time ago, lol. He's 13 now.

 

[Keechak]

I have an intact male and two bitches (one spayed one not) Even if there is a bitch in heat in the house my male will not pee in the house.

 

[JohnnyBandit]

Marking is not sexual.... It is territorial...

Training is the key...


The only I issue I have ever had is that our 12 year old Lab that was neutered at 12 weeks, seems to find a way to tag the Christmas tree one time every year.

 

[Willowy]

Hehe, I always wonder what dogs think of Christmas trees. . ."oh look! A urinal they brought inside just for me!"