Good day

We have a Rhodesian Ridgeback (male), about 3 years old. He is now marking almost everything on the premises, even our kitchen door and the walls. Is there something that we can do that will stop/minimize this? Will sterilization help? I know the marking is about “territory.” This became a real problem when we recently got two kittens.  

Kind Regards

Mark My Words

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Dear Mark My Words

The perception that people have of this nuisance behaviour is quite different to the reality of the situation. People think the dog is “marking his territory”. They then assume the dog to be in a brazen frame of mind and needing to be brought down a peg or two. The truth of the matter is that the dog is probably feeling insecure or unsure and his “marking” behaviour is his own attempt to feel that he does indeed belong. Excessive marking is more often than not a sign of insecurity. We can draw parallels to people who attempt to hide their shortcomings by continually boasting of their successes.

Punishing the dog creates a vicious circle where the dog feels even more insecure and hence increases his efforts to cope. To illustrate my point let me share a story with you:

Nine years ago I had a young lady enrol in my obedience classes with her adult Siberian husky. The dog had not been socialised and obviously felt quite stressed with all the people and dogs around him. He was placed on the edge of the group where he would feel more secure, but he routinely lifted his leg and urinated on his owner's legs. Obviously this was a big problem.

At the time the whole “dominance theory” and “wolf pack structure” was very popular and everyone's advice was to dominate the dog and “show him who is boss!”. I felt that the dog was only trying to convince himself that he belonged and by marking a resource (his owner) it helped him to cope. Punishment or removal of this coping mechanism would have been counter-productive, so my advice to the owner was simple: Wear rain pants and allow the dog to perform the behaviour. Needless to say the owner was not very convinced of this strategy, but they trusted me. After three weeks the dog no longer urinated on his owner – he had learnt that classes were safe and enjoyable. They sailed through the obedience course.

What was crucial here is that the dog was allowed to exercise his coping strategy – denying him this would have created the vicious circle I mentioned earlier.

So, instead of trying to stop the objectionable behaviour you need to consider what is causing him to behave in such a manner. I would assume that the inclusion of the cats in his household is causing him to feel insecure – especially if his routines have changed. If he is also no longer allowed previous privileges you can easily understand that he would now be feeling insecure. His routine needs to be kept as similar as possible and he needs to know that he has no reason to be insecure.

Sterilisation may help as it reduces the intensity of behaviours and is especially effective in inappropriate toileting. However it is not a magic cure and the motivations for the behaviour must be addressed.

You could also consider the DAP (Dog Appeasing Pheromone) which mimics the pheromones that bitches emit while nursing. This creates a feeling of wellbeing and may help the dog feel more secure and thus unlikely to mark.

You should also have him checked by a vet for any possible urinary or prostate problems. It seems unlikely that a medical cause could be the problem, but the introduction of the cats could have been purely co-incidental.

It is also possible that another cat (attracted by your two new cats) could be intruding and causing the dog to react. Take a look at the areas where he is marking, but look at it from his perspective – sometimes even a new building could be enough to cause transient insecurity.

There's no quick fix. Removing the factor/s underpinning the dog's insecurity is the only way to solve this problem. Ignoring the motivating factors and punishing/removing the coping mechanisms will only make the problem worse.

As a side note, dogs do not mark to be vengeful. Fortunately that sophisticated emotion appears to be limited to mankind.

Good luck!

Shannon