[macksmom]

Ok so my husband and I rescued a puppy... they take in litters to aviod them being put to sleep. They shelter had no idea what breed he what or how old he was. The vet and I guessed him to be at about 4 weeks when we got him. That would put him at about 5 months now.:D

He is potty trained... the problem we are having is we have a sliding glass door that leads to the yard... the door goes to the deck and then 3 steps down to the yard... at first he was too little to get down or back up the steps... so we would have to carry him down to the yard. Then he got big enough to do the steps on his own... recently though we have run into some problems.

He starting pooing and peeing on the deck. I hosed off the deck and that stopped him pooing there... but now what he does is goes out and when I close the sliding door he lifts his leg and pees RIGHT ON THE DOOR... not by the door, or near the door, ON IT!! :eek: It leaks into the tracks of the door and starts to smell in the house... I have hosed the door and cleaned the tracks and even sprayed the puppy trainer "stay off" spray on the door... but we can't break him!!

Does anyone have any ideas?? :confused:

[gerardymolawd]

You can buy this spray at any major pet store which has a scent that stops dogs frm peeing in the area that you spray it on... after a while the dog leaves this spot alone and finds sumwhere else to do his business... I can't remember the name but it is better than the product you used which I also tried at first

[bushg]

If you have not neutered him, now may be the time to call the vet. He may be marking his territory. Also he may be a little bit older than you all thought.

[labman]

He hasn't been neutered? Now that your puppy's testicles have descended, he is a big boy and is letting everyone know it. Talk to the vet about when would be the best time. In addition, he needs strong leadership.

The key to most behavior problems is approaching things using the dog's natural instincts. Dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog. Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones. You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with a treat. Start at Raising Your Dog with the Monks of New Skete For more on being top dog, see Establishing and Keeping Alpha Position, Letting your dog know you are the boss

The spray may or may not help in that specific case, but you still need to neuter him and give him leadership for other times.

[macksmom]

Thanks! Yeah we haven't had him neutered yet... we have been talking about it for weeks but its been hectic because my daughter is starting kindergarten next week so I haven't had the undivided time to take him. And we weren't sure how old he is... I'm sure now he is probably the age to have it done.

I didn't even think about him marking his territory!! Thanks! It wouldn't be that bad if he would mark his territory somewhere else but the door!

So will simply getting him neutered stop it? Or are there other steps I need to take with him once he gets home?

[labman]

As I mentioned, leadership.