catbong | 01-18-2012 03:51 PM | 5 mo old neutered marking - normal? fixable? help!! Hi all,
I just got a 5 month old yorkie baby who was neutered 1/2/12. I've only had him for about a week. I have 2 girls and I was terrified to get a boy because I live in an apt. and my babies are pad trained, so I can't have a boy lifting on walls near the pad. Anyways several breeders have told me that you can control this as long as you get the puppy neutered young enough. The breeder of this pup promised me that this puppy never marked at her place (she wouldn't let him go any earlier because he is pretty small, which is fine, but I was very concerned about getting a 5 mo-old precisely because I was worried he would learn bad habits such as marking from other dogs there). I think most people want girls for the same reason and maybe breeders just wanted to encourage sale of boys, who I understand are generally needier, more affectionate and happy-go-lucky. In any case, this puppy is marking! He doesn't lift his leg every time, but he does it randomly, and yesterday I freaked out when I caught him doing it on a rope toy that he and one of my girls always play tug-of-war with. Clearly marking! I thought maybe he was just lifting when he was close to a wall or the pen because he thought he had to. I am terrified that this habit will not go away and don't know what to do. Does anyone else have any experience with such a young neutered pup marking? Could he have already learned this at the breeder's from other males marking? Is there no point in hoping to train this puppy not to mark?! I've been watching him like a hawk and say NO firmly when he does it, which is all I can do. To make it worse, he does not squat when he pees (is this normal, too?) so I can't even tell half the time when he is peeing. Combined with the leg lifting, potty training is not going so well :( I would really appreciate any empathy or input. Thanks! |