Dog marking her bed - Paw Talk

joie · #1 04-26-2005, 05:26 PM

My husband and I have tried so many things to stop our dog from territorial marking on her dog bed. She only does it on her bed and no where else and the vet said she's healthy and well so incontinence is not it either. If anyone has any suggestions beyond what we have tried we sure would appreciate your advice. Here's what we have tried: Taking water away a few hours before bed, feeding her ON her bed, buying a solid rubber pillow that is not absorbant but squishey and finally a bean bag that we thought would have been challenging to stand and pee on but she managed. If we leave her to sleep directly on the floor only she won't pee but this is not healthy for her bones. We're willing to try whatever we can. We did find a bed made for dogs that have urinary disabilities where they sleep on suspended hammock like screen and the urine falls through into a pan. Vet says she's 100% healthy and we wonder if this bed will encourage her wetting. We just can't get her to stop peeing on her bed no matter what we try. This bed sounds interesting so if anyone has heard about it or has an opinion on this as well, we'd love to hear. If you want to take apeek at it online http://www.sleepeetime.com/
Thanks for any advice ya'll can offer.

RSbunny · #2 04-27-2005, 04:14 AM

When your dog marks her bed does she still sleep on it? If she gets off and sleeps elsewhere after peeing on it (or doesn't pee on it when she has to sleep there) I'd seriously consider crate training her. You can only use the crate at bed time if you like. Crates provide a safe haven for your dog, so why at first you might think that you are putting your dog in a cage, your dog will love her crate and you might find she even wants to go there without being told.
A crate should be just big enough for your dog to stand up, turn around and lie down in. No food or water bowls should be in the crate. The idea of it is that if your dog goes to the toilet in the crate, they have to stay there (cause they are locked in until you let them out, so they have no choice) and as a general rule dogs won't pee somewhere that they have to lie on (at least at that moment).
I don't really know what else to suggest to you at this stage. I have two dogs...one has been crate trained since we got her, over a year ago and we often find her in her crate when we are home and she doesn't need to be. Our other dog we've had for three weeks, she is 14 and the first time she has seen a crate is with us. Her crate is big enough to have a food and water bowl in there (she needs water constantly) but she doesn't go to the toilet in there and we often find her in her crate too...after only three weeks. So they really do like them! Mine are in wire crates, but you can get ones that are more solid, which might be better for your dog as she won't be able to pee through the bars when she is not in the crate. You can close the door when you don't want her in there.
It seems like you have tried everything else so this would be my next step if I were you. There is a sticky on crate training your dog. I'll find it for you and post the link.
I know that formula86 ( a member on here) had her dogs sleeping on her bed and they started peeing and pooing on the bed..she got them into a crate and worked like a treat

RSbunny · #3 04-27-2005, 04:15 AM

here is the link to the sticky...http://www.paw-talk.net/forums/http://www.paw-talk.net/forums/f9/crate-training-your-dog-16326.html

lilchris_28 · #4 05-26-2005, 11:56 PM

Is she spayed? Do you have other dogs?

joie · #5 05-27-2005, 02:03 AM

Yes, She was spayed as a pup. We have 1 other non-dominant nor submissive male cocker (neutered). They get a ling great but she never plays with us or him and never has or she'll get aggressive. She's very sweet though. Strangely, we made a big dog kennel in the garage recently and put a love seat in the kennel with a TV on animal planet...and she doesn't pee in there...ever. It's been a good 3 weeks now and she's good in there. But, if we let her sleep inside she pees only where she sleeps. A very strange doggie! We'd love to have her sleep in the house with us again but we just can't get a grip on her peeing her sleep areas. She is also very protective of the house and car. Our other cocker is kind of like 'eeore' from winnie the pooh. He's so mellow and sweet with any creature. Quite the ying and yang pair! We've posted a few details previously but have yet to find a solution. Any advice is MUCh appreciated. Thanks! Joie

lilchris_28 · #6 05-27-2005, 09:54 AM

What about doggy diapers? I ordered a custom made doggy diaper off of the internet for my baby when he was peeing on the floor as a puppy. They were cute. They had suspenders on them so he couldn't get them off.

elfomatic · #7 05-27-2005, 12:59 PM

You know, often times dog beds that come from pet stores and such smell like other animals. Even if your other dog is non-dominant I'm sure that she can smell the tons of other animal scents that are stored in that bed.

I would suggest a two-tiered approach: First, get a new dog bed. Wash it immediately (most of them you can wash with a commercial washing machine at a laundery mat if not at home). Next, store the bed either with your clothes or, heck, even lounge on it around the house ... anything to imprint your smell on it. Don't let it make contact with the floor.

At the same time, give your dog a used shirt of yours to sleep with -- make sure it isn't one that you can't afford to lose if she's a chewer. Let her sleep with it for awhile and when your scent has left it replace it with another one.

Now, it is time to introduce the dog to the bed. See if you can't find some way to make the bed elevated. Part of the problem is that it is on the floor where all sorts of other scents abound ... including past marking incidents. Any sort of temporary elevation will do. Next, if she has a blanket or something out there that she sleeps on .. perhaps the cushion covers if nothing else ... bring it in and rub it physically on the dog bed. Leave the material there on the bed.

Hopefully, the impression that she will get is that the bed is hers and the fact that it contains strong scents from you, her dominant owner, may make her more wary of peeing on it. I sure hope this works for you if you want to try it!

HappyDancer · #8 05-27-2005, 04:53 PM

my dogs are crate trained, but the peeing thing, well they do go in there, I have no clue why...they are outside 90% of the day, and come in to sleep in the crate at 10 and go out at 5:30, my spanial doesn't do it often, but my little yorkie does it constantly and even poops in there, we have tried everything...we just keep cleaning it, so if you have any ideas, pleaselet them flow lol I have tried everything on here with her...my mom says its cause my 1 big dog isn't in a crate and shes jealous lol, but he is afraid of crates, so I won't force him, we got him when he was older, 10 years old and he had a hard life...could it be jealousy?

joie · #9 05-27-2005, 07:37 PM

We have similar situations...so far the only thing that has worked is a large kennel that we built in the garage for sleeping etc. We made it like home...a small TV (sounds like home in there) and an old love seat to lounge on. We bought a kids rubber play mat for the floor. It's a big puzzle piece thing that makes it soft for the play area and toy time. We also added a kids sand box filled with plain bark ground cover. We use this for a large potty break area aka litter box. We lined the bottom with puppy pee pads and the bark is on top. It never stinks and they use it lots. We do change it once per week and it is inexpensive as well. So, they responded well to having their 'own' area. They don't choose to wet their sleep area anymore after this. But, if we brought her inside she would pee her sleep areas again. You might try the kennel idea. Ours is really large though so they have room to move around (12'x14'). Based upon which climate you are in....there's heated blankets or beds made for dogs. We added a swamp cooler to the garage and it stays nice in there for the summer. They are sold at home depot. Here's the place online that sales safe kennels without any sharp edges to hurt their paws or grab fur: http://www.petprokennel.com/ We bought extra panels separately to enlarge it and we also used the walls of our garage as their kennel space. So, that will make it bigger without using full panels. But, you have to attach the panels directly to the garage wall. I wish we could have our pups sleep inside with us but this kennel thing is all that works so far for us.
Best wishes, Joie