185. The male Schnauzer urine marks the master bedroom

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

"He will just urine mark elsewhere," the husband said. I had advised his wife what to do to prevent this one-year-old
male Miniature Schnauzer from making the master bedroom smelly.

She was to make a solution of 1 part of white vinegar to 2 parts of water, put the solution into a spray bottle. Sprayed the area where the dog urine marked. Use a piece of cloth to clean off. Then throw away the rag.

"Please let me know the results," I said. "It worked for other puppy owners to neutralise the ammonia smell of urine. The dog will not be able to locate the pee area." The thin lady pursed her lips, furrowed her elbows.

Male dogs do urine mark. Some do it outside the house but this one does it inside. I would not suggest neutering as there seemed to be no complaint. The consultation was for the female Jack Russell that had the top half of her body full of "brown" bald patches of 1 cm in diameter in between the normal white hairs. Like a moth-bitten coat. Readers may not know what moths are as they seem to be extinct in Singapore with weekly or monthly insecticide sprays in every housing area and construction sites to eliminate the Aedes mosquito blamed for starting an outbreak of denque fever in Singapore in 2005.

So, how did the Jack Russell get this skin disease?

"I think the skin is normal," the husband said."A change of colour."

"No," I said. "The skin should be white haired like the lower half of the body."

So, what was the cause?

"The other 2 dogs must be jumping onto her back." There was another female, a Boston Terrier. She was heavy. The male Miniature Schnauzer was heavier and weighed around 8 kg. The Jack Russell was also one year old, but smaller.

I advised treatment for the skin condition. As neutering does not guarantee that the male dog would not urine mark the house, I did not mention this procedure. However, if performed early, the problem of urine marking goes away.