331. Urine marking the teenager's bed

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

"The Maltese pees under my bed," the fair teenager with glasses said twice. "He also pees in the living room and on the sofa legs." Father and daughter had brought the 15-month-old Maltese for his annual booster and I presumed he had been paper-trained in the apartment.

"He lifts his leg to pee on the wall," the father said of the recently clipped and clean Maltese. "He poops 1-2 times per day in the living area."

"Urine marking will make the apartment smelly," I said.

"No smell at all," the father said.

"Your nose may not detect the smell. Did your friends visiting you complain about the urine smell?"

"No," the father said.

SOLUTIONS

1. Neutering him is not a guarantee that he will stop urine marking. If done earlier at 6 months, it is possible that he will not urine mark. This was not an option.

2. Confine him to the balcony. If the dog is leashed at the balcony he will not poop.
When unleashed, he will poop 5-10 minutes later. Don't leash him. Let him urine mark the balcony.



3. Neutralise the apartment including the bed and walls with vinegar:water 1:2 so that the dog can't detect the marked areas. Supervise and prohibit him from urine marking (if possible). Use positive reinforcement training methods.

I don't know whether the solutions would work as urine marking is established and he is a male dog. Over the years, the apartment will smell of urine although this may not be obvious now as noses are used to the smell. It will be very difficult to clean up.

It would be good for the teenager's bed not to be sprayed with urine as I feel that she may not like this behaviour.