So Apollo seems to mark by peeing on my house. Specifically, the screen door. The glass door stays closed, so when he pees on the screen door, it goes thru onto the glass and sits in the track area. He only does this when no one is around or home.

Does anyone have a remedy for this? I clean the area and spray an enzyme type of deodorizer. I was thinking of either sprinkling red chili flakes in the door track to deter him, or maybe feeding him right where he marks so he associates that spot with eating and marks else where...

Breaking bad habits is hard if you can't be there to correct it.
Any way to block off access to the screen door?

My understanding is that plain white vinegar will completely neutralize the odor. Will not stop the marking though, possibly getting a puppy pee pad and hanging it where you do want him to go might help. Can you block the door while he is relearning a new spot?

 Quote: Webboard User

So Apollo seems to mark by peeing on my house.

Does anyone have a remedy for this?

A cage.

OK, I don't want my previous post to sound flip. It wasn't intended that way.

All I'm trying to say is that if a dog is making messes in the house when left alone, regardless of its age, I don't believe it should be given the run of the house. Years ago we had the problem of one of our senior dogs making messes when we were away. The bad thing is our other dog at the time then thought is was OK to do likewise. From that point on, we became believers in caging our dogs when we left the house for extended periods. Problem solved, or at least in the case of our senior dog, we confined the mess to just one location. Our younger dog at the time got it right away and we haven't had the problem since. You need to break the cycle now in addition to getting better control of the problem and a cage, IMHO, is the best solution. When with the dog in the house, I would also recommend tethering or at least keeping the dog with you at all times, closely supervised, until it again earns your trust.

This is essentially a housebreaking issue---you just need to expand his understanding of "house." They don't generalize very well. To him, he's peeing outside...that's what you wanted, right? So you have to draw a bigger circle that means "You can't pee anywhere here--inside the house, on the porch, deck, patio" (whatever your boundaries are.)

Since you cannot correct something when you're not there, you have to restrict his access to the door--either by creating a barrier around the door, or around him so that his is physically unable to pee on the door. He may then simply get out of the habit of it.

At the same time, you could work on teaching him the specific spot (s) on your property where you do want him to pee. This would require going back to a pseudo-housebreaking routine for a while, with you taking him on leash to the designated spot every time he has to go, and then praising him for peeing in that spot. Then add a command word for it.

One of mine was reliably housebroken, but then decided that pooping on a walkway in the back yard was okay. I had to "back up" a bit on the housebreaking training to re-draw the boundaries--to let him know that I consider the walkway part of my house, and it was off limits for poop.

 Quote: Jodi Moen

My understanding is that plain white vinegar will completely neutralize the odor. Will not stop the marking though, possibly getting a puppy pee pad and hanging it where you do want him to go might help. Can you block the door while he is relearning a new spot?

I could put a piece of ply board and lean it against the door.

As far as a "cage", he does have a crate he can be in. It will certainly end his marking while Im away. thanks.