Hi to all I am new to this sight and I am looking for some help. My 6 month old pup has found he can lift his leg to go in the house. He is marking different things- the beach bag, the laundry basket, my daughters backpack. He is doing this right after or soon after he has been outside. He is also doing it right in front of me. I had him on a line in the house and turned away for a second just to turn back and see him going. I pulled the line and corrected him by saying no and outside. I then took him outside. Sorry this is so long I jusst thought the more info the better.

thanks to all
ghoey

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Hi to all I am new to this sight and I am looking for some help. My 6 month old pup has found he can lift his leg to go in the house. He is marking different things- the beach bag, the laundry basket, my daughters backpack. He is doing this right after or soon after he has been outside. He is also doing it right in front of me. I had him on a line in the house and turned away for a second just to turn back and see him going. I pulled the line and corrected him by saying no and outside. I then took him outside. Sorry this is so long I jusst thought the more info the better.

Well, if you tether him to you, he can't do it without you seeing him start to assume the position, whisking him outside, and then praising like a nut when he does it outside.

http://leerburg.com/housebrk.htm

He is doing it right in front of you because he's not yet clear on the rules. Please don't believe anyone who says that he's doing it to spite you or because he's "angry" about something....... he's not. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

What he needs is to be scooped up, hustled outside, and praised for outdoor peeing *every single time.* It won't take long, as long as you allow him no opportunity for failure. That is, he is *never* in a position to do it wrong! For now, he is either outside, crated, or tethered to you.

Good luck. Timing and 100% consistency are your friends. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Connie has some great suggestions, but I would go further with a 6 mo old male marking territory in the house.
First, get a crate and use it. When you cannot watch him every second, he is in the crate. Therefore, he cannot wander around your house marking his territory.
Second, when he is out of the crate, he should have on a 6 foot lead with a prong collar (there is an article on this site about using and fitting the prong collar). I prefer not to tether as connie suggests because for me it is impractical to have my dogs tethered to me. But during the housebreaking and rule-setting stages, they are always leashed in the house. When you catch the dog marking (or even setting up for a mark, you will know the behavior when you see it), say a very loud sharp NO or HEY and follow with a nice strong prong collar correction. If he does it again, then your correction was not motivational enough.
Basically, in my experience, a dog that will mark territory in the house at 6 months is probably not neutered and will grow up to be a dominant dog. You should be starting some obedience training and teaching this dog his place in your pack. You should incorporate praise and corrections in your training. With a dominant dog, you have to always be able to physically to control the situation (until he learns and is responsive to verbal commands alone), because he will definately try to use his own strength to dominate you. Today it is marking, tomorrow humping, then snarling, then biting. I'm not saying you have a dog with dominance aggression, not at all, but dominant behavior left unchecked will definately escalate with novice owners.
This dog should have NO free time, his life is either in the crate or in a down stay at your command until he learns his place. No sitting on the furniture, sleeping on the beds or going into bedrooms either.
Good luck!
Michelle

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....My 6 month old pup has found he can lift his leg to go in the house. He is marking different things- the beach bag, the laundry basket, my daughters backpack. He is doing this right after or soon after he has been outside.....

I re-read this when I saw Michelle's response. I saw "lift his leg in the house" and missed "marking." Definitely different things! <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

And when I wrote "For now, he is either outside, crated, or tethered to you." I was assuming that there was a crate. Good catch, Michelle; never assume.

To the O.P.: Does he have a crate? Are you doing basic obedience?

Editing to say: Yes, dominant dogs are likely to mark -- very true -- and I certainly don't want to downplay signs of dominance. And marking is usually dealt with in articles and videos about dominant dogs.

That said, I have known, trained -- and owned -- dogs who were not intact and not dominant but who tried marking. I had a spayed female Pug who tried it when she first came to live!* <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

So while I would definitely treat it as an obedience issue to correct, and be very alert for possible signs of dominance, I'd probably observe a little before concluding that this was an absolute indication of dominance leading to aggression.

JMO! I do understand the concern about not missing such signs.

*She was also a leg-lifter, so maybe she had gender issues....... <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

ok he does have a crate and he is in it enless he his on a line in the house. He goes straight from his crate to outside where he will urinate then when we go back in the house he marks. I made the mistake of turning my back for just a second, and I turned back just in time to watch him lift his leg on the laundry basket. I corrected him then took him right outside, saying outside as we went. he did not go to the bathroom when we went ouside that time. When he has done that in the past I praise him with affection and give him a treat when we go in the house, but only when he goes to the bathroom outside. I guess I just to give it some more time.
He is not neutered yet but has an appointment at the end of the month.
As for his dominance- I have been doing the dominance down with him for a long time and he does great. When going outside I go first and the same goes for when we come back in.
thank you for answering me!