WOW !! I havent been online here in YEARS !

I look forward to catching up on all the dog talk. Since moving to Washington we have been looking to fill our house with another 4 legged family member. We are still feeling things out for now. I've been raising Rottweilers in Hawaii for the past 20 years so I would love to get me another Rottie here in WA.

Collin

Welcome back Collin. Things are a bit slow here right now but there are still a few to try and help you with questions.

Thanks Bob. With all the research, my family is concerned about house training. Since I had several male dogs, I notice they would mark often.

Would it be inaccurate to consider a female over a male in hopes to not have to endure "marking" inside the house?

I have never had a dog mark indoors, male or female, but i never have had dogs out of my sight either. But I prefer females, more clean and less arcing on the legs lol.
Hello!

Ditto with Becky on never having a dog that marked in the house. When that happens the owner has made the mistake not the dog. Over my many yrs of dog ownership I've had a few females but I prefer males.

As to marking there is an old saying that males will kill the bushes and females will kill the grass. Both can be taught to use a particular spot in your yard but with ANY training its a matter of putting the effort into it, being consistent with the training and sticking to a program. I honestly believe that ALL training problems are 'learned" behaviors.

Don't fall into people telling you that getting them spayed/neutered will stop or cure roaming, marking, fighting, you name it. Health issues? Absolutely if the issue fits but to many new studies have show spay/neuter can create more problems then what is "claimed" to stop.

Be sure and have all your carpeting in the house cleaned before you bring in a new puppy/dog. The smallest amount of scent of another dog that possibly has gone in the house can easily cause the new dog/pup to mark over that same spot. The dogs that you have had mark would be a constant problem if that spot will always be a draw to the dog unless really cleaned and "you" never let the dog start another rouond of marking.

That same thing can also help teach a new dog/pup to go in the area "you" select is to get the scent of another "healthy" dog's urine on a stick, piece of cotton, most anything and place it where you want the new one to go. Natural behavior will cause them to mark over that spot and the dog can be training much easier "IF" you spend the time training it.

I'm a huge believe in tethering a new dog/pup when in the house. Keep it on a leash and tie the other end of the lash to your belt or around your waist. this way the dog has to stay with you and can't wander off to another room and make a mess. "YOU" have to have complete control and not let any mistakes to happen.

The people her on the Leerburg forum are big into marker training. I started with markers about 15-16 yrs ago after training my first dog in 1957 as a 12 yr old. Marker training will forever be my foundation for ALL dog training.

Thanks yall !! It's good to be back :-)

Welcome back!
I'm another one of those "new old members". Glad to not be the only one!
It is for sure a lot slower here now.

To echo the above, patience, and a lot of supervision goes a long way. I have a rehomed, retired show Frenchie here, and when he came to us he would mark indoors. I wouldn't say that he is 100%, but he will wait staring at the door to go out now, and as long as someone notices him he will go outside. He has had a few accidents here initially, but they were always due to human error. Even with a learned behavior in an older intact male (5) it can be retrained with time and patience and consistency. If you start off consistently training the behavior and don't allow the pattern to develop in the first place, you'll be able to sort it.