Males and Marking

[The Dude and his person, Kristi]

I am on a waiting list for a litter of mini goldendoodles that will be ready to go home July/August sometime.  I live in a apartment with no yard.  I can bring my dood to the office once it's potty trained.  Others bring their dogs as well.  Most of those dogs are female.  A couple of people have brought by their male dogs.  Those dogs did mark....one outside in the yard...but on a plastic tarp covering patio furniture.  One on a chair inside!  Ugh.  Those dogs don't come in regularly.  And I don't think they are well trained.

My question to all of you is: Given my circumstances, would choosing a male puppy be risky?  I'm envisioning a male....but I've got reservations because of the marking issue.  What are your experiences?

Thank you,

Kristi

[Leslie, Dexter & Kirby]

I'm not sure if I totally understand your question, but I'll give it a try...

Are the dogs in your office peeing inside or outside? If it's inside, your office needs to get the scent out really well because I believe most dogs will be tempted to pee on this same spot. Dogs like to go in areas that smell like urine.

Regarding marking and males - Kirby came to us at 13 months and was not neutered. We got him fixed right away. He marks like crazy, but only outside. He'll life his leg on trees throughout an entire 2 mile walk. We had Dex fixed at 5-6 months. He squats most of the time, but he lifts when we walk him and will mark, but again only outside.

I don't know if that helps...

[Kelli, Fenway, & Dustin Pedroia]

My male goldendoodle is just over a year and does not mark. He also doesn't raise his leg to pee, which may be why he doesn't mark. Not sure. He only pees when he has to go and always squats. I don't think it's any guarantee however and this certainly isn't from anything we taught him or didn't teach him I don't think. As I understand it he may at some point raise his leg and mark or just pee, but only time will tell. Keeping my fingers crossed that he doesn't though because he's not at all coordinated and would probably fall right over.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

They usually only mark where other strange dogs have gone, in public places. But I'm not really sure why it bothers everyone so much. Why does it matter if a dog lifts his leg on a tree or a fire hydrant? And if it does, you just keep them in heel while walking and they can't do anything but walk.
We've been seeing alot of questions now that spring is here about how to keep your dog's urine from burning the grass. Well, if a dog lifts his leg instead of squatting on the grass, that solves the problem. Some people prefer that.
I can understand a concern that a dog would mark indoors, but I don't quite understand what the problem is about them doing it outdoors.

[Kelli, Fenway, & Dustin Pedroia]

I don't really care if he lifts his leg to pee and/or mark outside, but poor Dustin is so clumsy he would probably fall over!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

ROFLMBO!!!!!

[Adina P]

I think most people assume if a dog lifts to mark anywhere it is liable to mark in the house.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I wonder where that idea comes from? Maybe from unneutered male cats spraying.
As was mentioned above, "marking" is not exclusively a male behavior. Females mark, too. But they don't normally do it indoors unless they smell urine there.

[Eva (Lilo and Rocky)]

I agree. Both my dogs (one male, one female) mark frequently outdoors. They seek out spots where other dogs and animals have peed and pooped and sniff around before marking. They've NEVER marked inside someone's house, and neither have any of my previous dogs (all male) - there's just nothing to mark!!

[Kay and Tanner.]

Tanner is three years old, and hasn't marked yet....He hasn't lifted his leg and still squats to pee.

[The Dude and his person, Kristi]

Wow! Great information everybody. Thank you!!! I'm not at all concerned about lifting of the leg outside. And I don't think a male would mark in my home. I'm just concerned about taking him other places, especially my office. I don't think the other dogs there are marking. I only saw it happen on those two occasions. And it was cleaned right up. Those dogs don't come around too much. What I'm hearing is that I should try and choose a less dominant male.

I only had female dogs growing up. I didn't train them. And that was a long time ago. But this time I'm kind of feeling like getting a boy. I'm already reading up on training and watching lots of Cesar Millan via Netflix.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I have all males right now. Our three were neutered by 3 months and none of them mark. My daughter in law did not neuter her whippet until he was about 4 years old and when he began marking at about 3, my lab mix - age 9 began peeing on top of others pee and lifting his leg - but outside only.
Our new rescue doodle lifted his leg his first morning - on our dining room wall!!! But he hasn't since.

[Adina P]

Ooooh I just remembered something funny! I was going to blog about it but it would have only been 1 sentence:

Rosco peed on Cass' head today.

(It wasn't really 'today' and he didn't mean to mark her...she was just sniffing a pole too many seconds after he was done sniffing the same pole).