Inexplicable marking.

[rtroxel]

We have had our cavs, Fred and Ginger, for almost 3 years now, and they are successfully house-trained.

Well, almost... Our problem is that Fred likes to mark the corner of the bed every time he enters the bedroom. We can't understand why. When he needs to relieve himself, he stands at the front door and barks, as he should. But he also has this habit of continually marking in the bedroom, consequently, we can't allow him in there.

Is he trying to "claim" the bed as his own?

In any case, any advice on how to handle this quirky habit will be appreciated!

Thanks,

Roy and Jean

[rtroxel]

Five weeks and no reply? I guess the question was a little too difficult.

[ByFloSin]

Five weeks and no reply? I guess the question was a little too difficult.

Sorry, I've only just seen your question.

If I am right in assuming that Ginger is a bitch then the answer is clear so far as my experience goes. Fred is marking the bedroom as his territory where he keeps his bitch. In other words, he is warning any other nearby males that the lady belongs to him. I know because I've kept both sexes for about 35 years and that is what they do.

So you have choices in how to deal with Fred's marking:

1. He sleeps somewhere other than the bedroom, but Ginger is still allowed in
2. Both Fred and Ginger sleep somewhere else
3. Both dogs come into the bedroom but Fred is caged somewhere near your bed straight away, i.e. before he has the chance to mark the bed end.

In my house where I have 2 males and one bitch, the bitch sleeps on the bed next to me but the 2 boys have a cage each, but next to each other downstairs in the dog room immediately below where I sleep.

Hope this helps.

[rtroxel]

Sorry, I've only just seen your question.

If I am right in assuming that Ginger is a bitch then the answer is clear so far as my experience goes. Fred is marking the bedroom as his territory where he keeps his bitch. In other words, he is warning any other nearby males that the lady belongs to him. I know because I've kept both sexes for about 35 years and that is what they do.

So you have choices in how to deal with Fred's marking:

1. He sleeps somewhere other than the bedroom, but Ginger is still allowed in
2. Both Fred and Ginger sleep somewhere else
3. Both dogs come into the bedroom but Fred is caged somewhere near your bed straight away, i.e. before he has the chance to mark the bed end.

In my house where I have 2 males and one bitch, the bitch sleeps on the bed next to me but the 2 boys have a cage each, but next to each other downstairs in the dog room immediately below where I sleep.

Hope this helps.

Our situation is different from that. Fred and Ginger don't and can't sleep in the bedroom, because of my wife's allergies. In fact, we keep the bedroom door shut during the day. However, about every other day, we forget or Fred slips into the room behind us. Then he goes straight to a corner of the bed and marks. My wife thinks this: Because we won't let him sleep there, he's trying to tell us this is his room, too. As I said, he doesn't do this in any other rooms - except for the guest bedroom, which we keep closed as well.

Does that make sense?

Thanks,

Roy

[ByFloSin]

I have a stair gate at the top of the stairs which the dogs can't get through unless I open it for them. It fences off all the bedrooms, the toilet and bathroom and everywhere except for the staircase where they can go without supervision.

The reasons for doing it are unimportant but the effect is.