What do you do about your dog's marking behavior when on a walk?

For those of you who have dogs that mark a lot when on a walk, what do you allow them to mark? When I had my Dobe, Lyric, from day one, I decided on a rule I would try to impliment, not only with him, but with my other dogs. I discouraged him from marking any man made thing...no concrete walls or sides of any structure, no statues, no park benches, posts for signs, no decorative things, no vehicles, no tires, no garbage cans... nothing man made, with the exception of say, a telephone pole since it is made of wood and resembles a tree.

Any time he would siddle over toward something man made, as though he were going to lift his leg, I'd tell him, "leave it" or "nah" and walk on, preventing him from practicing that behavior. I'd asap find something suitable, such as a bush, (not someone's property) tree, tall grasses...anything natural. I'd praise him for it. Over time, he seemed to be able to distinguish and never attempted to mark anything man made, fire hydrants included.

It is a pet peeve of mine when I see dogs on leashes and their owners allow them to lift their leg on the side of someone's building....like a store or a fence, a car...anything etc. I see this sometimes when I'm in Seattle, walking. I saw someone's dog lift his leg on some benches in front of a bus stop along Alki Beach, while the owner patiently waited for him to empty whatever it was he thought he'd dispense from his bladder. :yikes:

At the time I began this rule with Lyric, I wasn't sure if he'd ever really distinguish between bushes, grasses, trees and concrete, plastic and even wooden walls and things. But it appeared that he did because he only would seek out those things in nature to mark and would walk without straining right past anything man made. It was more of an experiment for me and it developed over time...this behavior. So, I thought I'd share that it appears dogs are quite capable. Of couse, Lyric was a particularly intelligent dog that way. He caught onto things quite easily and aimed to work with me.

When I walk my dogs, we are typically walking in a very woodsy area, so they are allowed to mark anywhere pretty much. When we walk through the neighborhood to get to the woodsy areas, they are not allowed to go on peoples' lawns (everyone keeps their front lawns pretty nice around here), and Benji is not allowed to mark anyone's mailboxes (Daisy, of course, doesn't try to do that).

During the rare times we are in public, they are allowed to go on grass or a bush or something. I've never let Benij mark walls or anything like that.

I let Phoebe mark trees, signs and telephone poles. We never come in contact with buildings or statues. I won't let her mark cars, trashcans, people's plants and I wouldn't let her mark a bench if she ever tried even though her piddle would never reach the actual seat. It's pretty easy to tell when she's gonna mark so I can just use the leash to move her away. For plants I don't let her sniff them either as I know she'll want to mark them so the "leave it" command works for the few plants close to the sidewalk.

My current dogs do not mark outside of the backyard..in fact, Aesop refuses to pee on walks at all. JulesI think would mark, but he's usually on a mission on walks, so ignores it. Our walking route doesn't pass any personal property, so in theory they could mark where they want.

Grass, fire hydrants and trees are fair game (unless its one of those "expensive trees" with a mini fence around it). Everything else pretty much no I usually interupt, and just say "lets go! lets go!" and keep GOing

Trees, fire hydrants, some trash cans (people's trash cans that are at the curb for pick up, for example, are disallowed; public trash cans that are around town are allowed), utility poles, sign posts are allowed. Basically if I don't want him marking on something, I put him on a heel or a with me command.

He's never allowed to mark anything on private property or privately owned.

I don't ask my dog to know what he can and can't mark on. I do ask my dog to perform obedience and then when he's allowed to be marking, he's either "free" or he's told to go potty.

In my yard, I don't care what they mark on as long as it's not my rose bushes. Most of our walks are off leash hikes in the woods, so they can mark anything to their heart's content. Toker marks more than any boy dog I ever had. LOL. She even half way lifts her leg sometimes. She is so unfeminine. LOL.

But yeah...on leash walks, they can't mark on anyone's stuff...just what grows along side the road naturally as long as it's not on someone's property. My dogs usually wind up being finished, for the most part with their bathroom duties before we even go on walks. Even as we start out, they'll wind up going in our own yard first. Of course, marking is marking. It doesn't matter how much they've gone. LOL.

Yes, dogs should be trained to follow obedience, like to come along with you. But in my experiment, I found it interesting that it appeared like Lyric really was able to distinguish because he never attempted or looked like he was thinking about marking on a man made structure and as soon as we'd pass it, if there was a bush or something, he'd look like he'd like to go there.

Trees, bushes, sign posts, telephone poles, the grass, and this one particular person(
who I hate)'s car...

Hostile much?! :rofl1:

I allow marking on trees, bushes, grass and thats basically it. Usually though when walking my dog is on a "mission" and rarely sniffs around.

I think dogs are quite capable of distinguishing where and when its appropriate to do certain things. They are alot smarter than people give them credit for.

I allow Armani to mark trees, bushes, etc... as long as it is not someones landscaping.

He marks the fence at the dog park also a lot.

But otherwise, he is not allowed to mark on anything else... I usually just say "no" and pull him along.

I dont want him to get into too much of a habit of marking and then start doing it where he isnt supposed to... i have never had him mark inside or on someone or anything like that.

Gavroche doesn't mark - in fact I wish he would lift his leg a bit so that he doesn't always pee on his front leg! But he goes where he's told, and he usually just goes once or twice when we're out. Usually it's on grass, but he's had to go on gravel, concrete, dirt, etc before. If he goes on concrete, I make sure to rinse it away.

Before he was neutered, when he was still technically a stray at the clinic, he would lift his leg and then forget to put it down, and hop a few steps before realizing his leg was in the air :rofl1: He did have a leg injury, so I'm assuming it was just that he was in the process of healing, and he figures since his leg was already up he might as well keep it up a few steps lol

My dogs are not allowed to mark on anything that is handled by people or where people have to step across the river of pee (granted it's not a big river considering the size of my dogs......). They are also not allowed to pee on anyone's property, whether that be a bush, flowerbed or vehicle.

I don't have to worry about it much because I live on a farm, but I do take my dogs to many places and to countless trials over the years. Where they are expected to not mark on anything.

I have seen dogs at trials mark on someone's trial bag, back packs, chairs, other dog's x-pens, potted flowers to pretty up a show/trial etc. And it amazes me that people allow it and they should be kicked out of the trial imo. That being said some trials/shows demand that people pick up after their dogs, but there are still some that if not caught.......don't and its disgusting.

Depends on where we're walking. Dance doesn't even try to mark if we're on a leashed walk -- she used to try, but I quickly stopped her, considering how rude I find that behaviour to be (living in the city). On off-leash walks where there's nothing but grass and trees, I don't really stop her unless she's getting a little over the top.

Ripley doesn't mark yet, but if/when he does start, he'll have the same rules as Dance. Keira never marks anything.

Off leash, I don't care (unless it's in rally or something). On leash, they get 3 chances to pee. The first is usually the main pee, and the other 2 are marking. I don't actually correct the marking though, I just keep walking. If they can mark and walk at the same time, more power to 'um.

Ivan is allowed to mark on trees, bushes as long as they are not in someones yard( the trees between the sidewalk and road are fair game though), signs and occasional trash cans (namely mine). He is not allowed to mark on cars, chairs, benches, electrical poles, flower beds, buildings.

I just keep on walking. If Gunnar want's to mark he has to do it while moving, which he doesn't like. It doesn't stop it but it does cut it down. He ALWAYS has to mark when we leave the training field, but I don't care if he does that, because the whole idea of him being on the field is to exert dominance, and if marking lets him show that, so be it. If we've been playing ball or something at the park, he wants to mark this one basketball post on the way out but he has to do it while walking because I don't stop.

You are making me wish I had a male dog :rofl1:.

VIctor has designated spots. He is not allowed to go any where he pleases.

Where ever I tell them they can 'go potty'. If they're off-leash, they know anywhere is fine, but I don't like to have to stop every 10 seconds so that they can pee on every verticle object... especially since after the first few times nothing is even coming out!