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.
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.