Male Marking or other problem?

Question
My husband and I adopted a male beagle about 4 years ago. We are unsure of his age. He was not neutered when we rescued him, but had him fixed shortly after. House training went exceptionally well and have had no problems up until the past year and a half. He has always loved going outside, but a year and a half ago he started barking at the door shortly after going outside. If we try to ignore him, he only gets louder. Shortly after the barking, he started "marking" in the house. He will mark sometimes up to 20 times just within a small space. We have had to crate him again when we are not home. I would like to give you a background about our home, since it has not been the easiest either. We have a total of 5 dogs,with our male beagle being the 4th rescue. the last rescue was about a year ago (6 months after it all started); a male basset hound we found on the side of the road. The vet determined he was under 6 weeks, but he was neutered as soon as he was old enough. There are 3 females and two males. The male beagle has never seemed bothered by the new addition. About six months ago, a friend who returned from the marines moved in with us. Other than that, there have been no other changes. I am currently out of town, but my husband told me that he had urinated in his crate to the point his pillow was soaked and urine was dripping from the front of the crate. This was over a 2 hour period. So I am very concerned. I have set up an appointment with the vet to have him checked for any and all medical reasons. I was just wondering if this sounded like a separation/anxiety issue that has gotten worse or if it did indeed sound like a medical problem. Any information you can give will be helpful.

Thanks,
Tara

Answer
Well I am afraid Tara, that I won't be much help to you. This is a pretty advanced problem but I can tell you that having someone new at the house and the new puppy are compounding the problem or even causing it.

You have a lot of dogs and beagles are very attention-hogging dogs. So you have a lot of dogs competing for attention and then a new puppy and then a new person in the house.

You are going to have to figure out what you can re-home or move around, but this dog is not going to get better, only worse under the circumstances.

A behaviorist can go to your house and help you figure this out by seeing the entire picture which I cannot.

That is going to be your best route to try first. Then there are always drugs that might help in a multi-dog household.

But, unintentionally, the problem has most likely been caused by the new additions to this already crowded house.

I hope that you can find an easy fix, but it's more likely going to take a lot of work and a behaviorist to help you.