Dog urinating in the house also very hyper

Question
QUESTION: My 15 mo. old male boxer Tyson (not neutered) has just recently started urinating in the house as well as hiking his leg to urinate on a table cloth or comforter.  This all started when we took him with us to stay at a cabin where they apparently had other dogs and he marked as well as urinated in the living room and kitchen.  I am not sure what to do but hate having to watch his every move like he is in jail, but quite frankly I do not trust him.  Should I have him neutered?  Also, he gets very excited when anyone comes home from school / work and makes a beeline for the door and almost knocks you over by jumping on you and up to your face.  HELP!!! I do not want to have to find him a new home but ....... I am afraid with his strength, he will knock one of the kids over and injure them (not on purpose) as well as with this new urinating problem I am getting alot of flack from my hubby about "my dog"

Hope you can help.

ANSWER: Hi, Karla,

Thanks for the question. I hope I can help.

I don't think neutering is the solution. In fact it may make matters worse. The urination is probably a kind of anxious behavior, and normal, healthy levels of testosterone are known to create calmness. Taking that away may have the opposite effect.

You described him as "hyper," and I think that's a clue as to what needs to be done. He needs to be given some acceptable outlets for his excess energy. I hope you don't mind giving me a little more info:

What kinds of games does Tyson like?
How much hard vigorous playful exercise does he get every day?
Do you have a yard?
Is there a park nearby?
Do you ever play tug-of-war with him outdoors?
Would you be able to hand feed him all his meals outdoors?
What brand of dog food does he eat (some foods have ingredients that cause hyperness)?

As for his excessively friendly greeting behaviors, it sounds to me like anyone could see that Tyson is a very sweet animal. There's not a mean bone in his body. But he does need to be taught the proper way to greet people. The simplest solution would be to put his leash on him whenever the door bell rings so that you can control his jumping. But even though that might solve one problem, you still have to deal with the underlying cause, which is giving him a way to offload his energy in ways that satisfy his natural instincts, but that are also acceptable behaviors in human society.

I look forward to hearing your answers to my questions.

LCK

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Tyson plays tug of war with our other boxer Deuce who is 2 1/2 yrs. old.  They also run around the yard, Tyson on his 20 foot lead, Deuce antagonizing him as he does not have to be on one.  We are not allowed to fence.  We do not have a park nearby that dogs are allowed to be in.  We play catch/tug of war with him inside and outside (in the summer) I just switched them to pedigree, was buying Iams but starting having a problem finding the right kind locally.  I am not sure what you mean by hand feed him outdoors.  He is an awesome dog, I just don't know what to do about the urinating!!!!! He has started to do better with people as we have already begun to do what you suggested and it seems to let him know that what he was doing was unacceptable behaviour.  I appreciate any help you can offer.

Answer
Hi again.

Thanks for the further info.

Iams is one of the foods that can cause hyper behavior in dogs. (Anything with "beet pulp" in the list of ingredients.) I'm not sure Pedigree is the best choice, but since it sounds like you're having trouble finding really good dog foods, perhaps you can try Beneful.

I recommend that YOU play tug with Tyson alone outdoors for about 15-20 mins. every day, twice a day, and that you hand feed him his meals outdoors using a pushing exercise (see link below).

Also, if you're scolding him or punishing him for his "bathroom" errors, you'll also need to stop doing that. I noticed that you said that putting him on the leash when he greets people lets "him know that what he was doing is unacceptable." That's not true, exactly. The leash is just a means of helping him moderate his excessive energy when greeting people. By the same token, scolding him or punishing him doesn't really teach him anything, it just kind of puts a lid on his nervous energy, which tends to make it build up like in a pressure cooker. So if I were you, I'd praise him for everything he does, good or bad. (See link below.)

As for feeding him outdoors, spring is almost here, so I hope you'll be able to do that. That more than anything will help with his nervous marking behavior. Here are some links that will be helpful:

http://tinyurl.com/3balu6
         
http://www.tiny.cc/tug

http://www.tiny.cc/praisetocorrect   

The other thing you could do is re-housebreak him, using a crating schedule. But I get the impression you might not like doing that. If I'm mistaken, and you don't mind crating him, let me know.

LCK