help with my dog please

Question
My male dog wont stop spraying? he is a male chihuahua, he is 4 years old, his diet is purina inside small bites, he is spayed but was not spayed untill 2 years old. He breed several times. He is an inside dog only. I do let him out only to use the potty about 4 times a day. He has been spraying since he was a puppy. I am at my wits end. I have spent alot of money on him and now im gonna lose my mind. I've potty trained him and my female they go out often and I also have pee pee pads down daily. They both are very well potty trained but he sprays daily. I have tryed spanking his bottom, doesn't work. I have now resorted to locking both dogs in the bathroom, when not at home. that works but it seems over night when I'm a sleep he sprays. I need serioius help please.     Thank you zara

Answer
Hello, Zara. I'm sorry you are having problems with your dog marking all over your house (cats spray; dogs mark). This is one of the reasons pet owners should have their male dogs neutered (females are spayed) before they reach maturity. While it doesn't prevent them from developing the habit of lifting their leg to pee on things, it does help curb the territorial desire to mark territory as much. Once they have started doing it, however, they are always going to do it.

What you need to do now is re-train him; he needs to learn that marking in the house is just as taboo as just going to the bathroom whenever he needs to (which, I'm assuming he already knows, from your description of the problem). Spanking is inappropriate and does not work, so you should stop doing that if you are still doing it.

To do this, you must never let him out of your sight when you ARE at home, so that you can catch him immediately as soon as he starts to lift his leg on something, and take him straight outside, where you should praise him for doing his business out there (if he does). Whenever you are not able to watch him, he needs to be confined. If he does not do it in the bathroom, then you can continue to put him in there whenever you are not at home. I would recommend crating him at night.

Another thing you might consider is letting him wear a 'belly band' around the house when you're there, just in case you aren't able to catch him in time and he does start to pee. The belly band will prevent the pee from getting on anything, like a diaper, and it will make the act of marking an uncomfortable one for him, because essentially, he'll be peeing on his own belly. Of course, just like a diaper, you will have to be diligent about keeping the belly band changed whenever he soils it. An example of a belly band can be seen on the following page:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=14457

Good luck.