new behavior

Question
My boyfriend has a 3 year old boxer. He has been potty trained for 2 years now and has never had any accidents. We moved into a new place 4 months ago but he just recently started this bizarre behavior. He pees on the dishwasher, the side of the stairs, by the laundry room, in bedrooms.. pretty much everywhere. He even once pooped. He has never shown behavior like this before. He has an ear infection but hes on medication for it and that doesn't seem like it's bothering him. My boyfriend thinks he is depressed because he got a lot more attention at his previous residence. But this behavior didn't start until 4 months AFTER we moved. Any idea what's going on??

Thank you for your help.

p.s he is not yet neutered because he's going to be breeded.

Answer
Sounds like marking behavior to me, Leslie, especially if he's cocking his leg. I cannot tell you >why< he has started doing this, but you need to start back at square one and start treating him as if he was not housebroken. Keep an eye on him at all times, so that you can immediately correct the inappropriate behavior and take him outside.


You say he is not neutered because you plan on breeding him. I just want to say a few things about that, in case you are not aware of them.

Appropriate health and temperament testing should be done on all dogs that are to be bred. Boxers can suffer from several genetic health problems, so your vet must run certain tests to make sure that your boxer is not a carrier for any of these genetic diseases. A few things boxers should have checked include the heart, eyes, ears, thyroid, and hips. You should also know whether or not your boxer's parents, grandparents, great grandparents, and great-great grandparents had cancer, bloat, or suffered from allergies. If so, or if YOUR dog has ever had bloat or suffered from allergies, he should not be bred. If your dog or your dog's parents suffered from demodectic mange, which is caused by a suppressed immune system, then your dog should not be bred.

Both the male dog and the female dog should be cleared of these health problems before they are bred. The female dog should also be tested for sexually transmitted diseases before being bred to your dog.



The following web pages have some excellent information on health testing for boxers. I would recommend that you at least take a look at them:

http://www.americanboxerclub.org/health-screening.html
http://www.boxerworld.com/forums/view_boxer-dog-health-testing.htm
http://www.gopetsamerica.com/boxer/boxer-health-problems.aspx


Another thing is whether or not you actively show or compete with your dog. If your dog is not show quality, or if he does not participate in sports such as Schutzhund, then he should not be bred. Period. There are already too many pet quality dogs that are put to sleep every day due to there not being enough homes for them. Unless your dog can contribute to the 'betterment' of the breed, by producing more show or working quality puppies, then he should not be bred.

The fact that you say "he's going to be breeded," tells me that you may not be as educated as you ought to be on the subject of breeding. Please do take the time to look at the links I provided, and think long and hard about breeding your dog if he is not a show or working dog.