Corky urinates anywhere in the house, not a lot,but often. Its embarrassing. He seems to keep marking his territory.

Question
How can I stop this? We've tried scolding ( not beating ), putting him in his cage for awhile. His cage is only for when we leave the house for awhile. The door is always open when we are there.

Answer
Hi James,

I would recommend that you stop scolding Corky for accidents. We know this to be an ineffective way to train dogs.

Using a crate is an effective training tool if you are careful to use it correctly.

The fact that you say that Corky urinates frequently but not a lot suggests to me that he could have a urinary tract problem going on. I recommend you take him to your veterinarian for a full examination to rule out any urinary tract problems.

The other important thing for you to do is to purchase an enzymatic cleaner to thoroughly remove any trace of urine from your home. Even though we cannot smell where a dog has urinated or defecated after we clean it up, a dog's nose is so much more sensitive than ours and he will be attracted to the same place to eliminate over and over again.

Then, depending on Corky's age (you didn't say whether he is a puppy or older adult dog), I would suggest that you begin re-training Corky without any verbal reprimands using reward-based training. Here is an article you can refer to: http://www.clickertraining.com/housetraining

Thank you for your question and good luck!

Cindy