getting rid of my dogs bad habit

Question
We have two soft coated wheaten terriers, the female is about 1 1/2 years old, and the male is a little over a year.  We plan to eventually breed them.  For the last few months the male has started urinating inside and out, apparently to mark his territory.  If I set the kitchen trash can in the middle of the kitchen, set a suit case down, or any other new thing that comes in the house or on our porch, or something that is out of place he urinates on it.  He occasionally urinates on the side of the sofa, etc.  Sometimes I see him do it, sometimes I don't.  His urine has a strong odor, too.  The other day, a man came to the door, and he went over and urinated on his leg as we  were talking.  Prior to this new habit, he was doing very well with urinating only outside.  How can we break this habit?

Answer
Hi Nancy!
What a dilemma you have! The first thing I can tell you is th that your male is showing a territorial dominant aggresive behavior.
There are a couple things that could have spawned this.
First, He has just reached a crucial point in his little life, his testes probably njust dropped and he is beginning to enter into adulthood which means he is letting everyone know who alpha dog is. The problem with that is he should NOT be allowed to think that he is alpha dog. The master should always assume the role of alpha, meaning the dog is only allowed to go where or do what alpha allows him to.including marking territory. First you need to get rid of all his smells in the house(yes big job). I reccomend using a cleaner with an odor neutralizer in it and you shouuld purchase a product like NO-GO to deter him from returning to that spot.
  You also should find a crate or a box and re-train your dog to only potty outside. When he starts to sniff in the house take him outside to a designated area and let him go there then praise him wildly and offer a favorite treat.
If he goes inside show him the offense and scold him with a low, deep voice "NO BAD! GO OUTSIDE! Take him at that point out to the designated area on a leash (he needs to know that you are in control) and when he starts to sniff the old buisness praise him "GOOD BOY-GO OUTSID". Dogs can learn up to 150 phrases or commands and will catch on to the phrases and feelings that correspond with them and will react accordingly.

 Before you go through this regimine, do yourself and him a favor and take him to your vet. Tell him the issues your having and make sure that there is not something medically that needs addressed. The strong urine odor concerns me because there may be an underlying infection causing urgency and frequency. Once that is not an issue then its time to retrain and become the alpha dog of your family.
 
I hope all goes well and good luck on your breeding endeavor.....make sure that both of your dogs see the vet before you begin to breed and educate yourself on whelping .
Breeding is not to be taken lightly and you dont want to pass on bad genetics or congenital problems to puppies who dont have a chance to speak for themselves.

Thanks for a great question!           Beth