6 year old Coton marking in the house

by Ed
(USA)

We have a problem with our 6 yr old Coton marking in the house. We got him a year ago from a family that could not give him the frequent company he needed. He seems to mark when he is agitated about something within the household. Any ideas on how to fix this?

Comments for 6 year old Coton marking in the house

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Oct 22, 2024
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Solution for us NEW
by: Anonymous

Our third Coton was marking, even after keeping him on a tight leash to try to change his behavior. At first, after about five weeks of this, we let him be off the restraining. Then he started marking again. He then also started to staying up in the middle of the night pacing. So we took him to our vet. She said it was a behavior issue. We made an appointment with the nationally top rated behavioral department at University of California Davis top Behaviorist and she observed him and said he needed medication, not more exercise. She gave us a prescription of Prozac and said he needed this medication. She also gave us a prescription of Gabapentin. She’s known nationally and we took her advice. He’s a new dog. I wondered how many dogs needed
Her help and the owners gave up! Please keep the help like we did with only the top professional in behavioral issues.

Oct 20, 2024
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Followup to my previous post
by: Ed

I appreciate your notes, Gale - all of your points have been addressed: We can never catch him in the act, so it is hard to get a specific event that prompted him to mark. Training - the issue is not that he urinates in the house instead of outside. He marks! Trainers have no answer for that. It seems to happen when he feels "left out." If we go outside without him, thats a stresser. When the books say that a Coton needs constant companionship, they are not kidding.

Sep 27, 2024
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Redirect NEW
by: Anonymous

Redirect the behavior

Sep 27, 2024
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Marking Questions NEW
by: Gale

I understand your frustration, especially since it can be a challenging when it's related to emotional triggers.

I’m assuming since you feel this behavior is triggered by stress, that there are no medical issues.

-Has he been neutered? This significantly reduces marking in male dogs.

-What brings on his agitation? Is there anything you can do to help eliminate these stressors for him? (Changes in routine, visitors, etc). Routines are super important for anxious dogs.

-Have you done any training with him? It can be more challenging for older dogs but it’s definitely worth the time and patience it takes to eliminate the marking behavior. Positive reinforcement every time he goes outside, and constant supervision until he’s trained inside. If you catch him in the act, just calmly redirect him outside and praise and reward. Yelling and punishment only increase the anxiety.

-Do you have good cleaning products so he isn’t attracted to the scents inside the house?

-Have you tried any stress-relieving aids? Here’s an article that has lots of ideas. https://www.coton-de-tulear-care.com/calming-a-dog-with-anxiety.html ( CBD has worked wonders for my Lucy )

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