Dog urine marking and humping
We recently adopted a rescue beagle (2yo male neutered). He is an absolute angel except for two things. One, whenever he enters new territory (indoors), he scent marks compulsively, irregardless of the presence of other animals past or present. Once he is accustomed to the new place, he doesn't do it. This has happened at our house, friends' houses, and stores. And if we clap loudly and say, "No, Bernie!" he'll stop - even in mid-mark! We would like to take him places without having to watch him like a hawk for the first half hour to forty five minutes. The second issue - and probably related - is compulsive humping. He'll do it once you've been playing with him on the floor or ground for about twenty minutes and he's getting really worked up. He doesn't do it to other dogs, and he usually only humps human females. He doesn't respond as well to correction on this one. We've mostly tried distracting him or re-directing his focus, but it's not working too well. He was about a year and a half when he was neutered (that's when he arrived at a local shelter). Nothing is known about him before that, but it's quite likely he was used as a hunting beagle because he was found in a part of Louisiana that still uses beagles and other hounds as working/hunting dogs. He spent six months in the shelter and then a few months in foster care where he was with about ten other dogs where he was the smallest (he's about twenty pounds). We're wondering if dominance issues might be involved...? He doesn't like being put on his back to have his belly rubbed, which suggests a dominant personality - but then he cowers a fair amount and won't sustain eye contact which suggests a submissive personality. Other things that might be useful to know: he loves other dogs, likes humans, completely ignores cats unless they try to eat his food and then he barks, is VERY well housetrained, loves his crate, and is a classic beagle in that he spends our walking time with his nose glued to the ground and will do just about anything - including the classic Snoopy dance - to get food of any kind. Thank you in advance. |
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Dog digging carpet
My dog (5yo female neutered Blue Heeler mix) is outside during the day and inside at night. I've only had her for 6 months- I got her from a friend. During the past month, she started scratching at our carpets ruining them. She only scratches them around the walls never in middle of the floor. Why is she doing this and what can I do to get her to stop?
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