Why Dogs Mark Their Territory
Why Dogs Mark Their Territory?
Dogs are one of the most territorial animals you can ever think of. After taking over a territory or space, they will use different objects and methods to stave off trespassers.
Most at times, they will bark to wade off intruders attempting to trespass their territory. Aside barking, they may also use their urine and feces to mark off their acquired territory.
Dogs don’t behave like humans
A dog will never defecate or urinate on a spot out of jealousy. If you wake one day to that your dog has urinated on your baby’s diaper, he certainly did not do it out of jealousy or hate. He did this because your baby’s cry threatens him, prompting him to do something about it as he wouldn’t want to lose his territory to your baby.
Should your pet urinate on your girlfriend’s bag, he certainly did not do this because he dislikes women. He simply saw the bag as an intruder and so decided to warn off the perceived intruder by marking his territory with urine.
House soiling is not the same as Urine-marking
A dog soils your home when he empties his bowels of urine. He may do this for varied reasons some of which include:
- He hasn’t be housebroken yet
- He is suffering a medical condition
- Something scared him, causing him to lose control of his bowels.
Dogs turn to urine-marking when they want to establish their territory. He isn’t comfortable seeing intruders play around his territory, and would do everything possible to keep trespassers off. He creates his territory by passing his urine on territories he feels belongs to him –walls, furniture, kitchen cabinet are good examples.
He uses a very little amount of urine when marking his territory, and most do this on vertical surfaces.
More reasons why Dog resort to urine-marking
- He hasn’t been neutered or sprayed. Dogs that are yet to be neutered tend to be assertive, and are more like to engage in urine-marking.
- A new pet threatens his authority
- The new pet you brought hasn’t been neutered yet. There have been instances when neutered animals still mark off their territory using their urine.
- Your dog has fallen out of favor with other animals within your home. Dogs are most likely to mark their territory when tension has developed in their pack.
- When someone new comes into your home (a baby, roommate, spouse), your dog might feel threatened, and would like to prove to the fellow that he is still in charge.
- When you bring in new objects (a visitor’s purse, a shopping bag) with scents similar to an animal, your dog might feel threatened, and would send a warning signal to the perceived intruder.
- Your feels sees other animals outside your home as threats. To reaffirm his claim on his territory, he might resort to urine-marking.