Marking Territory

Since I haven't posted in a while, here's an update on the life of Cooper. He has recently "learned" to mark territory. Yes, he learned how to do, it was not instinctive. He is a year and a half old now, and has never done this until this spring, when he watched other dogs do it at Doggie Playgroup (we take him to a dog playgroup saturday mornings at one of the local kennels where he gets to run around with 20 other dogs for an hour - LOVES it).

So why is this exciting, or hilarious? Because he doesn't quite understand how to mark territory. Instead of peeing on obvious things like signs and hydrants, he pees on non-stationary items, like clumps of dirt and twigs and leaves. He also frequently misses when he's aiming for a specific mark; he doesn't realize yet that he needs power. Cooper hasn't marked anything IN the house yet (and the day he does I'm sending him back), but he did try to mark our screen door (I was MAD). He also has peeing contests with the neighbors dog, Lily, who is a girl. I think during these times Cooper is actually pefecting his technique and learning from Lily.

I was told that when a dog was neutered early enough, they actually don't feel the urge to mark territory since their hormone levels have changed. Apparently, no one told me that this can also be a LEARNED behavior! Who knew? I'm a bit concerned when we do buy a house how this new habit will carry over, or when we get another dog how Cooper will handle accidents from the puppy! Our little trouble maker... goes to show that he's a pretty smart pup!