Jumping and leg lifting

[kristin12]

I need some help with my 1 year old male pug. One problem is first thing in the morning, when I let him out of his crate, he jumps at me for about 3 mins. He is not a little pug, and he bruises and scratches both my husband and I. I've tried to pick him up, or get down low with him, but he goes crazy...I know he is excited to see us, but how can I help him control his jumping

Next is his constant leg lifting. He is fixed, and I hoped that he never would be doing this. On his walks, he lifts his leg about 10 times, with nothing coming out. In our backyard he does it on chairs, the BBQ, and every single plant. Is there anything I can do to stop this? Thanks for your help!

[Pugpillow]

If there's nothing coming out, why do you have a problem with the leg-lifting outdoors? Sounds pretty normal to me.

[Snifter]

Re the jumping, try to ignore him totally until he calms down. You may have to endure a little longer of the jumping and scratching but he should eventually get the message that that behaviour does not get attention from you.

Re the leg lifting: if he doesn't lift his leg indoors then personally I think you either need to live with it in the back yard or fence off areas you don't want him to get to. If you try reprimanding him for doing it in certain areas, because he is still young my fear is that you would cause regression in house training. If he understands that he must eliminate outside then you don't want him suddenly thinking that it is wrong.

[Rosiepug]

He's male so it's completely normal that he marks everything that's in his territory. In the backyard the bbq is his, as are chairs and plants. It's instinct to mark, so of course he continues to do it even when he's empty.

I think you have to leave him be in the yard as long as he leaves the house clean, it's a good trade off.

[shaynapug]

I wasn't sure this was for real or not.

Males lift their legs....on whatever they can. As long as it's outside, it shouldn't be a problem. If you stop him from doing his business outside, he might start inside!

There is stuff you can spray on things, but I don't know if it works. There is a powder that you can buy at a pet store that you mix with water. It takes away the odor. Odormute??? I think.

I wish I could figure out a way to get Ben to stop jumping at my face when I wake up in the AM!!! We sleep together!!! I just push him away and say NO....but he does it daily!

[kristin12]

He has started to lift inside the house, but only in our bedroom...He seems to love the corner of the bed. I know that male dogs do this, but I am worried that he will begin doing this in other parts of the house. I just wanted to see if anyone else had experienced this...

[shaynapug]

If you're disciplining him outside..then he's getting confused probably.

[Snifter]

Might be worth checking he does not have a UTI if he has only just started doing it in the house.

Also, he is young. Toddy all of a sudden took to peeing on the bed about 6 months ago (he is coming up for 2 years old). Thankfully it was the spare bed (visitors look out!).

You need to clean up all marking indoors thoroughly with Natures Miracle or Simple Solution. Then, once you are sure he does not have a UTI, try to catch him in the act, at which point you can say "uh uh" and immediately take him outside. If you don't catch him in the act there's nothing much you can really do training-wise so keep him out of the bedroom if you aren't supervising him.

[OzzyBear]

I concur with what everyone else is advising. The UTI was my first thought. That is what could cause him to feel he has to urniate, but can't or does very little at a time and frequently. It is also a male thing. Oz doesn't do it (yet anyway), but our other dog does. And whenever a friend of mine brings her boy dog, they do nothing but take turns lifting their legs on the same area.

Puppies (or dogs that aren't trained otherwise) will naturally jump on you as a way of greeting you and trying to get your attention. If you pay attention to it, you're rewarding bad behavior. This is also something I've been working on with Oz. I was just reading my Pug book last night and it said that (what snifter said) ignore him when he is jumping on you to show that is not an acceptable way to greet you. Then, see if you can tell him to sit. If he sits, reward him- treats are good motivators, and pay a lot of attention to him to show him that that sitting next to you, calmly, is how he gets his greetings and from mom and dad. Also when they jump on you (or other things that you don't want them to jump on for that matter) you can say a command such as "off". And reward if he complies. I made the mistake of using "get down", so now I'm having a hard time teaching him how to "lay down". I confused the poor pup.

[Pugpillow]

Also. don't punish him for urinating in the wrong spot or he will just get sneaky about it. Set him up for success by taking him out on a regular basis and making sure he urinates at least a couple of times before he comes in. To stop him indoors, a simple firm (but not shouting) NO or UH NUH will be your cue word . Each time you say NO or UH NUH, take him outside IMMEDIATELY. Most of the time he will not need to go, but he will get the drift eventually: leg-lifting = outside.