Can neutering an older male dog stop house marking behavior?
Updated On September 23rd, 2025
Pet's info: Dog | Boxer | Male | unneutered | 4 years and 11 months old | 82 lbs
i have a 5 year old boxer which i just adopted to go with my 2 year old boxer. the 5 year old is not fixed and is marking in the house. can neutering the dog help with this problem or since he is 5 years old is it too late. i am so discouraged
3 Answers
Most Helpful Answer
Published on November 24th, 2016
This can be a frustrating problem in intact males! The first thing I would do right away is have Junior neutered - many times, this will decrease the marking behavior dramatically even if it's already been going on for several years. After this is done, you will likely still need to work with him a bit on housetraining. Treat him like a young puppy who has no idea where to potty - take him out frequently, praise and reward for peeing outside, and supervise constantly indoors to prevent accidents. If you see him starting to lift his leg, clap your hands and say "ah-ah!" or "no!" - he will soon learn that this is not acceptable in the house, if you are consistent. Don't relax your supervision until he has had at least two weeks with no accidents at all, then increase his freedom in the house very slowly. This will take time and patience, but it can definitely be done.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Related Answers from Veterinarians
-
Published on August 16th, 2019
Has he always done this? If this is new behavior, it may be that he has a medical condition that is causing him to urinate more frequently resulting in more marking. A urinary tract infection, bladder tumor or bladder stones, kidney disease, endocrine diseases such as diabetes, or prostate disease since he is intact--any of these could cause him to urinate more. Take him to your vet to rule out a medical cause. It may help to have him neutered, as he's less likely to feel the "need" to mark his territory if he is neutered. Try some potty training steps as suggested in the article below. Dog diapers are not ideal in my opinion. The skin can become very irritated if they are not changed very shortly after they become wet, and regular bathing is needed. https://www.spca.org/file/pet-university/Urine-Marking---Dogs.pdf https://www.petcoach.co/article/top-5-tips-to-potty-train-your-dog-young-and-old/ I hope that is helpful for you, thanks for asking PetCoach!
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
-
Published on November 5th, 2017
At that age, neutering him will not stop marking behavior. He will always do that, but you can train him to not do it inside. It is essentially like he is not housed trained and does not know that is not acceptable. A dog his age can be housed trained though.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
I might be taking in a friends 3-4 year old dog. I brought him over for a overnight to meet my dog and see how he does in the house. He got along fine with my dog, but I realized he is not neutered. He was “marking” all over the house. A couple times
my pug is a 8 months old he is toilet trained , he pees outside the home and also uses pads insids his room , he is confined to one room, but never beed dry totally he still make mistakes and urinate in the home , one month ago he start to elevate hi
We rescued a yorkie mix dog, estimated to be four years old. He was not neutered. He markes furniture and carpets. Will be stop doing this after his surgery?
My dog (Yorkshire Terrier) is 3 years old. We just got him from what may have been a puppy mill (he was the breeding dog). It has been about 5 months since we brought him home but he is still spraying regularly. He does have separation anxiety and
I have a maleEnglish Bulldog, Iggy. He's been "marking" inside the house since he was 6months old. He was neutered at 18 months. He only does this when I'm not home. I crate him when I'm gone 5 hrs or less but sometimes I'm gone 8. Even if a wrapper
What can I do to stop territorial marking indoor? I cannot trust my dog to be left alone in the house for even 5 minutes before coming back to him having relieved himself against many objects. Is he too old to teach differently? Are dog diapers a goo
I'd like to know how to stop my dog from peeing in the house. Hes 4 years old and he marks his territory in every corner/sofa/plant of the house. I scold him every time he repeats this behavior, he trembles with fear and gets stressed out (it breaks
9 month old Maltese started marking in the house about 1 month ago. He just got neutered last week. Any suggestions? He is wee wee pad trained.
We currently have two male dogs, both not neutered (Chihuahua and dachshund). The problem is, is that they keep weeing up everything they can but they never used to do this till the dachshund was full grown. they was both house trained and had no pro
Will neutering my dog (20 months) prevent his peeing everywhere?
Book an appointment with the pros – our expert vets are here to help.
