Theres just a couple of things that i need an opinion on and why harvey is doing theses things..he is a male dobie nearly a year old and not altered...
~He will wee on my mums puppy and when we were out walking and met a neighbour who has a huge Bermeses Mountain dog..they were playing and when the Bermese was sitting he done a small wee on him. He is not altered.
Q~does this mean he thinks he is the higher ranking dog out of the 2 of them..i can understand him thinking he is when he was around my mums puppy because of size difference and age but to think he is the higher ranking over a Bermese Mountain dog who is 4 times the size of him is crazy..he is not dog aggresive and loves playing with them~but why does he do it and can it cause any problems in the future?
Q~Harvey when im sitting on the floor will roll onto his back and let me tickle and rub his stomach and he seems to really enjoy it..does he think i am top dog because he does this? he is well trained and is very loved but i dont want a dominant dog.
( i am asking because i dont want my dobie to think that he is the main man and can push me around as dominance in a large dog i have heard can be bad thing)
if you need any more info to be able to give me some advice then let me know as im not sure if and what background info helps
It doesn't sound like he is trying to be dominant over YOU. Urinating on other dogs probably is his way of telling them he wants to be the boss. Size doesn't matter, sometimes dogs are just silly. That is why my 2 can't get along. If the obviously smaller one would just go ahead and accept being below the big one in the pack, or vice versa, even, all would be well. We had a Yorkie that was an idiot and would run up to other dogs, big dogs, yap yapping at them as if he were big. He had no clue he was tiny next to them.
My sister has a pomeranian/Chiuahua mix, and he does the same thing. I think we just chalked it up to him "marking his territory" He marked my parents Female dog and when we were first there and had Lola he marked lola. Course, he's also very spoiled (to the point of almost no discipline) but he is fixed. I believe he's marked every piece of furniture my sister owns...(that's also why my hubby won't let me own a male dog or cat :()
Ex, just because they are male doesnt' necessarily mean that all they do is mark their territory. Just tell him that, Chopper doesnt mark his territory indoors, hasn't since right after we got him, I think. Just dont' get a puppy if he's worried about marking. Chopper was 8 months old when we got him and was practically housetrained. He only had a few accidents, but they were our fault, not his. Once we got on somewhat a schedule for going outside, everything worked out fine. He rarely has accidents and would rather hold it forever than go on the floor. Just tell all that to your hubby and he may change his mind.
Yah, Mollie's right. If I have a boy dog that pottied in the house, he would be punished just the same as a girl dog. I have my 3rd stud dog, now. It has NEVER been a problem that they would hoist and pee in my house. Sure would be heck to pay if they tried, though.
Same thing with my male dog. We got him at a year and he has NEVER marked. I have had male pups and they have tried but after scolding, didn't try again.
Oh and Twinkle, you dog may be peeing on others to say "this is mine".
Sorry for getting off-topic, Twink. I agree, he's just marking his spot, saying "this is mine, leave it alone!!" It is kinda funny that he'd pee on another dog though!! LOL No offense, I had a dog once that peed on my mom 'cuz she was playing with some puppies in our yard, that one of her friends brought over. It was priceless!!
I took my lead sled dog up to the snow, once. After a fun day playing, we went back up the hill to the highway... Noticing that Rebel was not at my side, at the top of the hill, I spy the dog hoisting on the back of a person that is seated in the snow, putting on boots. Wearing such a thick snow jacket, and mittens, I see the person reach back to explore the mysterious touch he had recieved as the unseen dog scrambles on his way up the hill, to jump in the truck...We drove off rather quickly, as I recall.
Bosco tried to mark my friend, Jason, last weekend. They were standing on a deck outside and luckily Jason saw the leg go up and jumped out of the way. He owns a male dog so we figure he had that smell going on!
I'm sorry, but I just had to laugh at that one, Kitty!! Especially the part where you say "we drove off rather quickly, as I recall" I couldn't stop laughing!! You're funny!!
Shiny, I bet that was somewhat embarassing, huh?? LOL
lol my male dobie does that alot he humps the other males pees on them and pees on the female when she is peeing. He is a horses a$$ but I love him lol. Marking other animals is a dominance thing it is normal and really scolding them for it tends to confuse them they are only doing what comes natural. Scolding in the house is one thing because that is YOURS not his but outside is a whole new level. The rolling over on the floor thing is just him being playful. Has nothing at al to do with submissiv behaviour now if you scold him and he does it then yes. Can I ask why is he unaltered are you going to stud him out or breed him? If not a whole bunch of these issues can be corrected with neutering. Plus unaltered males that do not mate can develope health problems later on. Trust me on this one Rusty has had a h*ll of a last two months. Dobies tend to be generally territorial and dominant over other animals they have a large and incharge nature that comes from their drive to work and protect. Not necessarily aggressive but dominant.
edited to remove a letter from a word that others could find "offensive"
-- Edited by MollieMae01 at 00:57, 2005-06-16
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Hi thanks for the info ~ When i got harvey he was severley depressed (he was a rescue and was abused) and they said (vet) back then ( when he was 6 months )that if i got him altered it would sink his mood even lower and wouldn't help him gain any confidence ( which he was severley lacking).. I dont want to breed or stud him as i know nothing about it and he wouldn't be a good candidate! I definately want to get him altered in the future but just as he is finally coming out of his shell i dont want to do it too soon and send him back in again if that makes sense when we are making leaps in his progress.
Ive heard it an have huge health benefits if you get males altered and this is one of the reasons i want to do it also.
He is never aggressive but it seems from the weeing thing that he is dominant an keeping tabs on his territory outside of the property~ bless him! Hes never done a pee on any person though. and in the house he is very well behaved as he knows its my territory not his .. he never rolls on his belly though when i scold him..he just sulks like a big baby
oh an i forgot to ask this which probably has something to do with the altering.
Harvey when he plays with me or michael gets sometimes really excited and seems to get alittle 'turned on' for want of a better word! he has never tried to hump anyone but his willy does come out quite abit .. he seems to be like this alot! Will altering calm him down as he seems to be near enough constantly horny!
He sounds like a fine dog. Leave him intact, if you choose. As long as he does not run loose on the streets, and is not with intact females, breeding is not an issue. Your vet is wise, that it would be good for his self-esteem. You can nueter a male at 6 yrs. to avoid problems, but with a good diet, I doubt he will have any... I have neither had health problems, nor unwanted pregnancies with my boys. But then, I am not sloppy in my animal husbandry...
as dominance in a large dog i have heard can be bad thing)
No offense, I had a dog once that peed on my mom 'cuz she was playing with some puppies in our yard, that one of her friends brought over. It was priceless!!
This too I shall live through.
For like the Phoenix, I shall rise from the ashes and soar through the sky having been reborn. http://pitbulls-dobermans.tripod.com
as he seems to be near enough constantly horny! 
