Dealing With Scent Marking

Jaxx is a young German Shepherd. At just over three months, you can already tell he’s going to be a big dog. They have brought Jaxx as a companion dog for the Retriever, who I trained many years ago and is now eight years old.

We’ve had a couple of practical lessons. It is clear that Jaxx has dominating traits, both towards the owners and the older dog. This behaviour is escalating in the house, to the extent that Jaxx is now scent marking around the house, including on the owner. Scent marking often happens when there is another dog in the house, as the dogs compete for attention and resources.

Jaxx is not taking well to any kind of discipline. He is making the older dog miserable, to the extent where the owners are wondering whether they should keep him. The next step in his training will be some virtual lessons. He will quickly grow into a very powerful dog so we need to change the dynamic within the house now.

It’s always worth considering when getting a new dog as company for an older dog whether this is really what they need. If you dog is content, a young, energetic puppy can be detrimental to their wellbeing. After a certain age, many adult dogs will not happily tolerate a new addition.

Posted: September 30, 2020