We seemed unable to find an answer & would love to plead for help!
Perhaps some might think our M can handle this "small issue" but sadly reality isn't that forgiving this time -- she's pulling her hair out & enough braincells murdered! Enough said, it's driving every living thing in the house crazy! We didn't gave Dad & Mom a hard time when we were puppies, so when it comes to training & discipline, it was a pretty easy journey for all of us at home. Potties are done 2-3 times a day & we would wait for them to come home patiently for walks. There is also an emergency peepad which we are trained to use if we need to ease ourselves urgently before they come home. It used to work thou.
For the past 3 years,
NOTHING like now has ever happened before........
We won't jump into telling you which dog is the culprit first, since the hoomans didn't know initially too. But for better illustrations, it first occurred 1-2 times/week, with lapse of 2 weeks (because both dogs received admonishment) and progressed to a
DAILY affair!
Just a quick recap on the "solution" methods we partook...
>> Close supervision didn't worked cause
DISASTER ONLY STRIKES when human are out.
>> Control water intake.
Nope it didnt helped in controlling marking dogs.
>> On a casual conversation, M blurt out the 'dirty laundry' & Aunty D suggested hiding the "affected" piece of furniture in a locked room which might help forget the marking habit, it worked for only 2days. Therafter, this happened to the dining table & couch which we absolutely have no way to hide it anymore.
>> DOUBLING up the distance & duration for each walks -- from 20mins to 1hour daily, in high hopes of squeezing out every single droplet of pee. Also, closing in the time lapse too, it used to be 1x6-8AM then 1x5-7PM with new insertion of 1x1-3PM. Re-train is involved in walks & now both dogs walk individually (both dogs used to walk together) with Dad/Mum.
>> Putting canes on the floor, close to the "prone-marked" areas/furnitures. Helped only 3 days & that dang dog decided to pee ON the cane as well. Gosh!
>> Sentenced to jail -- this usually happens when there is a repeat offence. But apparently the jaildog didn't cared much until he is physically sent to the jail & starts his symphony.
When all of the above mentioned didn't worked, it prompt the Sherlock Holmes in our pawrents wanting to know exactly who IS the mastermind behind
(back then they thought it could be 50/50 fault on both, or passing sentence based on our expressions, ie. who looked more guilty, etc... but the answers were never confirmed) -- under what kind of circumstances, what time of the day & other details.
... So they invested on spycams!
Now
*inserts drumroll here* you shall see for yourself:
He BINGO-ed every single time!!!
With the criminal confirmed, DM settled down for some serious discussion. Upon thinking back, it started just weeks after Goofy crossed his 3YO barkday. Someone told M that it could be due to age, i.e. Goofy is moving from his goody-boy dogteenhood to the next stage, that is being a full grown adult dog. D speculated that it's normal for a bonafide male dog to have its 'wants' but M knocked down saying that then Goofy should be humping madly on other dogs too!
[M: In case some wonder, apparently Goofy just doesn't have the 'urge' to hump on any dogs, even any female. He only humps *embarrassed* when 2 of his male dogpals (Scooby/Golf) humps him first & unfortunately this happens always in a pawty, caught in action when there are many cameras, sigh!]
Moving along they had zoomed Goofy in with all sorts of possibilities & feeling sooooo exhausted, still none of the methods are working out. Lunatically rummaging through the net, M came across an article which explains that one of the many reasons* could be due insecurity. She then shared with D and thoughts like: "Perhaps we have been showering one more than the other more TLCs", "Maybe Goofy is somewhat jealous, blah....." or even D: "Could it be due to me kicking Goofy down the bed more often then before during sleep & he felt hurted?". So, they started correcting themselves too! *faints* There you have it, Goofy was showered with more than massive loads of whatever-would-make-him-feel-SECURED.
* Denotes also "perceived threats" such as:
1. An introduction of a new baby - No
2. A new pet - Nope.
3. Visitor - None
4. New piece of furniture - No, he wasn't borned blind!
That article also came with a solution which was a belly band which made M thought it might JUST be it but turned out to be only fruitful for a week! Once, he peed right through the belly band & it repeats in routine therafter!!! OMdoG!?!?!?!?
Both our pawrents honestly doubt jailing is gonna cut it even thou Goofy knows well enough, the consequences:
Plus it really shatters your heart when he starts his symphony -- that is whining! Apparently it does possess some mystical effects, apart from annoying our poor neighbours & Aston (our upstair's neighbour dog -- a standard greyhound) sleep.
You name it, M can confidently said she has tried them all. From vinegar cleaning furnitures to deter him to the latest (even!!!) belly bands... So what is next? She is really desperate (she is a cleaniless freak which means whenever disaster strikes, she would anti-bacterialise all furnitures, clean the entire house & bath BOTH dogs) & honestly we can't just let this happen for the rest of our lives!!!
With that, we're ending with a note of plead to all of you dogs for more possible solutions.
We believed all dogs are smart (okay, perhaps Goofy is toooo smart for his own good) and there is nothing not quite possible, just how determined & how much effort you're gonna put into making things right again. So here's a THANK YOU in advance for the tips that would be forth coming.
[M: For some reasons, I won't consider re-training or neuter him for the time being but I am really freaking out here & would love some good suggestions on how to deal with this rascal. Do pop your solutions, even ideas which you think might work (yeh! that's how desperate we are!) into our comment box.]
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Footnote: Did we forget to mentioned that Goofy is a first class con-artist? Read on...
Before the spycam-action, whenever the culprit pees, Rudolf would not greet DM at the door when they come home. Instead, he would be hiding in his bombshelter, shivering crazily.
Apart from meeting his own kind which he returns a taste of its own medicine, he is quite a different Shiba Inu & those (+ dogs) whom have met him personally would agree so. Perhaps this was deeply innoculated into him through his serious upbringing (all "thanks" to M, she read tooooooo much "general traits" of a SI and paranoidic thoughts flooded her, like Rudolf might hunt Goofy someday!) so his training was pretty intense, until who & how he is today.
Admitting to hooman errors, perhaps this has also resulted to Rudolf being very timid. He knows for a fact that he would be in DEEP poop if he anydog in the house is to make a mistake, he just knows it gravely -- because the output is VERY visible: head/tail hung low, crawls to you instead of walk, trembling in each step.
Spilling the beans, M was made to sniff out their "sausages" to make out who was the naughty one. No doubt Rudolf always passes it but ironically Goofy too -- despite his long Americano skirting which our hoomans had never once thought *slap on forehead* that Goofy has trained himself to be soooooo skilled in this artform.
So linking their characteristics with every observation together, we thought Rudolf might have a part in it. Goofy on the other hand, greets you with mooooore joy! Now... There were times our pawrents make lousy decisions, like jailing both dogs or let the matter rest without discipline but the truth was shown with the installation of spycams.
End of the day, our hoomans felt so sorry & guilty to have wrong their beloved little brushwood dog! Alright, he was compensated with extra TLCs, bigger portions of meals & extra treats thou.
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