Around 7.20 am on Wednesday, I was scrolling through radio stations when the word "dog" caught my ears and I found myself tuned in to a live call-in programme called "What's Pissing You Off?" hosted that day by Richard Trumpet and a female presenter. A caller was complaining that she was in the middle of playing with her adult (male) dog when he suddenly walked off, cocked his hind-leg and urinated on her fridge. She said she kicked the dog in retaliation, which shocked and angered me.
I was very pleased to hear the presenters say they do not condone animal cruelty, but then I became annoyed when the female presenter told the caller that she should "roll up some newspapers, dip it in the urine and hit the dog with it three times on the nose." Although certainly nowhere near as barbaric as kicking the dog, this form of punishment is just as ineffective and unpleasant. The public should not be misled into thinking this is correct because our society's general negative attitude towards animals will never improve.
This behaviour is called scent-marking and it is normally used to claim territory, but can sometimes be done to relieve anxiety or stress. The reason can be correctly diagnosed by an animal beha-viourist. The urine contains testosterone and pheromones (chemical attractants) which send signals to other animals-remember dogs communicate first and foremost with their noses so scent is very important in purveying mes- sages.
Three ways of dealing with this unwanted behaviour are: neutering the dog before he starts to mark (six months is the recommended age); properly toilet-training your dog without using physical punishment (seek advice from your veterinarian or animal behaviourist); and ensuring that the scent is completely removed so he is not drawn back to remark the spot. Remember that this behaviour is completely normal and acceptable in the dog world.
Kristel-Marie Ramnath
Santa Cruz
