Archie disgraces himself in my in-laws' house!

[ailsa]

I've had some lovely welcomes from forum members, and am now hoping someone might be able to help with a small problem (at least, I hope it's a small problem!).

We took Archie to my parents-in-laws' house a few days ago. Coincidentally, they recently re-homed a gorgeous black greyhound bitch called Jazz. Archie had been there once before, and had settled quite quickly. However, on this occasion he marched in, and proceeded to wee twice in quick succession - once on their living room rug and once in their hall.

My in-laws were fine about it, but then, a couple of days later, my sister-in-law arrived with her dog, Beech, who promptly peed in the exact same spot in the hall where Archie had gone - and he's never done that in three years.

I know that I am partly (if not wholly) responsible, as Archie hadn't been outside for a couple of hours before we went, and I should have been more vigilant about it. Lesson learned there. However, if he was marking, is there anything I can do about it? I don't want him to be banished from their house, particularly as he and Jazz seem to get along well (barring a few 'get off my duvet' growls from Jazz!).

So the questions are:

How can this be avoided in the future?
I've seen that there are sprays to neutralise the smells - can anyone recommend one that will help prevent either Beech or Archie doing this again?
Will the situation be less likely to arise once Archie has been castrated and, if so, should I avoid taking him into their house until after the operation?

Thank you in advance for any advice you might be able to offer.

[Lisa]

First of all is your parents girl spayed? If not this will make Archie more intent on marking. The best thing to clean the area with is biological washing powder placed in some warm water. Give the area a thorough scrubbing.

When visiting somewhere new with a dog especially if there are other dogs in the home you should always place them outside for around 15 minutes and make sure that they have emptied fully.

I take it Archie is castrated because if not then that is your main answer

[ailsa]

admin said:

I take it Archie is castrated because if not then that is your main answer

No - he isn't! He's a stray we found last week and, as we've since found out, was a racer who retired in February. Whoever 're-homed' him (and I use the term in its loosest sense) in the interim hadn't bothered to get him castrated, but we plan to as soon as the 30-day period for keeping him in our care has expired. If that's pretty much the main cause then it's a relief that it should be resolved within a few weeks!