Is this marking?

[BranwenBoxers]

Well the best way to nip it in the bud is to catch whoever is doing it .    Make it known that what he is doing is not good .    Tru peed in my house but i never caught her in time .   One day I saw her doing it and I gave her my stink eye mixed with the tone of my voice  she stopped .     The trick is to catch them .

 

[BoxerPerson]

I think it is the tone that makes them "answer"  If I say "who did this" in an agry voice...Phoebe would fly out of the room, and Willie would come over all happy to see me...but he did it...If I said that same phrase in a non-committal voice, both would be bouncing about and I wouldn't have a clue.  None of mine fess up to anything!

[Bugsys Mom]

We dont use an angry voice.  normal voice.  they know the words poop and pee.

[Rubidawg]

I can always tell the culprit. If Rubi did it, I just point and ask and she'll sulk in her goofy lil way and pretend to hide, prance around, then go lay on the couch. If Grady did it, Rubi comes running up to me, jumping and licking my face like she's trying to tattle tail. Grady doesn't care one way or the other. If I ask and point, he just stands there with a goofy look, then tries to run over to where  I'm pointing thinkin it's his "target." (I can't point to anything in the hosue without him trying to find what I'm pointing at - started after agility foundations training! lol) I never ask in a mean tone, and of course never punish/correct unless caught in the act. It's just a game we play, and mostly to see Rubi's reaction and to decide if she did it (which is about 95% of the case) or not.

[Bers]

Well, I guess we all engage in a little bit of anthropomorphism with our dogs from time to time. I like to think mine know what I'm saying to them as I go about jibbering jabbering at them day and night. But deep down inside I know that dogs don't speak English....

[Rubidawg]

LOL I know they don't speak English, but I think there is a part of them that understands, "hey i did that and she's pointing at it" so if they are more guilty and know it's wrong - they would be more likely to act a certain way than if you were showing them something that they didn't understand because they didn't do it. I think they know if what they did they shouldn't have done and when "called up on it" (truthfully you could speak any language, or jibberish, it's all in the body language), they will react accordingly. I think it's just easier to express "I asked my dog if they did it and they said no" than to say - my dog read my body language and I read my dog's body language to come to the conclusion that he/she is guilty/not guilty." LOL

But, I like to think of my dogs being much smarter than I am....atleast I KNOW they think so. They told me.

[Bugsys Mom]

LOL I know they don't speak English, but I think there is a part of them that understands, "hey i did that and she's pointing at it" so if they are more guilty and know it's wrong - they would be more likely to act a certain way than if you were showing them something that they didn't understand because they didn't do it. I think they know if what they did they shouldn't have done and when "called up on it" (truthfully you could speak any language, or jibberish, it's all in the body language), they will react accordingly. I think it's just easier to express "I asked my dog if they did it and they said no" than to say - my dog read my body language and I read my dog's body language to come to the conclusion that he/she is guilty/not guilty." LOL

But, I like to think of my dogs being much smarter than I am....atleast I KNOW they think so. They told me.

My feelings exactly Dawn! lol

[Bers]

They told me.

 

Now, one thing my dogs do is tell on each other! If one is doing something bad, or has done something bad, another one (usually Sammie) will come to whatever room I'm in and sit right next to me facing out toward the direction of the bad-thing-that's-happening.

But as for saying "who tore up that wrapper?" or "who peed on the floor?" - no, they don't know what that means, and any reaction they give is purely unrelated to guilt. It's all in the books I've read on canine behavior.

[Lisa]

Now, one thing my dogs do is tell on each other! If one is doing something bad, or has done something bad, another one (usually Sammie) will come to whatever room I'm in and sit right next to me facing out toward the direction of the bad-thing-that's-happening.

  Artax lets me know that Koda is doing or has done something wrong by coming near me and staring, or staring at me through a window.  I think he wants to make sure I can see him and know he couldn't have done it so he won't get blamed.

Good luck, Vicky, hope it doesn't happen again.