A move outside :(

Well, it seems that Jock is growing up, in many ways. However, the last few nights he has been forced to sleep outside in his pen on the front verandah.

Why? you may ask?

Simply because he is currently in a power struggle with our other dog and has decided to mark his territory by peeing in his pen. Jock is not a small dog, he's almost at full height now, is quite long and appears to have a bladder that stretches from shoulder to hip. He can quite literally pee for 3 minutes straight!

So, when he decides to 'mark his territory', he just about flood washes my lounge room floor. Now, I have children, one who is just about to turn 3 years, and she spends a lot of time playing on the floor. I do not want her playing in the area where he has pee'd. To stop this from being an issue, and to stop him from making my house smell like a public urinal, I've moved him outside at night.

Neither of us a very happy with this arrangement (I don't like keeping dogs outside overnight) but at the moment there isn't really any other option.

To his credit, since being moved outside at night, he has not pee'd in his pen again. He still goes out for his run just before bed, and he gets to come inside for attention, as well as a bit more training (obedience and agility at the moment), but for the next few nights, he will continue to sleep outside in his pen, and we can only hope that when we bring him back in, he's a well-behaved boy and doesn't pee in his pen!