# Male - Lifting Leg



## Jwill275 (Dec 3, 2011)

Mattingly is now 6 months old. He still squats when he urinates, there appears to be no attempt to raise his leg to go. I always had a female dog so in general I'm not concerned. Is there a benefit for raising the leg(cleanliness) or does it not matter. Thanks

John


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## Luciledodd (Sep 5, 2009)

My Rosie lifts her leg and therefore it tilts her body just enough that she gets it on her leg. Have you neutered him yet? The vet told me on a male dog that I had, that if neutered at a young age, they would always squat to pee.


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## Carefulove (Mar 20, 2009)

John, I have a boy, and he only started lifting his leg just around the time he turned 1. Soon after, I had him neutered and he stopped right away. To this day (he is 2.7 y/o) he still doesn't lift his leg.

I am actually happy about it, since he is so "short", when he squats, that puts him almost against the ground so he never gets urine on his tummy. He doesn't even smell of urine there. Of course, I help by keeping that are trimmed.

I wouldn't worry about it if he continues to squat. 

PS: I am sure the ladies will agree with me, this is like having your husband sit when he pees! :biggrin1:


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## Jwill275 (Dec 3, 2011)

Thanks for the responses! Mattingly is not yet neutered, he goes this Thursday, having the laser surgery done.


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## motherslittlehelper (Mar 18, 2010)

Augie still squats to pee, is three years old, wasn't neutered until 17 months, has never smelled like pee.

Finn still squats to pee, is 9 months old, isn't yet neutered, and manages to pee all over his undercarriage and he stinks and needs a bath more often. He has started to lift his leg on 'new' things that come in the house - like big cardboard boxes - if we haven't moved them out of his area - ex. the box the new vacuum came in, and one my camera was shipped in.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

It's a persoal choice. Some males lift some females lift. Generally according to Dr.Dunbar nuetering doesn't change their methods. Here's a quote from him ,I recived regarding neutering. "Hi there David


Good to hear from you. Yes, I do get a few email questions from time to time (about 20 a day).


Neutering male dogs DOES change their behavior to some extent. They are likely to roam less (if given free range) and urinate less, yet still urine mark and still use the same urination posture. Thus, scent marking is not resolved, but the frequency (hence volume of urine) is much less.�


However, castration has no effect on dog-human aggression, does not make male dogs less aggressive to other dogs, alter their rank in the hierarchy, or appear to change their personality much. BUT castrated male dogs no longer smell like intact males and so this dramatically changes the behavior of other male dogs.�Castrated male dogs smell more like anoestrous females.�Other male dogs react towards castrated males as if they are females �and so, other male dogs harass or threaten them less and hence, the behavior of the castrated male eventually changes (feeling less threatened). Castrated male dogs are involved in fewer fights with other males and their aggressiveness is reduced, not directly by castration, but indirectly by the altered behavior of other males.


BTW: I may be on the Today Show on Friday. Whooo Hoo!


Hope this helps


ultra mega woofs to you
ian

And here is a snippet from another of his research articles. ..."Whether or not a male dog will lift his leg when urinating, sniff and mount bitches and be more aggressive than females has all been preprogrammed by fetal testosterone in utero".


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## clare (Feb 6, 2010)

Our Dizzie is over two and a half years old,and he very,very rarely cocks his leg.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

I was told (or read... I can't remember now!) that keeping a young male dog away from smelling vertical surfaces where other dogs have marked will make it more likely that they will continue to squat (or Kodi doesn't squat, he stands like a little horse, but he doesn't lift his leg) rather than lifting their leg. 

I am very careful about this, and don't let Kodi sniff around vertical surfaces when we are out on walks in heavily trafficed areas. He can have all the sniffing time he wants, off leash in the woods or on our property.

He does not lift his leg to pee, and he is now 2 1/2. However, I know that he understands and CAN mark, because I'veseen him do it a few times when we've been at dog shows, and there has really been no other place to let him go other than where lots of other dogs have been. In these cases, I've seen him lift his leg and "mark" even on tall grass and weeds. Hey, when you are short, LOTS of things look like vertical surfaces!:biggrin1: 

I have to say that my experience with a Hav in long coat is that leg lifting is mess-making. It doesn't matter how high he lifts his leg, he ends up peeing on his hair.uke: He also uses a litter box in the house, and I think THAT would be problematic with a dog who had to lift his leg to pee!:biggrin1:

Finally, I have walked with several people whose male dogs feel the need to mark all the time, and it seems to me that they save up urine for this. It takes FOR EVER to get them to empty their bladder. With Kodi, I say, "Go pee," and we get the job done in seconds and can get back to showing, or get back in the car or just enjoying our walk.

So I, for one, will continue to encourage what he does now, and limit the chances for leg-lifting and marking as much as possible.


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## Becky Chittenden (Feb 4, 2009)

I have littermate$ that are 4 and intact. One lift$ and the other doe$n't. The lifter i$ more gregariou$ and the other i$ pretty laid back


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## Kathie (Jul 31, 2008)

Abby lifts her leg an inch or two off the ground. McGee just sort of stretches out (I think maybe like Karen was describing (never seen a horse pee!). He learned to lift his leg a month or so ago when our granddog visited but that was because he peed on a flower pot. He does lift it every once in a while but not usually. Neither he nor Abby get pee on themselves, thank goodness! BTW, McGee was 10 months Dec. 1st. and has not been neutered yet. Abby is 4 1/2 yrs.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

Molly is a leg lifter. LOL


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Kathie said:


> Abby lifts her leg an inch or two off the ground. McGee just sort of stretches out (I think maybe like Karen was describing (never seen a horse pee!). He learned to lift his leg a month or so ago when our granddog visited but that was because he peed on a flower pot. He does lift it every once in a while but not usually. Neither he nor Abby get pee on themselves, thank goodness! BTW, McGee was 10 months Dec. 1st. and has not been neutered yet. Abby is 4 1/2 yrs.


Yes, that's what Kodi does. I forget that not everyone has seen a horse pee.. The other funny thing he does, and sometimes the easiest way to tell what he's doing, is that he ALWAYS has to turn his head and look... Not sure what he expects to see back there!:biggrin1:

Kodi wouldn't have hit his hair when lifting his leg at McGee's age either. But it is SO much longer now that there is really no way to miss it other thn peeing straight down. (which is what we encourage!:biggrin1


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

davetgabby said:


> Molly is a leg lifter. LOL


Maybe girls don't have quite the <ehem> "range", and miss peeing on their hair for that reason!:biggrin1:


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

krandall said:


> Maybe girls don't have quite the <ehem> "range", and miss peeing on their hair for that reason!:biggrin1:


Yeah Karen who knows. I actually think she lifts so that she doesn't pee on herself. Whatever, she is always clean on her "peeper" area. LOL. I ask her to check her "peeper" and she always looks. She is a neat freak though.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

davetgabby said:


> Yeah Karen who knows. I actually think she lifts so that she doesn't pee on herself. Whatever, she is always clean on her "peeper" area. LOL. I ask her to check her "peeper" and she always looks. She is a neat freak though.


Kodi does't get wet anywhere near there. It hits the part of his coat that hangs down from his sides if he lifts his leg. Of course this can also happen in a strong wind, if the hair gets blown underneath him, but what's a guy to do?


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## motherslittlehelper (Mar 18, 2010)

Yeah, I misspoke. My guys don't squat - they stretch out too. Legs out behind, back end sinks toward the ground. 

Well, Karen, they could check which direction the wind is blowing and adjust themselves accordingly! :biggrin1: I just don't understand how Finn is peeing all over himself when Augie had just as much hair and never did. Maybe I need to trim the wick!


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## Jplatthy (Jan 16, 2011)

Sissy lifts her leg......Misty does not......Smokey does sometimes but not always.......


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## Kirby (Mar 7, 2011)

Kirby started lifting his leg at about the age of 2. Now, he seems to lift it half of the time, and when he does he lifts it so high he has even toppled over! When that happens he almost looks embarrassed and then proceeds to just squat. I would prefer he didn't lift his leg...Either way, he ALWAYS walks right in the spot he just peed on....


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

Zoey squats and gets it all over herself. Maddie lifts her leg only about an inch or so I think she does it so it wont run on to her foot. and stays nice and clean.


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## Carefulove (Mar 20, 2009)

motherslittlehelper said:


> Yeah, I misspoke. My guys don't squat - they stretch out too. Legs out behind, back end sinks toward the ground...


That's what Bumi does.


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## misstray (Feb 6, 2011)

Brody so far isn't a leg lifter. He does the back legs slightly out and a slight lean forward. Like Karen, I really only know he's going because he sticks his head back there to watch (although he has tried to fake me out for the treat). I hope he doesn't take up leg lifting because the majority of time he goes inside on his Ugodog and so not leg lifting is ideal.


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

my little guy started to lift his leg at 19 weeks old. he got fixed at about 11 months old, b/c he started to mark ppl.

he's two this month, and has always lifted his leg (since 19 wks), even if he's not marking.


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## LunasMom (Sep 11, 2011)

Luna has always lifted her right back leg a tiny bit and she often looks over her right shoulder, too, Karen--like Kodi does. We thought she was doing this to see if we were watching because we all clap, all run inside and all do a potty dance as she gets treats from DH and myself. We make a big deal out of peeing outside but she has made tremendous strides--only two accidents on consecutive days in the past 15 days. My view is if we can get it down to 1 every two weeks we are almost ready to say "House broken"! (If our neighbors are watching two senior citizens doing what we are doing and saying...ound


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## Julie (Feb 8, 2007)

My boys have never lifted their legs.My sheltie is 6 and Quincy is 5. I like it that way. No marking,no mess,no fuss.

Neither piddle on themselves either because we leave the hair on the penis in tact and long. This hair acts much like a straw(in reverse of course!)


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## heatherk (Feb 24, 2011)

misstray said:


> Brody so far isn't a leg lifter. He does the back legs slightly out and a slight lean forward. Like Karen, I really only know he's going because he sticks his head back there to watch (although he has tried to fake me out for the treat). I hope he doesn't take up leg lifting because the majority of time he goes inside on his Ugodog and so not leg lifting is ideal.


I don't think lifting the leg means he won't also squat when he has to. Ceylon squats (well, actually, stretches out like motherslittlehelper said) when he really has to just GO (i.e., first thing in the morning) but otherwise, he has been lifting his leg ever since he was about 5 months.


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## heatherk (Feb 24, 2011)

Julie said:


> My boys have never lifted their legs.My sheltie is 6 and Quincy is 5. I like it that way. No marking,no mess,no fuss.
> 
> Neither piddle on themselves either because we leave the hair on the penis in tact and long. This hair acts much like a straw(in reverse of course!)


ound: I hadn't thought of that lol! Cey's hair there is long too and he is never messy. Sometimes I take a damp paper towel and wipe just the hair on his penis off if I notice that it is a bit unclean looking but he never gets pee anywhere else on himself...

(Is it weird that I talk about wiping my dog's penis off??? hahaha, the things we get in to sometimes on this forum!)


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## miller123 (Aug 13, 2011)

miller started lifting his leg about a month ago and he is only 5 months old so he started fairly young. we are getting him fixed with in the net month so im wondering if the will go away?


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## The Laughing Magpie (Aug 20, 2009)

I have been told like Dave and his article it's predetermine and part of their DNA. My guys all lift and do not wet themselves (I also am careful how I trim the hair on their penis') but if taken to an area told to go they will squat. I have only had one male that did not hike and that was my DH's mixed highbred wolf/golden mix (yes it was a oops litter) he was very laided back and my guys did not influence him a bit. My girl is a hiker too and a marker, she marks all the other dogs spots!!! Also she will stand on her two front legs and lift both back legs to mark a particularly wet spot, then push her body forward when finished it's hilarious.


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