1 year old male OES --- squat or not to squat?
I have a odd situation (or maybe not so odd!)... My 1 year old OES still squats when he urinates and tends to urinate on his front paws - does anyone's OES still do this? I've never had a male dog but I thought male dogs usually lifted a leg? My dog is the only dog and he is not around much dogs on a regular basis so I'm not quite sure what to think. This would not be so much of a problem but having a newly urinated paw on you is not a good thing! thanks for any advice! |
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| Yes, our dog did this until he was about 2 1/2. He still mostly stretches, sometimes lifts, and still has the occasional badly aimed misfire... |
| Barkley does the lean/stretch thing. He stretches his body out and sortof squats.
To keep a male clean from splatter, clip down the hair on their belly infront of their genetalia and some of the hair on the inside of their back legs to keep it clean. Don't go overboard and it won't be visible. As for the pee reaching the front legs, it sounds like the penis hair is too long. There should be a tuft of hair extending from the tip of the penis which directs the flow. I find if it gets too long, the stream is directed dangerously far forwards, almost reaching Barkley's front legs. Trim this hair regularly to keep it approximately 1" long. Don't cut it all off, or there will be nothing to direct the flow and it will just spray. Hope that helps! |
| This photo shows the areas we clip down for cleanliness. Notice the pink areas on his belly.
Warning: Not G rated photo. 
There is some staining on the tuft of hair of course, so we're careful to shampoo that area thoroughly at bath time. |
| AWWWW that is a cute picture!! My Guinness is 18 mos old and he still squats, kinda does the streach thing, and oh yeah he is about 95lbs.!! I have a Lab that is 9 yrs old and sometimes he squats . |
Almost 3 year old Pirate still squats. He lifted his leg once, but I think it was a mistake  |
| Thank you for everyone's input!
I'm glad to hear it's not just me...everyone described the so called "squat" as the stretching the hine legs thingy and that's exactly what I wanted to say :) I will trim the fur around the area - We shaved Koda about 1 month and 1/2 ago so the hair around the area is about an inch or so long. And yes when he urinates it reaches his front paws!!!! - more front paws then his belly area. Thanks again for everyone's input and any advice is always welcome!! |
BTW, Welcome to the forum Koda!  |
Welcome, I have all female sheepies so I don't have the problem of pee going everywhere.  |
| Hey! I used to have a senior Jack Russell Terrorist (mean ol' Molly). Poor thing is at the bridge now, but....she spent all 8 years of her life lifting her leg when she peed! Go figure! |
| Same thing here. My choc lab Macy is the only female we have.She has lifted her leg to pee since she was a young dog. She never had any girl role models!
BTW - Chewie still squats at 7 months. He has good aim- the pee only hits the ground so far! |
| I think that means, they "think" they are alphas. I know mean ol' Molly (MOM) ran the whole household. Does Macy? |
| My Bingley has done funny leg "things" since he was about 10 weeks old. He usually leans to pee, but he occasionally decides to lift one of his back legs. It's REALLY funny when he lifts one of his FRONT legs - which he does do from time to time!! |
| Bosley is a leaner. Att 19 months old. I've never seen him lift his leg once.
We trim his belly and penis similar to Barkley's. We've never had a problem with him peeing on his paws.... |
| Ahhh the leg lifters vs the squatters!!
From most of the various literature and studies I've read - here's what makes the difference between a leg lifter and squatter: Age of dog when neutered or if still intact Dominance vs Submissive dog A dog who has been neutered before he reached the leg lifting stage will rarely start to leg lift unless he lives with other males that do this. He then will possibly imitate the other dogs in the household. If he's the sole dog and was neutered fairly young in life, he may be a squatter for the duration of his life. Leg lifters give off signals to other dogs via their urine. The more dominant the dog or especially intact males leave signals to allow other dogs or potential mates that they are in the vicinity. The more dominant the dog the higher he will try to lift his leg to show other dogs and potential mates that he is HUGE. Some dogs have been known to stand on their tiptoes and almost go at 90% and squirt as high as possible, others scratch to allow the scent to scatter all over. I knew Merlin was going to be a dominant dog when he lifted his leg at 3 months at the dog park. Groan! This is extremely unusual as most dogs don't learn leg lifting until aprox 9 months or older.He was neutered later, but ,the leg lifting was already part of his reportroire and thus continued. Panda never lifted his leg he just did the deed standing up, but that could be due to his history of being caged. He now is a leg lifter after observing Blue and Merlin. The submissive dog usually pees first, followed by the second dog, then the Alpha. If the Alpha goes first, and the others follow, the Alpha will then pee again so his smell is left last. Females in heat will also urinate differently than other times to allow their scent to give the information of their status. Ironically, usually only the Alpha female in the household will allow that information while a lesser female in the same household will try to squat in as small space as possible if both are in heat. Dogs give off information to others in the neighborhood via their urine..I'm a submissive boy, I'm a female in heat, I'm an intact male..ect.. It's why taking your dog for a walk in the neighborhood almost insures they'll empty their bladder whereas as trip out the back yard is done in one full blast. The trip around the block if given the opportunity quarantees they will fully empty the bladder and even a couple squirts give info to other dogs. Haaa nice to know I'm full of information about pee..when I'm full of...oh never mind!!! ha ha Marianne PS my female Shaggy was very dominant and was a leg lifter which you may see in dominant females as well. |
| Macy has always been a dominant female. It was never in an obvious way though. She has always been your typical happy lab, but has a core of steel. She has just sailed through life with a confidence and sense of fun - while hunting, doing obedience copmpetition or therapy dog visits. Now she's 13 and turning grey. She still has fun, but at a slower pace. |
Rags, my girl, lifts her leg. Yes, she is very dominant and the boss around here!!  Pepsi does the lean and squat, he's 2 yrs old. He lived with our GSD for over a year before the GSD went to the rainbow bridge and he always lifted his leg. Pepsi never even tried. He likes being a squatter. |
| Barney's a squatter/leaner and he's 2+ |
Merlin was neutered at 1 year old. He was originally going to be used for stud dog but his scrotum got frostbite when he was lost by the groomer and he had to be neutered. He never lifted his leg unless it was in the house to 'mark', outside he was squatting. After being neutered he no longer felt the need to 'mark' in the house (thank goodness!). When Merlin was 18 months old we got Avalon.(female)...all of a sudden Merlin realized he was a boy and started to lift his leg. Now he feels the need to pee on top of both girls pee. Sometimes he hardly waits until they are finished...he has actually peed on Avalon twice 
That's my silly Merlin.  |
| Puddy will occasionally lift his leg, but mostly is a squatter. Duke, on the other hand always lifts his leg. Go figure, they are such clowns! |
| Winston squatts when he does his business. But there are certain bushes that he must really like because he always lifts his leg by those bushes.
Sheepies are funny |
| I DON'T HAVE A BOY BUT I AM STILL LAUGHING ABOUT BINGLY LIFTING HIS FRONT LEG.... OMG THAT IS SO FUNNY AND I HAVE A MENTAL PHOTO OF YOUR DOG PEEING WITH A FRONT LEG OUT LIKE ONE OF THOSE HUNTING DOGS DO. FUNNY! |
| Merlin, the OES my parents own, tends to stand still while peeing when he is tired and really has to go. Otherwise, he lifts his leg. It was really funny when Merlin was just learning how to lift his leg. He would be trying to lift and then fall over because he has such poor balance (balancing to get down stairs is an issue for him also). |
| Tasker is 11 and a life long squatter.......til Ty the 19 month old maltese came along and started lifting his leg. Not to be out done Tasker tried to start lifting the leg but usually ended up losing his balance and looking like a fool. So now he mostly squats although if Ty is around he'll make a MANLY attempt to lift his leg. |
| Bailey is 2-1/2 and still squats. My car wheels love him! |
| I prefer the SQUATTING!!!!
The male german shep. mix I'm watching does both. He alternates when he goes outside. I HATE seeing him pee on our wheels or doorstep. He's the most submissive dog EVER, but I hear (from the owner) that he only humps dogs, and is more aggressive towards dogs. I'm sure it's true, but not in our home. I have 2 submissive dogs, and they go around barking and herding this german shep into corners. My 6lb maltese has him in check, and she's never been more dominant than anything (even an 8 wk old puppy!!). |
| i never had a amle dog either.. derby has 2 girls so he has no clue to lift his leg |
| Henry is just learning to lift his leg since he is now around other males. Yesterday, he followed the younger male (Becket) to a pine tree and when Becket lifted his leg to mark his spot, Henry lifted his leg...
...and fell over! More practice may be necessary. |
| Update:
Barney lifted his leg twice last week! I don't know if he was just off balance (he was on an incline), or what, but he did it 2 days in a row! |
| My mom walked Toby for me at the last show that we were at and when she came back she had this huge smile on her face. I was slightly scared to ask what was up because she's not usually pleased with this part of her duties.
She stated that she was so proud of Toby. I figured that someone said that he looked nice or that he was helping her pick up guys. She then said, "He just lifted his leg!!" I need to stop taking my mom with me. |
| Wade has just learned to lift his leg - 15 months old, guess watching Wile for so long finaly convinced him its better to pee on the tree than on your front legs. Yippee!!! |
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