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Sorry if this seems like a rather dim question, but when do males generally start lifting their leg to pee? Yankee is almost 10 months old and really seems to have none of the ridiculous male behaviors you hear about. He will occasionally hump one of his stuffed toys but he has never tried to hump a person and rarely another dog. As you may have guessed he still squats to pee as well, and in general is very picky about where he goes potty. He will try a d hold out for his own yard, but I do get the occasional potty on a walk (along with lots of praise and treats after the deed).

 

Yankee seems very middle of the road. If it his toy he may take it away from another dog with a small growl. Other times he gives up a toy or bone if he gets charged (he was attacked 3 times by the time he was 6 months, so I do understand that one).

 

Thank you for any information!

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All my males (all NOT neutered) definitely took longer than 10 mos to lift leg... Can't remember when they started lifting but just before or after a year old I think. I wouldnt worry yet lol.

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hobbes, at 2.5, still prefers to just stretch it out, kinda like a horse, rather than lift a leg. maybe because he pees for so damn long, holding a leg up would wear him out!

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Hobbs and Dan must be brothers under the son. My long and lanky boy just stretches out most all the time, often with one hind leg a little bit in front of the other. He also only likes to go when he has to go, and so he tends to pee long ones. He *can* raise his leg but why bother?

 

Celt and Dan both are just as at home peeing on a lawn without any "target" object as they are peeing on a bush or tree. Dan, in fact, seems to prefer the squat.

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Hobbs and Dan must be brothers under the son. My long and lanky boy just stretches out most all the time, often with one hind leg a little bit in front of the other. He also only likes to go when he has to go, and so he tends to pee long ones. He *can* raise his leg but why bother?

 

I do think conformation and bladder capacity can be a factor. It must be harder for leggy dogs to maintain position for a long pee.

 

I have 2 leggy dogs and they both stand rather than cock their legs most of the time because they save it up. My first dog was the same.

 

All mine are neutered but the terrier has always cocked his leg (little and often) since I got him at 6 months.

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My older male started to lift his leg at six months. Still occasionally (at four years) will stretch it out to pee. He was neutered at one year. He's *never* tried to hump a toy or another dog. (The worst dog I had for humping human legs was actually a bitch).

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Our "grand-dog", who is a Sheltie, started lifting his leg pretty early on - and lifts it so high that you'd think he would topple over. I've never seen him squat since puppyhood, and he has to pee *on* something. Maybe something to be said for being compact...

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I have a six-month-old who started lifting his leg about a month ago, but he only lifts it once out of maybe every ten times. I understand they tend to model leg lifting, so if they see it more often, they will do it more naturally. One of my older males lifts his leg every time, but the other one has some back issues and these days he mostly stretches. Gus does not yet mark, which probably will increase the frequency of the leg lifting. I don't care what he does in the end, as long as he knows not to mark indoors!

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By boy is 9 month and does rotate between squatting and lifting his leg. He got the idea around 8 months of lifting his leg. He started to lift his leg when he my roommates girl went into heat... :(

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He always sniffs around on walks and takes an interest, but when he does actually pee he doesn't actually sniff around he just does the stretch described by a few. Maybe he will never take enough interest. He watches the dog we walk with every night lift his leg so maybe there is hope. The only problem we really have is he never wants to potty anywhere but in his backyard and will hold out for what seems like forever.

 

Thank you everyone for all the information! :)

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"So maybe there is hope." Pardon me for wondering but what difference does it make if he's a leg-lifter or not? As long as he pees healthfully, is squatting versus leg-lifting an issue?

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That he doesn't have 'healthy potty habits' he would rather hold it for hours then to just go wherever we are. I associate leg lifting with marking, I suppose having that behavior would make it a bit easier to get him to potty while we are out of town.

 

So I guess it is not necessarily that I want him to mark- or lift his leg- just want him to go other places besides his own yard.

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Bear was almost 3 years old before he started lifting his leg. Mostly he prefers to just stretch though. He has bad hips and a bad back so leg lifting is probably very uncomfortable though he will still lift for a quick mark. He's a taller boy and can angle himself and stretch a bit so that he hit his target without a leg lift.

 

Meg on the other hand...she is an 'over-marker' meaning she follows Bear around and has to pee everywhere he does and hers has to be higher than his. She will lift a leg or occasionally two legs (balancing on the front two) just to pee higher than he did.

 

Leg lifting has to do with marking and just not peeing on yourself. Doesn't really mean much.

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He always sniffs around on walks and takes an interest, but when he does actually pee he doesn't actually sniff around he just does the stretch described by a few. Maybe he will never take enough interest. He watches the dog we walk with every night lift his leg so maybe there is hope. The only problem we really have is he never wants to potty anywhere but in his backyard and will hold out for what seems like forever.

 

Thank you everyone for all the information! :)

 

It's easier to teach a dog to pee on cue if you start early.

 

I'm sure he will be showing signs of wanting to go, you just need to learn to recognise them, put a verbal cue to it and reward wherever and whenever he pees. Then you can move on and start rewarding only where you want him to go.

 

I got Cedar at 15 weeks and telling him to go is like turning on a tap, and he is a stretcher not a leg cocker.

 

But a lot of dogs will hold it until they get home and an adolescent dog may not want to advertise his presence to the big boys.

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Meg on the other hand...she is an 'over-marker' meaning she follows Bear around and has to pee everywhere he does and hers has to be higher than his. She will lift a leg or occasionally two legs (balancing on the front two) just to pee higher than he did.

 

You describe Hazel exactly. She used to feel the need to dominate Ross (twice her size) and always had to overmark where he had been. Didn't do it to the other dogs.

 

It had it's uses since if I ever needed her to go quickly I just had to show her his spot.

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Tweed didn't lift his leg until he was 5 years old. And now that he's well over 13, he will often just stand and pee rather than bother with the lift. All my other males are high lifters.

 

We had a pit bull at the shelter that would not pee until he'd had an exhausting play session with his best buddy, and then he would pee laying down by just tilting his pelvis and lifting his hips slightly. Funniest damn thing.

 

RDM

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