Will he ever lift his leg?

[SherryNadra]

Skookie is 1 year, 1 month old, and 140 lbs or more. He still s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-s forward when he pees! I wonder if he always will, and I wonder if the fact that he has an undescended testicle has anything to do with it.

And, when there's an undescended testicle, does that affect how "well" testosterone is made and distributed through the system? I mean, we were planning to wait until he was at least 2 before neutering, with the idea that we wanted him to be able to mature with all the advantages of nature's hormones.

Just wondered if anyone knew anything about that.

 

[Bojie]

Boj didn't lift his leg until he was 9 months old. However, he still primarily does the standing stretch pee. I think each dog is different. And it also has a lot to do with learning by example, if he sees another male lift his leg, he might be more inclined to give it a try himself.

 

[Jeff in Ottawa]

I have heard and read that it is often a case of imitating other males. If he hasn't been exposed to other males too much then it may be that he simply hasn't learned it yet. I also believe it's a submissive behaviour. Of our two, Black is definitely the alpha male and always lifts his leg. White is clearly the beta and often does the stretch pee in our yard. On his walks, he's a leg-lifter. I guess he figures he's dominant (but not aggressively so) over the other neighbourhood dogs but not dominant over Black.

I'm also not dismissive of the idea that his testosterone levels may be marginally (but not drastically) lower than normal or average and that this could lead to more submissive behaviour. My suspicion is that it's a combination of all three.

 

[lola]

Buddy was 2.5 years old and never lifted his leg. We used to have a golden, who was here until last year, and our golden always did the leg lift, Buddy never did, even though he saw it done all the time. It's funny for a boy to pee like that, but I didn't really mind, at least he never marked our x-mas tree!

 

[M & M's Mom Linda]

Marcus didn't start until he was a year old and he lived with Max since puppyhood. Both Max and Marcus will only pee right legged...they turn themselves around so that can pick up their right leg. Marcus is so tall and lifts his leg so high...I few times on an incline he almost fell over...we make sure we didn't laugh as he was so embarrassed.
Max for the longest time peed like a race horse...legs spread and lowering himself a bit to the ground.

 

[FNR622]

Leo still prefers to do the stretch over the leg-lift. We had a female Japanese Akita who preferred to lift her leg - pretty funny and not too accurate. I'm a bit surprised Ursa hasn't adopted the same method!

 

[pecanpiepatti]

Magnum is 8 months and has lifted his leg once ... but I think he was marking a spot that was up pretty high - has only been that once tho ...

 

[anya]

I had a golden who always "stretched" and he was also neutered. However, when I took him to a dog park (and he was an older dog by that time), he learned to lift his leg by watching others.

 

[suse]

Seamus lifts his leg to mark. Otherwise, he just does the stretch forward too.

 

[mulenag]

Ross is 20 months and I have never seen him lift his leg.

 

[Erika]

gandy and Gunther pee like girls.....lol..Piggyluv lifts to the skys

 

[BLCOLE]

Seamus lifts his leg to mark. Otherwise, he just does the stretch forward too.

+1 Same with my Vinnie...

 

[newfy]

Merlin did not lift his leg until at least 2 yrs old, Tiki probably started at 4 or 5 months, he learned by example, watching the other 2 guys. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

 

[ward_hill]

Buckley does both. Started lifting at about 9 months, mostly to mark spots along the daily walk, I think. He often does the stretch squat if he's just meandering around the yard.

 

[NewfLove]

Our Great Pyr never lifted his leg in his first year until we brought home another puppy (male). He still stretches forward, but does lift his leg occasionally to mark the spot!

 

[bears_dad]

Bear has always done the stretch forward. Also, never marks anything, but I'm not complaining.

 

[janices]

Georg, 8 mos, hasn't lifted yet. Still does the stretch. Since the influences here are females somewhat hoping he doesn't start. Have had a male who marked before.

 

[wrknnwf]

Hugo first lifted his leg at 9 months, but he usually does the stretch. Actually, I've noticed more female Newfs lifting their legs, than males.

 

[lisaperp]

Our 8 y/o male rescue newf did the stretch mostly, but would lift to mark occasionally. But our dalmation only lifted one time in 9 years.

 

[Wayne A]

I've had two male dogs over the years a Red Doberman & a Black lab neither ever lifted their leg ever.Both dogs would squat and empty out just like a female.Maybe they had nothing to prove that the territory was their's they knew it and also neither would pee while out on a walk they would wait till they got home to their own yard.