# Lifting his leg to pee.



## BlackJack (Jun 23, 2011)

I thought this is odd, because I hadn't expected it for at least months down road if not years. But 3 month old boy is lifting his leg about 25-30% of the time now when he pees. Been doing since just before his 3 month mark. Isn't this kind of early?


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## Kittilicious (Sep 25, 2011)

I'm not sure, but I will be interested to see where this thread goes. Knuckles is 3 months old today and there is no sign of any lifting of the leg. He still pees like a little girl  

I read in some post on here somewhere that a male lifting his leg is a learned behavior. What if he only has a female to learn from? Will he always pee like a female?


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## Shaina (Apr 2, 2011)

Took my lab almost three years to learn that trick... wish he hadn't, to be honest! LOL


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

why don't you want your dog lifting his leg to pee??? 



Shaina said:


> Took my lab almost three years to learn that trick... wish he hadn't, to be honest! LOL


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

my boy was 1&1/2 when we had lift off.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

we had a female Grey Hound when our boy came home
at 9 weeks old. he started lifting his leg at 18 months.



Kittilicious said:


> I read in some post on here somewhere that a male lifting his leg is a learned behavior. What if he only has a female to learn from? Will he always pee like a female?


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## rgollar (Dec 19, 2010)

My boy is 1 1/2 now and is doing it now. But mainly on walks but in the yard still pees like a girl. But if another male dog comes in the yard then he will lift his leg. But when I take him on walks he lifts his leg every time. My favorite is when he lifts his foot off the ground to pee like he is to lazy to lift it all the way up.


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## Wolfgeist (Dec 4, 2010)

Kittilicious said:


> I read in some post on here somewhere that a male lifting his leg is a learned behavior. What if he only has a female to learn from? Will he always pee like a female?


If I recall correctly from my studies, lifting the leg occurs originally as a marking behaviour, and since dogs don't have 'established, safe territory' the stress of competing with the smells of other dogs causes this marking behaviour to bleed over into urinating - then it simply becomes habit.


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

Beau lifts his leg about a third of the time. He is 17 weeks and has been doing it for a few weeks. Not peeing ON anything other than the ground though.


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## Quinnsmom (Dec 27, 2008)

Mine is 4 1/2 years and still pees like a puppy - never once lifted his leg. Fortunately he misses his front feet .....most of the time.


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## Courtney (Feb 12, 2010)

My boy started to lift his leg on occasion around 3 months old. He would do it more often when my husband would return from a long work trip He would still squat and pee on the ground but would lift his little back leg.

Around 13/14 months he started to lift his leg everytime.


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

Dogs really are different in their marking behaviour. Gryff was lifting his leg to pee too from the time he was a pup, but it was just peeing. Territory marking - as in sniffing where other dogs have peed and peeing over that spot - started at nine months. Most dogs usually start territory marking around 12 to 18 months old, but it varies. 

I have a dominant female that started lifting her leg and territory marking at about a year old.


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## Courtney (Feb 12, 2010)

Castlemaid said:


> Dogs really are different in their marking behaviour. Gryff was lifting his leg to pee too from the time he was a pup, but it was just peeing. Territory marking - as in sniffing where other dogs have peed and peeing over that spot - started at nine months. Most dogs usually start territory marking around 12 to 18 months old, but it varies.
> 
> I have a dominant female that started lifting her leg and territory marking at about a year old.


My parents have a female who lifts her leg as well.


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## GSDLove (Dec 6, 2007)

Bailey learned to left his leg to pee from watching Abby.


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## mysweetkaos (Sep 20, 2011)

Interesting.... we have a 9 yr old male, I've only seen him lift his leg twice in his life, both times were walks in a new area. Other than that he 'pees like a girl' . Our other male is 7 months and I have never seen him lift his leg.


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

My male started lifting his leg at about 1 1/2 years. Sometimes, he'll still pee like a girl. 

At the very back of our pasture we have a wild game trail. I've used the game cam and found coyotes use that path to cut across our pasture. Hondo will spend as long as I let him back there 'marking' every inch. He'll even poop (one small poop at a time) along the trail.


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## Shaina (Apr 2, 2011)

doggiedad said:


> why don't you want your dog lifting his leg to pee???


It made our walks much more pleasant when we didn't stop to sniff/pee on bushes


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## Firesate (Oct 19, 2011)

Kaiser was 11 weeks when he first lifted his leg, haven't seen him do it again since then. He also manages to always step in his own pee no matter what way and how quickly I move him after he's done. 

It'll come when it has to (or in your case, its ok if its early). I know my friends lab puppy had lift off when it was 12weeks as well.


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## GSDBESTK9 (Mar 26, 2002)

Cisco has been consistanly lifting his leg to pee since he was 8 weeks old.  It was too darn cute! We could not believe it the first time we saw it. :rofl:


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## Anja1Blue (Feb 27, 2008)

Conor was around 10-11 months old when he started lifting his leg. I read somewhere that when very young puppies do it it reflects a dominant personality - don't know if this is true or not..........
__________________________________________
Susan

Anja SchH3 GSD
Conor GSD
Blue BH WH T1 GSD - waiting at the Bridge :angel:


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