Can any one help my 18mth dog has starting cocking his leg everywhere. Getting conflicting advice whether to neuter or not some say can make him aggressive. Very well behaved at the moment so apprehensive. Would appreciate any advice.

Hi there.....
Is there a female around, perhaps going into/is in heat? Even if it's a neighbor's bitch, it could be kicking off a 'spraying' response in him.
just a thought.
good luck,
toodles

hi

No sorry no bitch another dog next door. Parents have two bull terrier bitches but neither are in season.
He doesn't care where he does it seems he is going into every room as soon as he gets the chance he does it.
Even though it sounds funny if my 6 year old son is in the toilet he will cock his leg on him as he stands at the toilet. Thanks for the advice though.

Ask your vet to give him a Tardec injection, if this helps then your only course may be to have him castrated, if it does not help there is not point in having him done as it will have no effect.

hi Jackie
What is a Tardec injection? Is it hormones or something? We had a german shepherd before max (bull terrier) never had him do anything like max does. Sadly his back legs went so we had to euthanase- spelling!! him. My husband is against having Max castrated as we never did it with the other dog. The main problem is the Kids we have 3 and the youngest is only 14months. Max doesn't seem to do it in the same place all the time it is anywhere. It's hard to keep an eye on him all day with the kids in tow!!

Jody

Yes it is hormonal, it has much the same effect as castration but only lasts for a couple of months. The thing is it will let you know if castration will help your situation before you take the irreversable step of having him castrated. J:)

Hi Jody,

If he has just started this leg cocking then first I would take him to the vets and get him checked out that he hasn't picked up a urinary infection which is making him pee more frequently. Take a urine sample with you and they will test it there and then.
If he's just a little minger that's decided to scent mark around his territory then you will have to make a start of breaking this habit now. It's not a reason that I would consider neutering for! One of my male GSD's who was castrated at around the same age still cocks his leg on everything (outside!!). However, if you think that may help then Jackie made a good suggestion about trying the jab.
When he is outside and pees then give him a word of command (your choice) and praise him for it. Take him outside more regularly than he goes at the moment. When he is inside then don't let him out of your sight and restrict his access so that he is supervised at all times. I would also stick him in a crate for the times when you can't watch him. This is just temporary until he gets the idea!
If he cocks his leg or looks like he is about to then give him a sharp 'NO' or 'AH' and take him outside - using your word and your praise when he goes outside. Clean up what he does in the house so that it doesn't leave a residual smell to encourage him to reoffend. Bleach maybe if it's not on a fabric.
Basically it's just back to basics for housetraining for a while unfortunately.
Good Luck :)
Lara

Lara, hope you are right and it is a passing phase, the trouble with males is you can teach them to cock there legs to order but you can't make them empty, well I've never managed it. As much as I'm against castrating, I do not think it is the sort of behaviour you can put up with for long and may be having a Tardec jab will break the habit before it becomes too engrained. Think it may be worth trying the jab and the training at the same time and giving it, say sic months, to see if it can be sorted. Jackie

Hudson piddles right onto a candle (unlit ) in my living room the other day. I couldnt believe it!! Right in front of me too! He has been housetrained since about 10 weeks old ...rarely had an accident and so it came as one heck of a shock! :)

Needless to say I YELLED and he ran :D

Don't think he will do THAT again in a hurry ...I am putting it down to a momentary lapse of reason on his part :D

Melody

Six months You have the patience of a Saint! I'd be looking for an improvement in that behaviour if it was just a regression in a few weeks at the most.
True about the emptying Jackie - male dogs seem to have internal reservoirs and even when they are completely dry they often go through the motions of cocking their legs anyway :) Training to go on command though would just be reinforcing areas where it would be acceptable to urinate, and with the correction coming on time indoors along with lack of opportunity then hopefully the behaviour would change :)
Lara

Did not mean to put up with it for 6 months as I thought the Jab and the training may improve things and as the jab lasts for 2 to 3 months I thought you had to wait till the effect of the Tardec had pasts. Jackie

Another thought, could try and spray upright serfaces around the house with anti mate or something similar, along with the other things of course.

:)

Hi Lara

Thanks for all of your suggestions we actually have stair gates everywhere because of the baby but the problem is my middle kid. If Max cocks his leg or gets over excited we give him a time out in the kitchen with the gate across. She then decides the dog is sad so goes to talk to him etc before you know it she has opened the gate and let him out. Its hard trying to explain to a 3 year old that he has been naughty.
He gets plenty of exercise as we have a huge garden and also we live closse to the beach so he gets a daily run. He has been doing this for about three weeks now but I am getting fed up with constantly scrubbinng floors and stripping the sofas. Thank god for loose covers!!
I think I will give the injection a try or maybe put a nappy on him!!

Thanks

Jody

Hi Jody, don't mind making suggestions about your dog but blowed if I dare start on your Daughter. J:)

She's a budding 'eco-savior' who will set the minks FREEEEEEEE!!!! ;) :D :) :D

I look after freinds dogs occasionally, but only bitches. I have found even neutered males will cock their leg, probably because of the presence of my girls. Do your parents bitches visit, and if so does he do it when they go home, as if to reafirm the house as his!

HI all,

I have to say this is one thing that worried me. I have a male dog well a puppy 10 months and he does occasionally cock his leg. I go ape. I have a bitch aslo 15 months when she was in season my wee dog kept trying to wee on her.

I show him and depending on how well he does would like to just maybe have used him as a stud for me only but do not want to ever encourage this. ( I 100% won't if this makes it worse)

My dogs only get in my kitchen,study, diner & living room as it is all wooden floored or tiled so I can clean it but I hope he grows out of it.

BFN

Pam

You could keep him on lead so he has to go where ever you go, this way if he lifts his leg you can correct him. If you see him lifting his leg try spraying him when you catch him in the act, but don't let him see you spray him. You can also feed him where he likes to lift his leg.

Jody,
Have you visted the vet to rule out a urinary infection at all? Apparently, they're more common than most owners think.

I read a while back about dogs surrendered to shelters for toileting problems where about 80% suffered from infections which were easily treated by inhouse shelter drs. and were rehomed successfully. :(

I'm not saying that's what you're planning on doing, but that it's one of the top two reasons for dogs being placed in shelters, so the researchers wanted to determine if it was behavioral or medical. That so many owners gave up their dogs without seeing a vet, first.....it was that part that really got to me :( :( :(
good luck,
toodles

Hi - this is just a suggestion, so I would wait for responses before you try it!!

My male dally used to cock his leg in places (even after I had him castrated). However, I did find that scrubbing where he had been in the house too much actually exacerbated the problem - because he was marking his patch and each time I scrubbed it and "Febrezed" it - he went back and did it again.

In the end, I cleaned it off - but avoided using anything to heavily disguise it - just made sure it was clean and tried to just leave a lickle tiny trace that I couldn't detect. He then stopped feeling the need to do it. I think he did it a couple of times upstairs (against my bed once which was nice) and against the sofa - and that was it. He was happy and he never did it again.

Hope this makes sense - and hope I don't sound like I have a minging house :)

Chloe