Our beagle pup is now 8 months old but he still wont cock his leg when he goes to pee. Is it to late and will he squat when he goes forever or will he pick this up. We are considering neutering him but the vet wont even consider it until he is older than 9 months. Would this also affect him cocking his leg.

Thanks,
David.

He's still young - he'll cock his leg when he's ready :)

He may return to squatting after neutering - or he may never cock his leg if you have him neutered before he is sexually mature.

I'm not an expert though ;)

Chloe

Males will start to cock their leg when they reach sexual maturity, some are slower than others. This behaviour is linked almost entirely for a males need to scent mark, and males when they just want to empty their blader will often still squat, depends on their mood.

Castrating before the behaviour becomes established, will often prevent it from occuring, one reason that Guide dogs are castrated young. Also castrated males sometimes cock their leg less.

As a bitch ownber I am amused at peoples worry about a dog not cocking his leg, as I find this habit one of the most negative of all about males! LOL :D

I agree with Brainless ...I was SO thrilled when Hudson cocked his leg for the first time ..now I wish he never started it :D :D When you walk in somewhere (Dog groomers for example ) you have to watch them like a hawk :D

Melody

Funny - having only had males until we got our pup - I had never heard of male dogs NOT cocking their legs :) I'd have been horrified if our older dog had reverted to not doing it when he was castrated :D (Fortunately he was about 15-18 months when he was 'done' and is still cocking :D )

Daisy

I must add that I have only had a male dog cock his leg outdoors - I would probably get upset if he did it inappropriately ie indoors :)

Daisy

Three weeks ago we brought home a six year old male Bedlington Terrier (who we have called Boycie) from a rescue home. Boycie was castrated by the rescue home vet a week before we picked him up. He cocks his leg up anything and everything. Taking him for a walk is such a slow process because of all the stopping, cocking, spraying and kicking of dirt. My family always had bitches, except for a lovely male toy poodle, who always squatted along with the girls (bless). It's only now that I remember why it was I wanted a girl dog. Nothing is safe. House training is also easier with bitches. You can clearly see their puddles. I would be very happy if Boycie squatted rather than cocked. But, as he is 6 years old, I guess he will stay a cocker. Yes, I agree with you, the whole cocking and spraying thing to me also seems like a negative point in owning a male dog.

Our rescue dog would stop every few yards when we first got him :) The best thing to do is to walk briskly and not let him stop :) Just let him have a few stops at suitable places - where you decide. He will get used to it eventually.

Good luck

Daisy

Thanks Daisy, I will try that. I always feel so bad dragging him away though. Still, it will be good in the long run.

Hi David,

As the others said, he is obviously not ready yet, give him time!! You have a very sensible vet, most vets are only too keen to jump in and neuter too young!!

manda
X
:)

Well i have this theory:D Callum who has never ever cocked his leg, hasnt been castrated very sexually mature and now 5 years old, still squats to have a wee and i think that when dogs cock there leg they always try to get it as high as possible to cover the other scent that the previous dog put there as a way of saying i am top dog, as Callum has never really been a top dog more of a whimp and prone to bullying maybe he never felt he was a high enough rank to cock his leg, ok maybe this is ramblings of a mad woman but its my theory:D

Diane

Castration, will stop all normal development, when it is done at an early age the dog will often not grow to maturity. The problems, if you see them as such are the the dog will not cock and may, because of this, soil his coat which in turn may not grow in the expected way. The male characteristics will not develop and the dog will retain his puppy ways. Other dogs may find him interesting, as they would a bitch, you may because of the inmature coat find he has skin troubles and it is sometime found that the immune system is not as effective as it would be in an intact dog. There other less common effects but hopefully you nor your dog will experiance these.

I havn't decided yet whether to castrate him or not, but the vet said at least 9 months old but he would check him out first to see if he needs to wait until he is older still.

My view is never castrate unless there is a medical reason for it, your sons may be difficult teenages, but I doubt you would castrate. Some times you can castrate with no problem, others have terrible problems and there is no way to know how your boy will react. If you must, leave it as long as you can, and I am sorry to say the vets are not a good sorce of info., as they are running a business and the are looking at he income and if you appear at all keen you will be encouraged to do so.

I have to say that I agree with the above, my last dog was castrated at two years to stop him constantly pining for bitches (any bitches) and escaping on to the main road (from a very secure house and garden!), it had the desired effect but his immune system seemed to go mad, he had atopic eczema on his tummy and paws and hayfever for the rest of his life and was a very itchy dog, cost us a fortune in steroids and creams to relieve it - not that the vet minded. My brother-in-laws dog (a sheltie) was castrated at six months!!!! he's never cocked his leg and his coat is now a nightmare, we were told by a sheltie breeder that this is because he had been castrated and they always advise against it unless for medical reasons. It might be a good idea to consult the breeder to find out if there are any known problems when castrating your dogs breed.

Chester is now 5 years old and still doesn't cock. He is still entire

My dog, who was neutered at 12 mths only due to the fact that he had two retained testicles, is now 15mths and still squats. His brother cocks his leg and has done since he was about 10 mths. I wouldn't worry too much, he will probably soon be a cocker!!

We have two labs. The younger, now 8 mths has only just started to cock his leg but he also still squats! As many people have said it isnt always the best as they tend to want to put their scent everywhere which is usually a pain in the backside as you constantly have too watch them in other people houses etc, so even if your dog does not end up doing it dont despare its probably a blessing in disguise! - But i am sure that he will start soon.

With regard castration we had the elder (now 3 yrs old) done because of his wish to mate with anything, pee up anything and his inability to find us more interesting than the sheep in the other field whilst on an off lead walk. I would suggest that you dont castrate him unless there is a need to do it, i.e like what we had experienced or other health problems. Even when we had him done i still felt sorry for the poor bugger being a male myself!

All the best

Mark

p.s We were'nt advised of this by our vet (buggers!) but you can get an injection to see what the effect of having him castrated would be like, as it simulates the effect.

my dogs 12 1/2 he only occasionally cocks his leg but mainly squats
but he is very lazy. probably copies the cats, were as the cats poo on the lawn. wierd

Hi, I find these threads really interesting. I don't know a lot about the subject of whether or not to castrate. When I took my puppy for his first injections I talked to the vet about his views on castration - his response was that in his opinion he thought that most of the behavioural issues my dog might get due to reaching sexual maturity can be sorted by discipline at an early age and therefore he only recommended it when absolutely necessary and then they had to be at least 12 months old. The general staff at the practice meanwhile strongly recommended doing it, regardless of the behaviour, for medical reasons e.g. cancer of this that and the other which was a bit scary. I am therefore currently in the do nothing camp. On the subject of squatting, I love to see my 5 month old squat - unfortunately he has just started to cock his leg - not very successfully though. I think I will try moving him on whenever he feels the urge to do this as I much prefer the delicate squat. Has anyone been able to successfully stop the cocking? (PS, it isn't cruel to stop this is it?)

My youngster was 10 months before he cocked his leg and when he did he raised both back legs and balanced on his 2 front for the first couple of weeks-most amusing.Sadly he no longer does his 'party trick' LOL.
Archer

How refreshingly sensible of your vet. Sadly as you have found it sems to be fashionable to castrate everything that moves in others view.

Hi Scattergood
Why do you want to stop your dog doing something that comes naturally?
Steph

Hi Steph

I have a mature entire male and his neutered litter brother came back for rehoming a few months ago.

They were kept separate but were having, as far as I could see, "who could pi*s the highest" and "on most objects" competitions. From my lad's normal 10 - 12 inches I am sure they reached nearly 20 by the time he left and everything stank!

I seriously threatened them that I would tie their back legs together :) and probably would have done if I thought it would have worked

Christine

I don't think my hubby would be too pleased if I banned him from standing up :D

Daisy

Please don't tell us that your husband cocks his leg!!!!!

:O

.............or wants to join in the competition with my dog and his brother - if he does he will have to get down on all fours and cock his leg or he will have an unfair advantage due to height - AND they can do it somewhere off my property :D

Christine

Hi, one or two of the threads suggested that some of the "cocking" starts to happen in areas you'd rather it not which made me think that if I don't let it start perhaps this won't happen. I guess it's a personal thing and I think squatting looks more attractive. Forgot to say, I have actually suggested once or twice to my husband that it might be better if he didn't stand at the loo - particulary when he has "had a few too many"!!:D:D

I think it's one of those things that, if it's going to start, you're not going to be able to stop it, and if it isn't going to happen, you can't make it. If he's destined to cock his leg he's going to start it - you won't be with him all the time! And if he thinks he's not allowed to wee......then you risk starting huge behavioural problems.
:)

My Staffy (Leo) cocked his leg for the first time the other day I was dead chuffed, hurried home to tell my hubby, since then I think he has forgot, coz he's not done it again:( I wouldn't worry he will do it when he's good & ready :)

My GSD that died a couple of years ago didn't cock his leg 'til he was 7 years old, after he was castrated. He only found out how to do it by accident because he got too close to a tree to squat.

my Stafford also called Leo still has not cocked his leg and he is now 17 months but im not worried as his father only cocked his leg a few times and he is now 6

Natalie

Jeangenie, I think you are right, been for a walk today and he's getting well used to this cocking lark - after a few failed attempts one of which caused him to fall over. PS a Westie did a cocking wee wee on my trainers this morning - his owner said, "don't worry love, he does that to me too" -charming. :)

My showboy filled my shoe when we were waiting our turn in the ring.... :o
It's a boy-thing, I guess! You have to love'em!
:)