Hi All

As you all know my westie Robbie now is 10 months old and i had him castrated at 7 months because he started cocking his leg up people in the family and furniture, this stopped him until this week when he went to the breeders for a haircut and 1 of her bitches is in season, he was sniffing around the floor where she had been laying then went over to the door frame and cocked his leg up their door and later he weeing on their doorstep between the dining room and kitchen, the breeder said all dogs will do this whether they are castrated or uncastrated when a bitch is in season, i thought that once they were castrated a bitch being in season would be no interest to them.
We are considering getting a westie bitch to join our family either later this year or next year so wondering whether this will mean he will cock his leg again in the house like he was before, the breeder said he won't because he will be in his own environment but i am not so sure.
Anybody found this with their dog before, i am not that experienced with dogs so not sure if this is normal dog behaviour.

Thanks
Helen

When a dog is castrated it doesn't mean they want have interest in a bitch in season, he may well become less bothered as time goes on but it takes quite a while for them to stop this.
My friend had her TT castrated a couple of months ago because he was doing the same plus trying to hump every dog or bitch he met. he is still doing the same but abit less as time goes on.
Cocking his leg may of been more of a sent marking thing if he was in a different house/place. my male boxer still marks where ever he goes but not in houses,it's a natural thing for dogs and my two bitches do the same when out.
I would give it more time and also he's only young so will forget himself some times.If you bring another dog into your house then he may well sent mark a couple of times just to let the other dog know it's his territory but once their used to each other this should stop.
It can also be habit forming if not stopped so keep on top of it and watch him carefully then quickly act if he starts sniffing etc and pop him outside then praise him.  Make sure everything is really cleaned well where he's toileted as they can smell things we can't and he will keep going back to the same place.
i wouldn't be too worried at the moment apart from following him round and catching him before he does it, he's still very young will learn not too in time with your help.   

>the breeder said all dogs will do this whether they are castrated or uncastrated when a bitch is in season, i thought that once they were castrated a bitch being in season would be no interest to them.

It depends on the dog. Some dogs when entire have no or little interest in in-season bitches & the same applies if they are castrated.

My last dog (ETA, this dog was 4 years old), was quite bad for cocking his leg on my door frames (inside the house, ie, door to the livingroom) whenever my OHs nan would visit with her male dog, both dogs were enite. Being vigilant and saying a firm 'no' when he was thinking about doing it seemed to work for us and stopped it forming a habbit.

In the past we've had an entire male & female together, the male only ever cocked his leg in the house once (on my dads answering machine!!), and that was when he first learnt to cock his leg - I think he got a bit carried away with it, LOL. He never cocked his leg around the house when the bitch was in season (in fact he didn't seem to notice!).

ETA again! The 4 yr old dog that cocked his leg in the house, was a rescue dog, we got him when he was 4yrs, so this behvaiour wasn't something we had allowed to carry on since puppy-hood.

Hate to tell you this but my neutered dogs will still mate and tie with in season bitches -they are no different at all from when they were entire. I have one that was neutered at 5 months, one at 9 months, one at 3 years -they all do it so the age of neutering doesn't seem to matter either. (Well I do have a fourth, neutered at 3 years and he does NOT do it -but he has epilepsy and is on medication and I think this has a lot to do with it as the medication makes him tired etc.)

The only time I had a neutered dog he would mate any bitch in season if he could..he had never been used as a stud dog as his hips were appauling but it never stopped him trying. He was done at 6 months. However he never cocked his leg indoors at all. He was the fastest draw I had ever seen and could mate and tie in 30 seconds flat if not carefully watched, best thing I ever had for checking my girls were on the right day!!! He was a GSD.
Aileen

Are you meaning that he hasn't completely got the hang of being housetrained then to still think its okay to cock his leg indoors? It seems most of you on here haven't had dogs mark in the house like he is doing and also people i have spoken to that have got dogs haven't had this problem either, maybe i have trained him wrong then!!!
I assumed he had stopped doing this as i haven't seen him attempt it in our house since he was castrated and he surprised me when he did it at the breeders as i thought he was over all this.

Helen

You say he did it at the breeders thats why i said this could be more about him leaving his sent because of their dogs and doesn't mean he will start to do it at home.
I'm sure you've trained him well otherwise he'd still be weeing in your house,so he does know the house rules but being young they can still forget themselves sometimes and have an odd relapse.   
If he hasn't done it again at home just keep up the good work that you've done to toilet train him so far ie making sure he goes out in the garden on a regular basis  and rewarding him when he goes. Watch him at home for any signs he may cock his leg and i'm sure he'll be fine.
With regards him humping other dogs my male was castrated at an early age and has never bothered with the girls, think all dogs are different and he may or may not stop this.

He hasn't attempted to cock his leg indoors at all since being castrated as i said its only when he was at the breeders that he did it in her house with that bitch on heat, he does cock when out on a walk sometimes but other times he will squat.
As for humping other dogs he has never attempted to do this so not sure where you thought i said this.

Sorry just getting confused in my old age.