Not raising his leg?

Is Toby the bigger of the two pictured?  There's a big black lab down where we boat and I noticed he doesn't lift his leg all the time.  I thought because he was sooo big (he's over 100 lbs. real beefy) that maybe he was afraid he'd fall over. 

lostcoyote

my doggie saler lifts both of his legs while he pees... he does it while standing on his two front paws

That is too funny. Rosco is 5 and has never lifted his leg. He does, however, pull his tail all the way over his back with his head held high. He's rather proud when he pees.

be glad your dog doesn't lift his leg. Dogs who lift their leg to pee are marking, not eliminating. It can become a very obnoxious behavior.

vega1star

My dog Toby is almost a year old and has yet to raise his leg when he goes.

Hi Carla! It's so nice to see another one!

caveninit

My male is 5 and he does a little "half lift" when he pees...just raises his leg a tiny bit off the ground.

This is what Jaia does most of the time. He "balances" on one back leg, lifting the other one straight up a couple inches. It's as if there's some instinct telling him to go ahead and lift it, but he can't figure out why he should.  

I definitely wouldn't be concerned. To each his own. :)  

My female pug used to lift BOTH of her back legs.  Yes, she did a semi-handstand to pee.

mudpuppy

be glad your dog doesn't lift his leg. Dogs who lift their leg to pee are marking, not eliminating. It can become a very obnoxious behavior.

Wow, that's a new one to me.....all my dogs lift their legs.....all neutered.....when they ride with me and we come back they all find their favorite peeing spot, all lift their legs and do their business. I know what marking looks like....what I witness is certainly them relieving themselves.

cat0

My male dog goes either way.  If there's a verticle object, he'll target it, but on the lawn he just extends his back legs.  He's 15 months old.

I am absolutely no expert.  But I'm not going to tell him how to pee.

I have the same deal here.  And, I tell him when to pee, but not how.  In my neck of the woods, if they pee on command, you don't spend a half hour standing in the snow waiting....but, whether he squats or squirts verticals is irrelevant.  BTW, when I rescued him at age 2+ he was intact.  I neutered him.  But, he squatted even before that - just a switch hitter.

My Swissy is 3 years old and he never raises his leg.  He is large dog at 140 pounds and for the few times he attempted it he lost his balance!

 He can't even balance himself to scratch without sitting down first.

We've had dogs that do and don't lift their legs. Neutered ones that did, and intact ones that didn't, regardless of age. We also have one girl now that lifts her leg to pee on things, she's quite a personality though.

I've noticed something (and maybe this is just me, maybe I am imagining it, you tell me)

The more.... excitable, outgoing, confident, D******t, willful, pushy..... a dog is, the higher he lifts his leg.

The more.... reserved, quiet, shy, timid, introverted, placid.... the dog is, the less he raises it... or perhaps he may not raise it at all.  Kind of like what I was told about tail carriage when I was little.... I was told that confident dogs carried their their tail high becuase the scent glands under the tail carried a lot of information about the dog, so the way he carried his tail was like a doggy way of going "YAY! LOOK AT ME!!!  Everybody see how great I am!"  And the shyer  or more reserved dogs didn't see a need to be like that and modestly kept their tail a bit low, not advertising their scent all over the place.... and if they were frightened they REALLY didnt want anything to notice them, so they tucked their tail RIGHT under their legs.  Its like, the higher you lift your leg, the more of your smell you can suirt everywhere.  Like a way of being extroverted with your widdle!

I know theres other factors too, it's just a general pattern I've noticed.

It depends on context for my guys (both neutered as adults). If they've really got to go and the nearest good spot for that is a flat surface, they squat (alas for my lawn). If the nearest pee-area isn't flat (ie, english ivy or right up against a fence or wall), they lift. It's the same amount of pee, they're not really marking they just really gotta go and its sometimes easier to lift and aim than try to balance and squat in rough terrain. They do mark a bit though and that's all lifting and little squirts. Marlowe actually seems to have never mastered keeping a little pee in reserve for marking, so he's usually empty and just does this symbolic drive-by half-hike.

I will add some data for your observation, Chuffy. Marlowe is not at all pushy or obnoxious or excitable but he is very confident and reserved and he lifts his leg so high sometimes he almost flips over.  He definitely aims for the stars. But he also doesn't mark as much as my less confident, shy, anxious dog Conrad, who doesn't lift as high but does want to mark more often. I think with my two it's mainly about physics. Marlowe is a delicately built, very streamlined, very athletic dog and he's more limber than Conrad, who's more of a bruiser, large and less flexible, with a higher center of gravity.

Red Devil*

All the dogs in the class were rescues so the instructor said probably because they were neutered early but not to be surprised if they started around age two.

Bugsy is generally a  stretcher - he stretches out like a runner getting ready to take off - has never squatted.  he also NEVER marked and then just about at 2 he stopped on a walk and lifted his leg.  He lifted it as absolutely high as he could.  He is a rescue and was neutered VERY young (10-12 wks old)

I am convinced that he learned it from his 2 terrier pals that mark everything, one lifts when he bone dry and pretends to mark.

Anyway now he occasionally marks but his preference is definitely to stretch, he does lift a front leg in full point if he's found something interesting  

edit for Chuffy - well Bugsy has always carried his tail high and on the RARE occasion he does lift - only to mark - he lifts his leg stupid high.  he is excitable (friendly no aggression), pretty outgoing, and confident - not sure I'd call him overly willful or pushy though.

HELLO,

I HAVE A GERMANSHEPHARD ONE YEAR  OLD HE IS NOT RAISING YET TOO. IT WAS A KIND OF STRANGE AT FIRST AND I ASKED TO MY VETERINARIAN ABOUT THE SUBJECT AND ALSO TO A FEW FRIENDS AND THE COMMON ANSWER I GOT AND MY RESULT IS,THEY ALSO HAVE A CHARACTER LET THEM DO WHATEVER THEY WANT AT LEAST ONCE IN A BLUE MOON MY DOCTOR SAID THAT ,AT LEAST HE IS NOT GOING ON HIMSELF LET HIM ENJOY IT......HOPE YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I M TALKING ABOUT ....SOMETIMES THEY HAVE THEIR OWN WAY...LETS ENJOY THE LIFE AND LET THEM ENJOY THE LIFE WITH THEIR OWN WAY

THANKS

MATT

TEDDYTEDDY

LETS ENJOY THE LIFE AND LET THEM ENJOY THE LIFE WITH THEIR OWN WAY

I understand you perfectly, Matt.   Welcome to the forum! Hope to hear more about your German Shepherd.

By the way, it's not necessary to type in all capital letters LIKE THIS. It appears that you might be shouting at everyone.

 my dog is one year and four months and does not raise his leg, he pee's like a girl