Leg Lifting
So I had my corgi, Brian, neutered when he was 6 months old. About one week prior to the surgery, I witnessed the one and only instance of him lifting his leg to pee. Usually, he would just squat, but for some reason, out in the middle of the yard he attempted to lift his leg. I didn't think much of it, other than that behavior wouldn't develop far as he would be neutered soon. After that one time, I never saw him lift his leg again...
Fast-forward 6-8 months later and then all of the sudden, he starting to randomly lift his left to pee, but not always. Sometimes, this action would occur when he was in the middle of a patch of grass, or sometimes it was up agains a bush or another plant.
He's also started stopping frequently while on walks to mark (sometimes lifting his leg, sometimes not), although sometimes he just pees once during the walk and that's it.
I'm completely baffled. I thought that if the dog was neutered early enough, then they wouldn't develop the typical male behaviors like that. He seems to have suddenly picked up this behavior (and also started a couple agressive fights, but that's another story), and I don't know where it came from. I don't have another dog, and he really only gets to pal around with other dogs maybe once or twice a week. Is this just a common occurance that I never knew about?
Fast-forward 6-8 months later and then all of the sudden, he starting to randomly lift his left to pee, but not always. Sometimes, this action would occur when he was in the middle of a patch of grass, or sometimes it was up agains a bush or another plant.
He's also started stopping frequently while on walks to mark (sometimes lifting his leg, sometimes not), although sometimes he just pees once during the walk and that's it.
I'm completely baffled. I thought that if the dog was neutered early enough, then they wouldn't develop the typical male behaviors like that. He seems to have suddenly picked up this behavior (and also started a couple agressive fights, but that's another story), and I don't know where it came from. I don't have another dog, and he really only gets to pal around with other dogs maybe once or twice a week. Is this just a common occurance that I never knew about?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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How long has it been since she's been spayed? It takes awhile for the hormones to settle down. My Livvy is 15 months and is going through her teen phase...I think it's starting to get a little better!
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Permalink Reply by Sky and Lyla on
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I'm not sure if this is true, but I remember reading somewhere that leg lifting is actually a learned behavior, so if they don't see another dog lift a leg to pee they probably won't start doing it. Sky is a year and half, neutered at 6 months, and he still squats to pee. He tried to lift his leg once, it was the day after we moved in next door to another male dog. He tried to lift his leg, kind of fell over, and has never tried since. Our Agility instructor actually laughed at him the other day when she saw him pee, she said "He pees like a puppy!!"
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Permalink Reply by Zach and Lisa on
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Midas has always lifted his leg since we got him at 10wks. Only on rare occasions when he was really young did he squat. I figured he just squatted because he was still getting used to balancing with the leash on him. His leg has increased it's lift over time and he doesn't scent mark except for the occasional bush on a walk. He was fixed at 4months and I am thankful he doesn't feel the need to mark in anyone's house! What age should a Corgi get fixed? My vet recommended 4mo because he would be coming in for his last set of puppy shots. I thought it seemed a little young. But I did hear and, don't know if it's true, that if a Corgi gets fixed too young they will grow a bit more than they were going to. I do think that Midas is a little tall for breed standards but I just figured that was his breeding pool.
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Hmmm, I've never heard it will make them get bigger. If anything, I've heard people worry it won't make them grow as big. I like to get my pups fixed young because it decreases the chances of reproductive cancers (particularly in females, spay before the first heat cycle). Many shelters are now fixing 8-10 week old puppies before the will send them home and they are all just fine.
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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I have heard that testosterone production closes the growth plates in males, so without that extra testosterone they can get a bit bigger than they might have been. I'm not sure how true it is; it's difficult to run a good experiment with a control, as you would need hundreds of dogs from breeds with very consistent sizing and then determine the mean height based on age of neutering, or being left entire, and eliminate other variables such as feeding differences and vaccines and illnesses.
My vet recommended neutering at 6 months, but you can find lots of different opinions on line, with good reasoning to back them up.
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Very interesting Beth, thanks for sharing!
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Permalink Reply by Alice on
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our vet said neutering can be done any time after 5 months but he recomended 8 months for Finnigan because he had a retained testicle.
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Finn is 1 year old and I've only seen him lift his leg twice. Once was up against a tree and the other was in tall grass. Usually he will stretch out his body then slightly bend his hind legs and point his tail straight out. Once in a while he'll lift one front leg while doing this pee pose. Maybe he thinks he's a pointer. :)
Finn was neutered at 8 months and he still marks a lot when out on walks; the big difference is that he doesn't try to mark inside.
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