Do Dogs Lift Their Legs to Urinate After Being Neutered?

You can often distinguish between male and female dogs by the stance they take during urination. Male dogs usually lift their legs to pee, and female dogs usually squat. Note, however, that this method of determination is not foolproof. Leg hiking is not a universal behavior in boy pooches, and some female dogs lift their legs, too.

  1. Squatting

    • Doggies in the wee puppy stage squat during peeing. Although female dogs generally squat for their entire lives, that doesn't apply to the males. If you have a male puppy and are utterly confused by his squatting during urination, don't assume there's been some kind of mix-up about his gender. Squatting is totally normal in male puppies -- and also in many mature male dogs, too.

    Leg Lifting

    • Male dogs often start to hike their legs to pee when they become sexually mature. For boy dogs, maturity usually arrives when they're somewhere between 6 and 9 months old. When this happens, they often start urine marking, too. Urine marking is prevalent in dogs of both sexes. Although female dogs don't typically lift their legs for normal urination, they often, like males, elevate a single back leg for marking. Urine marking behaviors serve an array of different purposes, from communicating with opposite-gender dogs to affirming territory. Although many dogs do indeed lift their legs to mark with their urine, not all of them do. Dogs sometimes mark in a squatting position.

    Neutering and Leg Lifting

    • Neutering surgery minimizes male dogs' hormonal actions, and that includes urine marking. Many dogs stop marking after undergoing the surgery. Not only does neutering often curb that pesky behavior, it often affects the way a male dog holds his body during peeing, as well. If you get a dog neutered right after he begins lifting his legs, there's a good chance that he'll go back to squatting. If you wait a while and the pattern is more solidified to your dog, there's a strong possibility that he'll continue lifting his legs permanently. If you neuter your dog before he's physically mature, he probably won't ever hike his legs. All of this also applies to females. If your female dog lifts her legs to pee, spaying her might just change that.

    Other Effects of Neutering

    • Not only does neutering often halt leg lifting in dogs, it frequently does away with a lot of other hormone-fueled actions, too. If your dog has a penchant for trying to break out of your home to find mates, neutering probably will cut that out. If your dog has a tendency to behave fiercely around "rival" male pooches, neutering probably will also kiss that goodbye. Dogs who are neutered are often a lot more relaxed and serene in general. After all, their bodies are no longer ruled by those persistent and frenzied hormones.