May issue

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Friday 19 July 2013

Diddly-squat

Do dogs know their own gender? My collie cross is a girl yet she cocks slightly her leg slightly (not the whole way) when she scent marks. She does squat to actually wee. I don’t mind and it’s not a problem, I am just interested to see if anyone else’s dog does this too. It might not be anything to do with gender!

We think she was about a year when we got her and she is spayed. She was found straying at a few months old so we don’t know her background – perhaps she never had a female role model?

A. Jackson, by email

7 comments:

  1. Some dogs do it just because it's more comfortable and some to prevent them wetting themselves. If it's a comfort problem it might be that she has trouble bending her knee to squat fully or has a problem in her hip or back on that side. A good massage therapist will be able to assess her general movement and provide massage and exercise to help.

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  2. My spayed Staffie bitch did the same thing right from a youngster. I think she was trying to scent mark where other male dogs had wee'ed. She also used to joyfully scrape the ground with her back paws after toileting.

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  3. Have you checked for any underlying health problems? I agree with Louise. We don't know whether or not dogs understand which gender they are.

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  4. I seem to remember some research being done a few years ago about transfer/distribution of hormones in pups. The thinking was that a bitch born between two males would have a higher % of male hormones etc. Anyone else remember this study?

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  5. I seem to remember some research being done a few years ago about transfer/distribution of hormones in pups. The thinking was that a bitch born between two males would have a higher % of male hormones etc. Anyone else remember this study?

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  6. No, but our male Springer squats...strange boy that he is!

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  7. Christine Bailey7 August 2013 at 05:31

    Hi In the Pink, yes I do remember that. Actually, I don't think it's uncommon for bitches to cock their leg to pee - I think it's probably a dominance thing. My Tasha certainly used to do it, and she was unquestionably top dog!

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