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