Quote:
Originally Posted by SharonSnowbird  (I have never had a male dog, but I was told by many people that if a dog is fixed early enough, he will not lift his leg to mark, so I believed that.) |
Little more info about leg lifting: some males like my Max will leg lift very early on. Max was 13 weeks. He always did it on the pad, but I had to make sure the pad was not right next to any vertical surface like a wall.
Max still lifts a foot off the floor when he pees on the pad, but he doesn't lift high as when he outside marking.
Teddy learned to lift his leg at about 10 months watching his brother. He only does it outdoors.
Neutering can prevent marking indoors, if the dog is basically potty trained. But it will not prevent leg lifting and marking in general. That requires more training. Admittedly, I encouraged the marking outdoors with praise because I was trying to reinforce that outdoors was okay.
It is possible to discourage all leg lifting, but it requires training. Show dogs are discouraged from leg lifting to protect their coats.
As Linda pointed out, even girls can pick up this behavior. Our female Airedale lifted her leg outdoors to mark.