question about baby male yorkies squating and later on "marking"
 

Hello everyone:)
I just thought of a question..my 11 weeks baby boy squats when he goes potty on his mat since he is a baby but I was wondering whats gonna happen when he grows?Is he gonna start lifting his leg and peeing all over the wall?:eek: I am a new mommy and still learning:blush:

If you have him fixed early enough he will never mark in the house. Joey "marks" outside when are going for walks, but uses a pee pad in the house, and squats. Unneutered male dogs will do the leg lifting in the house, and many breeders have to use belly bands with a pad. Optimal time to get him neutered is around 6-7 months. Late enough, so that baby teeth can be pulled, while under anesthesia, and yet before testosterone production has started. Testosterone is produced by the testes, and is the major factor in producing marking.

Cocking their leg and marking can be too different things. Marking is a small amount of urine all over the place...."marking" their territory.

Reese and Reggie both cock their legs to potty....only Reggie marks, but not in my house.

Ramsey, my female, has always marked.

Jackson is 5 months old and has always squatted. Three days ago, he lifted his leg on outdoor furniture for the first time! Ahh! He hasn't done it since though. I don't mind if it's outside, lol. But I am needing to schedule his neuter pronto.

Thanks all!:thumbup:

:yorkietal

I have a male Jack Russell and we had him neutered around 8 months old and he squats and has never marked.

Check with your vet and find out how young he recommends neutering. The sooner he is done, the more likely he will never learn to lift his leg and mark. Many vets (and breeders, too) neuter their males at 4-5 months.

yeah Ill do that, he is 2 months old so he got like 2-3 more to go. I am trying to train him and all that while he's still young;)

Can teeth be pulled at this time too? I know that's what Joey's vet was waiting on, he wanted Joey to have more of his adult teeth.

No, I think that's why a lot of vets prefer to wait a few months longer. It's a tough call since many people won't put up with male marking and even get rid of their dogs for doing so.

Wow, I couldn't give up Joey for any reason, but I'm sure glad he doesn't mark! :D

If your dog starts marking, I vote get him neutered... Different dogs start marking at different ages, depending on their environment and what they learn (like if they get to watch other boy dogs lifting their leg to mark). I have a friend (not a YT member) who has a 3mo dog who marks EVERYWHERE - what a freaking nightmare... but my pup got neutered at 6mo and has never once lifted a leg to mark, or pee for that matter either. He's a girly squatter :-) and we're fine with that. In my opinion, you should neuter your dog as soon as the vet says it's safe, as early as possible.

Part of when a dog starts marking is genetic, and part of it is learned behavior. Either way, it will happen sometime probably between 3 months old and 9 months old, from what I have read and seen. Unless of course, you get him neutered quickly enough. My uncle has three boy dogs who were all neutered before six months old, and the rest of my (uneducated) family makes fun of him because all three boy dogs always squat to pee. But I think it's awesome because he neutered them in time and never had to worry about controlling marking behavior. :-) :thumbup: Not marking is without a doubt a good thing! So be sure to neuter as soon as you safely can. My vet's safety cut-off is 5lbs and 100% healthy, including a blood test.

Lauren & Nikko

PS: I forgot to mention the teeth bit... the way I see it, the worst case scenario is that they haven't gotten enough new teeth in yet to chew solid foods without their baby teeth. If that's the case, then they can eat canned food for awhile IMO. :-) It shouldn't take all that long to get grown-up teeth.

The Tibetan Spaniel I grew up with was unaltered when he was rehomed to us at 5 years old. He never marked in the house, he just pee'd puddles on the ground since my parents never heard of pee pads and he mainly did his business outside. While out on his walks, he'd lift his leg to pee, not so much to mark, but I suppose some might call it that as he generally does his business against trees, fire hydrants, etc, but never against walls. On lazier/cold days I've seen him squat, but very rarely. In the house, he lifts his leg but doesn't aim for anything vertical and never pee'd on objects, shoes or otherwise.

Hot Rod was neutered at 6 1/2 mos and still squats on the pad and a little outside. But he mainly lifts his leg outside. He marks outside but never in the house. He didn't start to lift his leg until about 8-9 mos I think.

Don't assume neutering means they will remain a "squatter". Reese and Reggie were both neutered at 6 months. Reese didn't cock his leg until 17 months old...Reggie had started it before he was neutered.

It does not mean they will mark inside your house