Puppy hiking leg!

[imported_watchdogps]

I am a petsitter, and one of my client pups is hiking his leg! The surprising part is that he is only 15 weeks old! He's a maltese/poodle mix. Has anyone else seen a pup so young do this? It's a full hike on trees, etc, not just a little leg lift on the flat!

[Sherri]

I have seen this with my dog. He is now 5 months, but began hiking his leg within a few weeks of when we got him, so probably at 11 or 12 weeks.. It was never consistant, and still is not.. Sometimes it is a hike on objects, in the flat or still a full out squat.

Hope this was helpful.

Sherri

[Ann Albers]

I have a 5 month old male puppy, too. Our vet told us to wait until he's 7 months old to get him neutered unless he started lifting his leg... so maybe it's time to get him neutered.

[Sherri]

I was told our vet that neutering a male dog does not necessarily mean they will stop lifting their leg to go.. Our puppy was neutered already when we got him at 9 wks.. They did this at the shelter we got him from. Our vet told us that this is a behavior in male dogs that pretty much "just is". He said not all male dogs will do it, neutered or not.

[Hee Yung Lee]

Bogart didn't start lifting his leg until about 5 months, I think. It was annoying because he would mark every tree on our walks. After I got him neutered, it stopped for a bit, but now he still does it every once in awhile, so I don't think neutering will help it. Like what the previous post said, I think it's just something dogs will do.

[Ann Albers]

Do a google search on male + puppy + marking and you will find a lot of support for my vet's advise to have him neutered.