Strange Peeing Habits

J

Josh K

Forums Novice
Hey all! I've just adopted my baby Barry for about a week. However, we're having a little difficulty with his potty training because unlike many other male dogs, he doesn't lift his leg to pee. Thus we have no idea when or where he's going to let go, making positive reinforcement a little difficult. He has had a few hits with the pee pad, but most of the time we get misses in the kitchen or living room.

A little background information: we were told that he's a survivor of distemper, but it had affected his neural functions somewhat. As a result he twitches non-stop 24/7 except for when he's sleeping. We also suspect it might have some nontangible effects such has adversely affecting his spatial sense (He can only come when called when he has direct line of sight. Otherwise, he doesn't know where the call is coming from). I wonder if it might also be the cause for him not understanding where we want him to pee?

Just wondering if there are any other owners out there whose male furkids have a similar peeing style? How did you manage it? Currently we are trying to train him to pee on the pee pad consistently. We then intended to move the pee pad closer and closer to the bathroom and gradually wean him off it completely.

(Oh yes, he has no problems with number 2. He does those outdoors. However, as we live in a high-rise apartment, it isn't practical to keep bringing him out for potty.)
 
How old is Barry?

It's pretty common for a male dog not to lift its leg, and we have had several people ask about this on the forum. Leg lifting is something they usually learn from other dogs, and it's often a marking behaviour. So many male dogs will never lift their legs, and it's commonly something they only start doing as an adolescent or adult. If you want him to learn how to lift it you'll need to take him out and let him watch other dogs doing it, then let him sniff where that other dog has peed. It may take a while and he may just never do it.

With the pee pad training, again it's hard to tell what's happening without knowing how old he is. It would be helpful to teach him to pee on command. You do that by saying a word (like 'toilet') every time he pees until he associates the word with the peeing. This may be harder if he's a pup, but it's still a very useful thing to do (esp if you live in an apartment).

Also, put some urine scent on the pee pad so he knows what it's for - when he has an accident just rub the pad in it to scent it.

Something I've seen done (and this is useful with puppies too) is lay several pee pads down, not just the one, until he's using it consistently. When you aren't around what happens, is he in a crate or confined in another way? If you keep him in a confined area (like an x-pen) cover the area with pee pads.

I'd also be going back to toilet training basics. Make sure you take him to pee on the pad when he wakes up, after he plays and after he eats. Depending on how old he is, you should put him on the pad regularly for toileting. Frankly, I'd be putting the pee pad in the place you want him to toilet from the start and just make sure you take him there to toilet regularly.
 
Caro said:
How old is Barry?

With the pee pad training, again it's hard to tell what's happening without knowing how old he is. It would be helpful to teach him to pee on command. You do that by saying a word (like 'toilet') every time he pees until he associates the word with the peeing. This may be harder if he's a pup, but it's still a very useful thing to do (esp if you live in an apartment).

Also, put some urine scent on the pee pad so he knows what it's for - when he has an accident just rub the pad in it to scent it.

Something I've seen done (and this is useful with puppies too) is lay several pee pads down, not just the one, until he's using it consistently. When you aren't around what happens, is he in a crate or confined in another way? If you keep him in a confined area (like an x-pen) cover the area with pee pads.

I'd also be going back to toilet training basics. Make sure you take him to pee on the pad when he wakes up, after he plays and after he eats. Depending on how old he is, you should put him on the pad regularly for toileting. Frankly, I'd be putting the pee pad in the place you want him to toilet from the start and just make sure you take him there to toilet regularly.
Click to expand...

Thank you! These are really helpful tips. Barry is about 6 months old. We've been laying down a single pad surrounded by newspaper for a start, and the little rascal just pees riiiight next to the newspaper.

Of course, we've only just gotten him, so plenty of time to get acquainted with his habits. Its just proving rather difficult to guess when he is about to pee so that we can confine him to the pad. We tried confining him to the pad and to the toilet first thing in the morning but he refused to pee until a while later, when we let him out and he decided to go on the kitchen floor. Basically he knows that he should not pee in the bedrooms, but he goes everywhere else.
 
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We never used pee pads so no advice there.

Bailey went to a play group style day care where the owner did have a training Bailey background as a pup, exposed to other male dogs, etc. While he developed some good social skills he never did develop the habit of lifting his leg to see.
 
My Laddie still does not lift his leg to this day and he is 12!

As far as poddy training goes, I used the crate method with great success with all my Shelties.

Caro gives great advice!

There is a product on the market that might help instead of pee pads and it is real grass... it might help...
It was designed for folks in your situation living in high rise apartment settings!

FRESH PATCH: The Official REAL GRASS Dog Potty

https://www.freshpatch.com

Good luck and thanks for giving your boy a chance!
 
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My dog Piper didn't actually start lifting his leg until he was around 7 months old, before that he just squatted. Not sure how old your pup is but as Caro suggested perhaps he just hasn't learnt it yet.
 
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