2 silly spaniel questions

[busdennis]

my 16 month old spaniel dog ( rescue dog, only had him 2 weeks) still squats, dosent cock his leg, is this normal

when hes running of the lead he looks like a pantamime horse with his back end not in time with the front and going in a different direction
normal?

[Macgyver]

Hi Busdennis

I have 2 Spaniels, Male 6 Months and female 15 months.

My male still "squats" to pee. I have done some reading on this and here is a little of the information I have gathered. Males generally start peeing standing up so to speak once they feel the need to mark their space or show ownership. Once a dog is of age to "move up the ranks in the pack" is when they start trying to pee on the side of things. Its literally one dog trying to pee up higher than anther, whoever pees higher wins so to speak. Untill his natural instinct of "marking" comes into play he will prolly continue to pee "like a girl" :-)

[Mom to Lil Buddy]

Have you read anything about the opposite? My female tended to hike her leg.

[Jake2006]

Jake didn't lift his leg until about 2/3 weeks ago. He's 2 in March.

Don't know about the shopping trolley gait though - is he the same when he's running full pelt?

[Maria]

The running thing is perfectly normal, when my friends dog runs she looks hilarious, everything flaps about, ears, feet mouth you name it LOL but she is gorgeous:D

[Macgyver]

haha, Maria, Mine is like that too, reminds me of a grizzly bear on crack.

I just call it puberty, you remember when your legs and arms were too long for your body :-)

As for the question from "mom" I have not seen anything on that, specifically I was looking for Males not hiking as for females hiking I cannot remember seeing anything on it. However now you have my cursioty up so may have to have a look tonight when I get home.

[Maria]

Now that's a funny thought Macgyver, I can just imagine it LOL

[Silpy]

My female Irish Setter used to cock her leg until she got too old to have that good a balence. Never seemed to affect her....

[KatzNK9]

Ozzy is 16 months old & still squats most of the time. He does hike his leg now & then when he's showing off (like at dog school, or walks in the park, or when dogs walk down HIS street).

My Akita lived to be 10 years old & still squatted 90% of the time too even though he lived with a Brittany who always hiked.