Sorry to bother you again. I would have put down a deposit on another
dog and so this post should not be neccessary. Something went wrong
again.

The dog I wanted to buy is a female. I think I would probably prefer a
male. My aunt told me that she doesn't want me to get a female because
males lift their legs. So I told her that cocker spaniel owners told me
that if you have a cocker spaniel puppy fixed before he's nine months
old, he probably won't lift his leg. I told her that someone told me
that cocker spaniel males lift their legs less than most other breeds
of dogs do.

She told me that she just bought me brandnew kitchen appliances and
that the dog will lift his leg on them in the meantime before he gets
fixed. So my question is: Does a male cocker spaniel puppy under nine
months of age lift its leg?

When they first start lifting their legs, do they usually just do it
off and on once in a while or it's most of the time or half of the time
or 1/4 of the time, or it varies with the dog?

As a sidelight, I think I read somewhere that it's hard for the vet to
see what she/he is doing while nuetering a male who's only five months
old? Maybe I read that in here? Probably not.

On 5 Aug 2005 11:00:15 -0700, "Chris Tsao" ,
clicked their heels and said:



As a sidelight, I think I read somewhere that it's hard for the vet to
see what she/he is doing while nuetering a male who's only five months
old? Maybe I read that in here? Probably not.


Most male puppies, intact, will start "lifting" anywhere from 6-15
months of age. That doesn't mean they start marking the HOUSE though.
A housebroken dog can be intact or neutered and not pee on kitchen
appliances for goodness sake! Marking problems generally occur in
multiple dog households more than not.

A vet has no problem neutering anything 2# and over, so 5 months is
obviously pretty easy.

--
Janet B
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/bestfr...bedience/album

"Chris Tsao" wrote in message
oups.com...

The dog I wanted to buy is a female. I think I would probably prefer a
male. My aunt told me that she doesn't want me to get a female because
males lift their legs. So I told her that cocker spaniel owners told me
that if you have a cocker spaniel puppy fixed before he's nine months
old, he probably won't lift his leg. I told her that someone told me
that cocker spaniel males lift their legs less than most other breeds
of dogs do.

When you are referring to "lifting their legs" you are actually referring to
marking behavior, not the act of lifting a leg to urinate. Some males don't
ever actually lift their legs, but they may still mark. Marking indoors is a
training issue, though intact males may be more likely to mark new places
than neutered males. I own three male dogs and none mark indoors.


As a sidelight, I think I read somewhere that it's hard for the vet to
see what she/he is doing while nuetering a male who's only five months
old? Maybe I read that in here? Probably not.

Nonsense. Vets neuter dogs as small as chihuahuas, and a five month old
cocker is much larger than that.
Lets hope you actually did your homework and this pup isn't another
impulsive decision from an internet puppy miller...

Christy

"Chris Tsao" said in
rec.pets.dogs.breeds:

Almost everything you've heard is not true.

She told me that she just bought me brandnew kitchen
appliances and that the dog will lift his leg on them in
the meantime before he gets fixed.

First, why are your aunt's applicances in the yard? She should
move them into her house so that your dog won't pee on them.
Seriously, a housetrained dog will not mark inside the house -
this has nothing to do with the age at which a dog is neutered
and how he pees in allowed areas.

Sure, sometimes puppies will pee inside the house, but I've
never seen a young puppy lift his leg. So rest assured, it's
very unlikely that an unhousetrained male puppy will pee on your
aunt's new applicances.

So my question is: Does
a male cocker spaniel puppy under nine months of age lift
its leg?

Yes and no - it *really* depends on the dog (and probably not
so much on the breed). Before I started a daycare here and
strange dogs started to pee in my yard, my older dog hardly ever
lifted his leg - there was nothing to mark (I guess my other
dog's pee didn't need marking). So, he was 7 years old before
he regularly started lifting his leg to pee.

My other dog was neutered at 4 months - he always lifts his leg
to pee, but doesn't need a vertical surface to go on.

When they first start lifting their legs, do they usually
just do it off and on once in a while or it's most of the
time or half of the time or 1/4 of the time, or it varies
with the dog?

It varies with the dog.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

Chris Tsao wrote:
Sorry to bother you again. I would have put down a deposit on another
dog and so this post should not be neccessary. Something went wrong
again.

The dog I wanted to buy is a female. I think I would probably prefer a
male. My aunt told me that she doesn't want me to get a female because
males lift their legs. So I told her that cocker spaniel owners told
me that if you have a cocker spaniel puppy fixed before he's nine
months old, he probably won't lift his leg. I told her that someone
told me that cocker spaniel males lift their legs less than most
other breeds of dogs do.

She told me that she just bought me brandnew kitchen appliances and
that the dog will lift his leg on them in the meantime before he gets
fixed. So my question is: Does a male cocker spaniel puppy under nine
months of age lift its leg?

When they first start lifting their legs, do they usually just do it
off and on once in a while or it's most of the time or half of the
time or 1/4 of the time, or it varies with the dog?

As a sidelight, I think I read somewhere that it's hard for the vet to
see what she/he is doing while nuetering a male who's only five months
old? Maybe I read that in here? Probably not.

I've had intact males for years and years, and NONE of them has ever marked
in the house. Not once.