2007-11-30 02:58:07 · 20 answers · asked by samkayfam 1 in Pets ➔ Dogs
they leave there scent and thats how they find there way back home if they stray too far
2007-11-30 03:01:46 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
LOL yes it is marking territory!
Now if this is happenng, there is not much value being given for the walk. See the dog is being the pack leader, watching out for you and marking the road to warn others to stay away from you.
It is better for the dog relationship if the dog walks with head by hip, leash lose, not tight. When a leash is tight, it tends to trigger a pulling effect. When my dogs start looking around I give a small leash snap (like tapping on the shoulder - nothing rough) to redirect the attention to me. I will change direction and up my speed as well. I have some rescue dogs (I work /rehab problem dogs) where I will put the younger higher energy ones on the treadmill first and then walk them.
The problem is easily solved by these solutions - really!
I have found it works well to give my dogs little breaks where they can pee and sniff.
2007-11-30 11:12:01 · answer #2 · answered by siegeanderson 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because they know what you also know -- that every, single dog that comes along is going to sniff. And each dog's scent is unique. And dogs are territorial and gregarious (pack animals). So when they pee like this -- which is called 'marking' -- they are saying, "Yo! Kilroy was here!"
Cheaper than a cell phone.
If you want to read a funny version of this, there is a book by a Canadian naturalist, recently dead, named Farley Mowat, who was paid by the Canadian government -- back in the 60's or 70's when the gray wolf was an endangered species -- to go live near the wolves in northern Canada, observe them, and write something nice about them. He went and did just that, and really fell in love with them. The book is called "Never Cry Wolf" and I think it was made into a movie.
Wolves mate for life, and at night, the momma wolf would stay home with the pups, while the papa wolf would go out and hunt, marking the area around the wolf den especially intensely. Farley Mowat watched this and decided to try something.
He spent the whole day drinking tea and holding it. Then when the papa wolf left to hunt, marking as he went -- and the momma wolf was in the den for the night with her pups -- Mowat watched the papa wolf go. Once he was out of sight, Mowat went around all the territory near the den, and wherever the papa wolf had marked, he peed a little.
It wasn't as easy as he thought it would be, and he had to go back to his tent repeatedly, drink another pot of tea and wait. Took him much of the night to mark, but he did it, then sat in his tent and waited for the papa wolf to come home.
I'm not going to tell you what happened. Read the book. It's really good. A classic. Another really great book about dogs is called "The Secred Lives of Dogs" by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas.
Enjoy!
2007-11-30 11:12:02 · answer #3 · answered by Mercy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They are marking new territory. All dogs have a unique scent to their urine. It is a way of marking places he has been.
2007-11-30 12:03:02 · answer #4 · answered by lamom_x_4 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is called marking. It's normal, though I read in one housetraining book that you can train a puppy not to do it, but I haven't ever had a dog who didn't mark. It is their way of letting other dogs know they were there. I know my dog does it a lot more if we walk off our normal route. We have a lot of dogs in our neighborhood and I think he just likes to have it be known that he was there. It's totally instictual and totally normal.
2007-11-30 11:05:12 · answer #5 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Marking territory.
FWIW... a trained dog should not be allowed to do this while out on a walk... unless you're interested in increasing your dog's territory to the distance you're walking.
2007-11-30 12:12:09 · answer #6 · answered by animal_artwork 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To leave 'breadcrumbs' in case they ever get lost. It's instinctual. Drives me to the point of insanity somedays (lol), but instinctual.
The absolute worse is when they have to stop and smell the scent of the other dogs who have gone before.
2007-11-30 11:03:54 · answer #7 · answered by Shayna 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Dogs will mark their territory, even females will. So they are leaving their scent, their mark, for all others to know they are there.
2007-11-30 11:04:58 · answer #8 · answered by rjn529 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Marking their territory
2007-11-30 11:30:21 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
They are marking their territory. Its just part of a dog's instinct.
2007-11-30 11:00:16 · answer #10 · answered by *Cara* 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
they mark their territory. Also they kind of do it for fun. Also in case they can get lost, they would find their way home.
2007-11-30 11:06:58 · answer #11 · answered by angelikabertrand64 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋