# How To Stop a Chihuahua From 'Cocking a Leg' In the House **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 8, 2017, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-a-chihuahua-from-cocking-a-leg-in-the-house/788449 "2017-06-08T19:48:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GeorgiaGyrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@GeorgiaGyrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GeorgiaGyrl)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-a-chihuahua-from-cocking-a-leg-in-the-house/788449/1 "2017-06-08T19:48:40Z")
First, let me clarify that title. I bought a male Chihuahua when he was about 4 1/2 lbs and 12 weeks old. Being so small I knew that paper training him and letting him go in the house would not be a problem, so that’s what I did. He’s now a year and a month old, 6 lbs, and not neutered, and he’s begun ‘cocking a leg’, rather than standing over the paper as he always has. I don’t have to worry about him peeing off the edge of the pad anymore, now it’s just the puddles on the wall running down to the floor!! (Although since he’s so short the puddles aren’t very high up! 🙂 ) Is there any kind of pet furniture or equipment that I can use to give him something to pee on without having big blotches of yellow on the wall? Or do I have to untrain him from paper and then train him to go outside? :smack: I appreciate your help! Courage’s mommy ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-a-chihuahua-from-cocking-a-leg-in-the-house/788449/2 "2017-06-08T20:38:01Z")
Just about the only solution for “marking,” as this behavior is called, is neutering - and done much earlier in a male dog’s life. I guess, as you suggest, you could build him a little “pee room” with some walls to catch the sideways stream. Maybe a plastic storage box, cut away on one or two sides, with the pee-pad in the closed corner? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-a-chihuahua-from-cocking-a-leg-in-the-house/788449/3 "2017-06-08T21:02:47Z")
Have courage, mommy, and get the dog neutered. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-a-chihuahua-from-cocking-a-leg-in-the-house/788449/4 "2017-06-08T21:10:07Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Have courage, mommy, and get the dog neutered. Probably too late to stop the behavior. Neutering is a balancing act between proper growth/proportions, the good qualities of young dogs and the often less pleasant behaviors of older dogs. Once males develop adult-dog behaviors, neutering may or may not change them. I just nipped my Great Dane’s nu-nus at 13 months, a little early for a giant but he was starting to show unpleasant behaviors. It varies with each dog, somewhat. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-a-chihuahua-from-cocking-a-leg-in-the-house/788449/5 "2017-06-08T21:12:27Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Just about the only solution for “marking,” as this behavior is called, is neutering - and done much earlier in a male dog’s life. > > I guess, as you suggest, you could build him a little “pee room” with some walls to catch the sideways stream. Maybe a plastic storage box, cut away on one or two sides, with the pee-pad in the closed corner? I think you misunderstood. He’s not marking, he’s just starting to pee like a man! He’s urinating where he should, just not in the right direction. He just needs a little doggie urinal… ---
**Author:** ![GeorgiaGyrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@GeorgiaGyrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GeorgiaGyrl)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-a-chihuahua-from-cocking-a-leg-in-the-house/788449/6 "2017-06-08T23:00:12Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > I think you misunderstood. He’s not marking, he’s just starting to pee like a man! He’s urinating where he should, just not in the right direction. He just needs a little doggie urinal… You are exactly right, Voltaire. I have no problem with where he’s going, having never owned a dog before it never dawned on me that once he was trained to use the paper he would not continue to go the same way. I guess I’m not exactly surprised that he’s doing it, if I’d been more aware I would have realized that since he’s _ **not** _ neutered he was going to eventually exhibit those behaviors; besides the ‘cocking a leg’, he’s begun barking, and his playfulness has gotten much more aggressive. I know you were kidding, but does anyone make little doggie urinals?? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-a-chihuahua-from-cocking-a-leg-in-the-house/788449/7 "2017-06-08T23:01:54Z")
Get him some Taco Bell. That is what he is trying to tell you. ---
**Author:** ![GeorgiaGyrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@GeorgiaGyrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GeorgiaGyrl)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-a-chihuahua-from-cocking-a-leg-in-the-house/788449/8 "2017-06-08T23:08:18Z")
Thanks for the reply and suggestion, Amateur Barbarian, but I really can’t see that working. We live in a really small house, with not enough space to make a pee room for him and have it be open enough where he has a little room to at least turn around if he so chose. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-a-chihuahua-from-cocking-a-leg-in-the-house/788449/9 "2017-06-09T01:06:05Z")
I’m not sure what kind of solution you expect, here. Neutering him in time would have prevented big-boy peeing, but now that he does it there’s next to no way to get him to go back to squatting. So you have to accommodate the sideways stream, and some kind of box is pretty much the only way. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-a-chihuahua-from-cocking-a-leg-in-the-house/788449/10 "2017-06-09T01:07:15Z")
We keep absorbent sheets (“training pads”) in three different rooms for the dog to pee on. Call it pragmatism. In the bathroom, we had one of those [plastic pee-pads](https://www.mondou.com/en-CA/p-tray-for-waste-manager-training-pads/1018070) with the absorbent sheet held in place by the bezel. In the other rooms, just the sheet. And he started peeing sideways, with the leg up… only in the bathroom. It ran down the side, etc. So we took out the plastic thingy and just left the sheet, like in the other rooms, and he’s not peeing sideways anymore. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-a-chihuahua-from-cocking-a-leg-in-the-house/788449/11 "2017-06-09T01:31:22Z")
Neutering is at least worth trying, isn’t it? Do you have any reason for not doing it? ---
**Author:** ![CannyDan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cannydan/32/548_2.png) [@CannyDan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CannyDan)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-a-chihuahua-from-cocking-a-leg-in-the-house/788449/12 "2017-06-09T02:58:38Z")
Doesn’t the little creature go outdoors – either walked on a leash or free in a fenced yard – to relieve himself? I’ve had a lot of dogs, all “house dogs” not relegated to a kennel, and none were incapable of resisting the urge to pee until I could let them out. I’m frankly surprised at the idea of keeping an unhousebroken dog. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-a-chihuahua-from-cocking-a-leg-in-the-house/788449/13 "2017-06-09T03:26:02Z")
Crate training is very effective. It’s very unusual for a dog to soil their personal space. Start with 4 hours in the crate. Take him outside. If he pees then let him free in the house for a couple hours. Back outside. Then back in the crate. Back outside in 4 hours. If all goes well. Try six hours. Gradually Work up to 10 over a three week period. Don’t go beyond that. It’s a good idea to pick up their water bowl a couple hours before bedtime. So they’ll get through the night. I’ve crate trained all my dogs that I’ve owned throughout my life. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-a-chihuahua-from-cocking-a-leg-in-the-house/788449/14 "2017-06-09T03:39:35Z")
Watch the dog closely when they go out. Make sure they do their business. You can even buy a plastic fireplug as a target. Some dogs that aren’t neutered will come inside and piss on the wall. You can’t let them roam loose in the house. They have to go into the crate. Until they learn to pee outside. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-a-chihuahua-from-cocking-a-leg-in-the-house/788449/15 "2017-06-09T03:51:39Z")
Teach him to pee in the shower stall. Install a detachable hand-held shower head. After he is finished, rinse, spritz with a cleaner, rinse again. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-a-chihuahua-from-cocking-a-leg-in-the-house/788449/16 "2017-06-09T08:25:08Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Teach him to pee in the shower stall. Install a detachable hand-held shower head. After he is finished, rinse, spritz with a cleaner, rinse again. Like voltair said, he’s starting to pee like a guy! (But what is this nonsense about rinsing & using a cleaner? The shower does that when it’s next used.) ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-a-chihuahua-from-cocking-a-leg-in-the-house/788449/17 "2017-06-09T10:40:42Z")
Two things, if you don’t bother to thoroughly disinfect, with bleach, every spot he’s previously peed upon, he’ll just return to that spot and pee again and again. Surely you’ve noticed when you walk him he pees where he smells pee from other dogs. Secondly, he wants/needs something to pee against clearly. The problem isn’t him raising his leg. That’s 100% natural and I doubt you’ll be able to change that behaviour. But what you can do is construct something for him to pee against that stands in the middle of the pad. Problem solved! He can lift his leg, has something to pee against, and it all lands on the mat, none on the wall! Good Luck! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-a-chihuahua-from-cocking-a-leg-in-the-house/788449/18 "2017-06-09T12:33:46Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Probably too late to stop the behavior. Neutering is a balancing act between proper growth/proportions, the good qualities of young dogs and the often less pleasant behaviors of older dogs. Once males develop adult-dog behaviors, neutering may or may not change them. We once had a small spaniel named Bubba that was persistently peeing indoors, but stopped after he was neutered at the age of around two (I still remember him happily driving off with Mom to get tutored :(). It worked, no more problems. Bubba’s worst sin in this regard was when he came upon a nice sport coat of mine hanging on a chair (I was going to pack it for an out-of-town job interview) and decided it would make a good target. Fortunately Mrs. J. spotted him in the act and was able to clean it without my knowing about the incident. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-a-chihuahua-from-cocking-a-leg-in-the-house/788449/19 "2017-06-09T14:00:41Z")
I think some of the OP’s points are being missed. The little guy is housebroken, to pads. A chihooey just doesn’t pee that much, so it’s manageable. I’d guess that regular outdoor walks to pee are not a thing. But now he’s peeing sideways, and missing the pad. IMVHO, there’s no way to stop leg-lift peeing once they learn it. Neutering is a good thing to do, even now, and it might help. But some kind of vertical containment is going to be needed to let him keep peeing indoors - so a box with a pee-wall, or the shower idea is going to be needed. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-a-chihuahua-from-cocking-a-leg-in-the-house/788449/20 "2017-06-09T20:06:08Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Secondly, he wants/needs something to pee against clearly. [One of Isabella Rossellini’s beer filled glass legs](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/232779874465191518/) would work do nicely for both his peeing now and also for his humping when he is a bit older, plus beer for the spectators. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-a-chihuahua-from-cocking-a-leg-in-the-house/788449.md?page=2)