Not altogether unique. Activation of the reptilian uric-acid process (which is still present in the genes of mammals, but normally quiescent) is the cause of the human disease gout.
Dunno. I have had 3 dogs (2 at one time, and another one now). Breeds: Siberian Husky, Greyhound, and now a Siberian-German Sheperd-Lab mix (we think. Might be anything, really.)
We have a large yard. They had / have some “favorite” spots to pee in, and you could definitely tell - the REALLY favorite spots were / are always brown. The “sometimes favorite” spots grow REALLY REALLY well.
Oh, and as for this:
Wrong. Leg-lifting is a dominance trait, NOT necessarily a sex-based one. Usually the males will do so to demonstrate their dominance and establish their territory, but a submissive male, or one that’s just “non-dominant” will usually stand / squat to pee. Extremely dominant females will lift the leg to pee as well. I’ve even heard of one that backed her entire hind end up to a wall and lifted her whole back end up to “pee high” and establish her territory.
Heck, my Greyhoud didn’t bother to lift because
a) the Siberian was the “Number One Dog” and as such did all of the “marking” for the household
b) he was so tall and lanky that every time he tried he darn near fell over, so he gave it up after trying once or twice.
And my current dog will try to pee anywhere from almost ABOVE HIS HEAD height (yes, he lifts his leg high enough to practically flip himself over if he feels the need to assert himself) to just standing over a rock or something.
It really depends on the dog, not the gender.
I’m really becoming disheartened. But the fight must go on.
To Etta B, who asked the original question, and other assorted pea(heh)brains;
Male dogs (even if “altered”) and men (yep) don’t pee.
Females pee.
Males piss.
And;
Why on earth would anyone be angry because someone asked you to not allow your dogs to urinate on their plants, fer crissakes? Are you too freakin’ lazy to train them properly?
Peace,
mangeorge
Wrongamundo, SRD. My female husky lifts her leg and pees on any shrub, rock, fencepost or hydrant she detects another dog on. Now who’s busted?
One thing that does damage grass: Table salt.
Don’t ask how I know…
Pal, pee or piss if it pleases you. In percieving the propinquity of the particulars in your pronouncement, I pontificate that your pusillanimous preference is pointless poop.
:wally
(I learned “propinquity” at the yoo-nee-versity. It means “nearness”.)
Canine lover or hater be damned. What part of “keep your damned dog piss and crap off my lawn” is so hard to understand?
People who leave dog crap on their neighbor’s lawns (or anywhere else) are irresponsible, awful people who don’t deserve to be dog owners.
If you’ve got a big problem with pee, sure, your dog owning neighbors should respect that. But pee is essentially harmless. Even if there are no dogs in your neighborhood, there are dozens of woodland creatures (rabbits, squirrels, city rats, etc) peeing all over your property. Whether you know it or not, you have lived surrounded by pee your entire life. My problem with Cecil’s article is that it encourages “Pee Hysteria” which can influence otherwise pee-friendly people into making comments like the one you’re making here. Relax, dude. It’s just pee.
Your first paragraph is exactly what I feel. I don’t believe that I’m in any way hysterical when it comes to animal urine or other nasty things they produce.
It might not be exactly the same, but we (gf & I) live in a house full of cat dander from two of the little monsters. We might not see it on a daily basis, but when I just cleaned out the inside of my computers, I found plenty. These are our cats though. We have chosen to put up with their quirks and nasty habits.
I do not want a dog at this time. I certainly have not chosen to put up with big piles of dog crap on my lawn. It’s still forced on me by asshats walking their dogs. Why is it that dog owners seem to think that this is ok? I’m not buying that I’m being hysterical. I shouldn’t have to clean up after your pet. In regards to the original topic and the dog piss. I think there is enough support that dog urine can kill plants. People work hard and spend a lot of money on yards and landscaping. Even if you could absolutely prove that dog urine can not possibly hurt grass or plants (which no one has come close to doing), what is so hard about having some respect for property owners? You chose to have a dog. Take responsibility for it.
Girly-men always say that. I learned that from Arnold, Guv of CA, who can’t whup Jesse Ventura but probably smells better.
Ya wanna step outside? 
Welcome, anyway.
I didn’t mean to imply you were being hysterical. Apologies.
If someone has a problem with dogs peeing in their yard, then dog owners should respect that and keep their dogs out. But what I could see happening is someone that has no problem with dogs peeing in their yard, reading Cecil’s article and concluding (incorrectly, IMO) that dog pee is something akin to sulphuric acid. Suddenly we have an anti-dog pee person where before we had someone who feared no pee. Cecil should leave fearmongering to Dick Cheney and give the dogs a break.
I agree with you that people need to take responsibility for their dogs. A little OT, but my personal opinion is that people should regard any action their dog performs as being their responsibility as if they did it themselves. If a dog bites someone, his owner should be arrested for assault. If the dog craps, the owner needs to pick it up and dispose of it. They should also be careful where the dog craps. So we’re basically in agreement.
The difference is, I don’t mind if people pee in my yard either, as long as it’s just the occasional squirt. I do ask that they pee on the dandelions, though.
I would step outside but I’m too afraid of you and your manliness. So I’ll stay here, braid my hair and sing show tunes.
Thanks for the welcome
Cool. 
Is that Levi (the jeans) osaurus, or Levy (as a tax) osaurus? Or Le vio saurus?
Like “Leviathan”. Monsterous Lizard. Or a walking whale, if you prefer. I got it from a Roger Zelazny short story. Since I’m pretty big, it seemed fitting.
(How big am I? 6’7’’, 240 lbs… still want to step outside? ;-))
If a dog walks around naked, the owner should be arrested for indecency.
I never said anything about me stepping outside.
I don’t think I’m about to piss on your azaleas, either.
OK, dogs can pee, piss, and whiz all over the place, regardless of their gender. A female dog who can pee up high is impressive, I must say. I stand corrected, but this was never the point, only an unnecessary tangent.
One previous to this said essentially “what’s the big deal, it’s just pee?” This is my point. This is a world of life, not order and manicured existence. Dogs, cats, squirrels, birds, etc. poo and pee everywhere. I can certainly understand an objection to a large pile of excrement in an area where it is a nuissance, but a few brown spots on your lawn? C’mon! The world is full of brown spots, and green ones, and disease and pests, and all sorts of stuff that can be bothersome. Look up the words “malcontent” and “mysophobia”. Get a grip.
“Asshats”, like me who walk their dog in public areas pick up their stool piles and discard them properly (though most do not). Their urine is less easy to collect, as you can imagine. Moreover, there are countless malcontents who will find all sorts of conflicts to create where none really exists. We live in a world where our desires and behaviors effect others. Usually, these things can be worked out so that nobody is particularly put-out by others. However, making a mountian out of a brown spot on your lawn does not mean that you are being reasonable or that your expectations of a perfectly manicured existence is something we sane people need to respect or attempt to help you create.
If you want a prefectly uniform yard that you waste OUR precious fresh water maintaining in an region that the species is (almost certainly) non-native to and periodically treat with toxic chemicals so that native species and other invasive “weeds” are obliterated which, for the record, adversely effects our wildlife, aquifers and adjacent water bodies, then SCREW YOU! I’ll let my dog piss directly on you if I get the chance!!!
TueGreen Chemlawn is a company dedicated to those who would like to live in Stepford.
Now, let’s all run around naked and reign in chaos!!!
I can’t believe the conversations that I get myself into… sigh! I’m not one of the people with a manicured lawn. I just respect others rights to do so with their own property. Naturally you have to obey your local laws on watering, yadda, yadda. SatyaRaven’sDad, you don’t seem to be one of the asshats that I referred to since you specifically mention picking up your dog’s dooky. You also mention doing it in a public area, where apparently pets are allowed and welcomed. I wish everyone would be so sensible.
However, SatyaRaven’sDad, you did seem to completely ignore my very simple question. What is so hard about having some respect for property owners?
I find the sane comment to hold little weight considering the second statement. Good luck when you try that one out. :dubious:
Hmmm, I’m simply going to paste in here a quote from this thread
I guess between that post and the post in this thread you seem to have forgotten about "level-headed"ness and gone back to the concept of “bold, tactless and rude.” Perhaps you might try not posting immediately, but rather saving a post then thinking whether you really want to paste it into a public board. Hmm? :dubious:
As for the main issue, let’s suggest the following concept: if you walk a dog, try preferably to have it pee on foliage that is common, rather than private; if you can’t, and the owner of the foliage complains, move on and make certain that you respect that owner’s wishes. Is that REALLY so hard? 
Yeah, SRD, count to ten.
It is pretty easy to teach your dog to urinate when/where you say it’s ok. I saw that famous British woman (a dog trainer) do it on PBS years ago. I wonder what happened to her.
To be honest, I suspect that at least one of the reasons we walk our dogs is so that they don’t do their business in our yard. Or driveway, if you’re an apartment dweller.