# Why Does My Dog Do This? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 29, 2008, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/435467 "2008-01-29T16:50:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/435467/1 "2008-01-29T16:50:54Z")
My curr-mix, [Jasmine](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2298/2209925639_d1bc154258.jpg), (spayed female around 7 years old) has a behavior that amuses and sometimes exasperates me. When I take her for a walk, and she stops to pee, she frequently (sometimes 2-3 times in one walk) “scratches off” afterwards. She stretches her back legs out and her front legs out and scratches ferociously, kicking dirt and grass everywhere. Is this a territory marking thing? I’ve also caught her hiking her leg to try to mark on trees and bushes, which I’ve never seen a female do before. Also, she gets very excited (seems like a mix of excitement and fear) when she smells an unneutered male, and tries to sniff and mark where they’ve been, as well. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/435467/2 "2008-01-29T19:54:25Z")
Marking territory. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/435467/3 "2008-01-29T21:58:31Z")
I suspected…but it really is a sight to see, and she’s so _proud_ of herself when she’s done! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/435467/4 "2008-01-30T02:50:05Z")
Heavens, that’s the Pee Dance. My female spayed dog occasionally does it, as did my former female spayed dog. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/435467/5 "2008-01-30T03:07:34Z")
[QUOTE=MLS] Marking territory. [/QUOTE] I think females do this to signal to males that there is a female in area not to mark territory which is a male behavior. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/435467/6 "2008-01-30T15:11:13Z")
[QUOTE=TroubleAgain] When I take her for a walk, and she stops to pee, she frequently (sometimes 2-3 times in one walk) “scratches off” afterwards. She stretches her back legs out and her front legs out and scratches ferociously, kicking dirt and grass everywhere. Is this a territory marking thing? [/QUOTE] She’s making sure her scent gets spread around. My big male hound does this sometimes after he poops on walks. We have learned not to stand behind him. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/435467/7 "2008-01-30T19:36:35Z")
No doubt, **romansperson**! She’s never kicked poo on me, but she has kicked dirt all over me. **Two and a Half Inches of Fun** , why would she care, though? She was spayed at 3 months. It’s not like she’s looking to “get some,” if you will. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/435467/8 "2008-01-30T19:57:31Z")
When my bostons do a #2 they hunch over, hold their heads up high, squint and look left-right-left. It so looks like a quarterback on the line calling plays looking back and forth at the coverage before calling hike. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/435467/9 "2008-01-30T21:39:07Z")
She kicks grass? Man, I was hoping you’d ask why your dog rolls in crap. That’s my beagle’s biggest vice. His favorite is opossum dung. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/435467/10 "2008-01-30T22:01:46Z")
Just be thankful that you don’t have to walk my pet hippo. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/435467/11 "2008-01-30T22:10:42Z")
My beagle does this all the time. When she comes running back in the house after being let out she’ll scratch around on the rug just inside the door. My kids think she’s being neat and wiping her feet before coming in. ---
**Author:** ![Foxy40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Foxy40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foxy40)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/435467/12 "2008-01-30T22:24:00Z")
[QUOTE=MLS] Marking territory. [/QUOTE] My male dog will wait for my female dog to squatt, come up behind her, left his leg and pee on her butt. I believe he is trying to get his scent over her pee but it really stopped being funny a month ago and now is just annoying. The poor thing has a skin infection due to the fact that he does it when we are not around to clean her up. Marking territory to the extreme. Geez. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/435467/13 "2008-01-30T22:31:52Z")
[QUOTE=Hampshire] When my bostons do a #2 they hunch over, hold their heads up high, squint and look left-right-left. It so looks like a quarterback on the line calling plays looking back and forth at the coverage before calling hike. [/QUOTE] Hehe. Yeah, they do. And they rock. 🙂