Does your Female Dog Cock Her Leg?

Wondering why your female dog is cocking (lifting) her legs?

Well, it is not quite common to find females cocking (lifting) their legs while urinating, yet sometimes female dogs are are marked for their their leg cocking behavior.

There are many school of thoughts to explain as to why some females cock their legs during urination and the most common explanations have been discussed here...

Natural instincts are deeply ingrained in animals. Dogs usually lift their leg while urinating, while females don't. This is natures law! Female dogs, by nature, assumes the natural positioning while urinating, however in certain cases some females are noticed to cock their legs much like males, while some others exhibit half sit and half cocking position during urination. According to canine behaviorists one of the probable reasons could be due to the fact that such a female dog is slightly masculinised by over secretion of testosteron while in the uterus. Testosteron is a steroid hormone that falls under the androgen group and is found in almost all mammals. Although it is the principal male sex hormone that is secreted in the testicles of the male dogs, it is also secreted in the ovaries of the female dogs in limited quantity. However, this could happen probably because of the blood flow in the uterus - from the back - cervix towards the front - ovaries and the position of the puppy. This probably allows the male puppies near the region of cervix to influence the female puppies that are in front of them.  

Other canine experts explain a different reason for this behavior in female dogs. Some female lift their leg during urination because their position when they were in uterus. Probably the female puppy was positioned in between the two males in the uterus. In such case, chances are there that the particular female sometimes gets masculinised by androgenic effects. The male sex hormones - androgen gets diffused through the membranes that divide one puppy from the next in the uterus.