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In this episode, Annie answers questions about how to deal with a young puppy who is scared to relieve himself outside when it is pouring, suggests how to keep dogs occupied inside, and discusses why dogs lift their legs when they pee, and more. 

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Partial Transcript:

Annie:

So I am going to be answering some questions. I have at least one that’s on my agenda. Hi Lily. Hi Yolanta. But I think I’m probably gonna keep this pretty short because I’m not feeling great, but I took an aspirin, and I had a drink.  [Laughs] And then I have another drink here that I’m sipping. So this isn’t a drinking problem, I have, it’s a drinking solution.

Lily, where are you joining from? Yolanta as we know is in the borough of Staten Island. Yolanta, I’m curious, if you–last week we talked about you paying your neighbor to help you. I’m curious how that worked out. And I’m curious if you saw the movie The King of Staten Island.  Cause I thought it was kind of like a sweet ode to Staten Island, but then I wondered how actual Staten Island people felt.

Oh, Lily is in Kips Bay. Well then we are neighbors. Okay, Lily, since you’re here and you’ve already asked me a question, let’s start with you. So Lily asked:

My puppy is six months and hasn’t learned how to pee with his legs standing up. Will he ever learn?

Great question. I don’t know. Some dogs are always going to prefer peeing in a squat. My dog, sometimes squats, sometimes lifts his leg. Some female dogs prefer lifting their leg to squatting. I think there will probably be a day where all of a sudden out of nowhere he’ll lift his leg and you’ll feel very proud, but I wouldn’t worry about it.

I think that I think that one of the reasons, I don’t think I’m making this up. I think I’ve read about this, but I think one of the reasons we think dogs lift their leg is so that they appear bigger.  Isn’t that interesting. Like, you know, one reason probably why little dogs have big ferocious barks is because they want dogs that are far away to think they’re bigger than they are. And one way to make dogs who might never meet you think that you’re more ferocious and should be treated with respect is if they smell you, and they smell your pee way up there.

I should also apologize. My husband is also on a call right now for work. He is helping wealthy kids get into expensive colleges in the other room.  So if you hear that in the background, apologies.

So yeah, I wouldn’t worry if he isn’t lifting his leg, but I’m curious if maybe he will. I don’t remember when my dog started lifting his leg, but six, seven, eight months. It sounds like it might be happening.

And then we have a question here that came in from Mary Jane who is in Concepcion, Chile. She has a dog named Kenny, a mixed breed about 30 pounds. And Mary Jane says:

I am having trouble teaching my dog to wear a harness and collar. I put a plate with bits of chicken to lure her as soon as she puts her head through it and the harness rests on her neck, but then she backs off. She is very touch sensitive. We’ve been four months together, and just a month ago she allowed me to pet and touch her across her body.

Full transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/podcast

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