Help settle a debate . If you let your dog pee on other dogs are you a complete minger?

[BinkyandBunty]

I was walking with my boyfriend and his dog today, and for the umpteenth time the dog went up to another dog to greet it, very friendly, then cocked his leg and pissed all over it.

My boyfriend did not react at all, didn't telll his dog off or apologise to the other owner. When I've expressed horror at this behaviour before, he's thrown his hands up and said 'well I can't stop him'.

This time, I lost my shit. Had a few choice words and said I won't be going on any more walks with them. I think we're lucky one of us hasn't been thunped, or had our photo put up on social media for shaming. Boyfriend thinks I'm massively overreacting and did the whole 'are you OK? Is there something else going on?' thing.

So I ask you:

1. Do you think it's fucking feral for dogs to piss all over other dogs?

1. If your dog did this would you scold it, attempt to retrain it, and ultimately keep it away from other dogs if necessary?

1. Would you think it strange if someone got angry about this?

Yes the dog is neutered. This happens when off lead. Bizarrely, we haven't had any owners react badly yet.

They are probably too shocked to react.

My dog is 7 now and I'm fairly certain when he was a puppy either he did it or another dog did it to him. Im struggling to remember but I know I would have been mortified. I lightly tell the dog off if he pees on someones wall let alone a living pet.

I would absolutely hire a dog trainer to ask them how to address the problem but it would be a lot of hard work now its ingrained.

Thats disgusting. I've never seen it nor has mine ever done that. He should keep him on a lead when around other dogs. When he lifts up his leg I'd say no and pull him away. I think your boyfriends not dealing with it properly

I’ve never seen it in my life. If another dog pissed on mine and the owner didn’t even apologise I’m afraid I’d lose my shit. Yes, he’s extremely lucky nobody’s thumped him. He needs to keep that dog on its lead whenever there’s another dog in sight. Filthy little beast.

It’s a dominance thing.
My dog tries to do it to a dog at work... and that dog at work tries to do it back to my dog!
Obviously, being work colleagues, both I and the other owner do lots of loud and stern “NO”s and move them away from each other.
Although, oddly, they only do it on occasion and have been together since puppies and play nicely together most days. They are both full males so we suspect it’s when they scent certain smells...
The most obvious response should be to tell the dog “no” and move them away from the other dog. They will soon get the idea that they need to socialise nicely to be able to socialise.

I'd be disgusted if another dog pissed on mine. Your boyfriend needs to monitor his dog more and keep it away from dogs.

You are absolutely not over reacting! He should keep his dog on a lead!

I'd be fuming if someone allowed their dog to piss on my dog! Dogs need discipline.

I have never seen this happen and would be absolutely horrified if a dog came and urinated all over mine!!

I suspect he'd have a very different reaction if another dog pissed all over his and he was the one who had to clean it up!!

Sorry but yes, your boyfriend is a complete minger!!

It’s disgusting, and so is any owner who allows it. Would they let their child piss on another child.

Years ago me and my ex used to walk our dogs and we would often see a man with out with a big fluffy dog, can’t remember what breed. Every time this big fluffy dog would see my ex’s dog he’d run up and mount him. My ex’s dog was a big daft thing, wouldn’t hurt a fly, so didn’t react. My dog however, despite being a daft thing would snarl if the big fluffy dog tried it with her. Anyway this big fluffy dog would mount my ex’s dog, hump it and jizz all over him, it was disgusting.The owner just used to smile indulgently and carry on as if letting your dog spunk all over somebody else’s dog was cute.

My ex was a nasty piece of work but on that occasion I wouldn’t have blamed him if he’d decked the owner.

Would I be pissed if someone else's dog peed on mine? No, dogs do things like that sometimes.

Would I be pissed off if the owner knew the dog did it and did nothing about it? Hell yes!!

It's different if it's a one off that you didn't see coming but he either needs to keep his dog on a lead and limit it's contact with other dogs so that they are only nose to nose where he can't pee on the other dog or he needs to keep his dog away from other dogs.

Is the dog an entire male? What breed? How old is he?

I'm surprised a dog would stand still and let another dog pee on it.
Sometimes one of my dogs will be sniffing the grass and the other one will decide to pee on that particular area.
D1 will get out of way smartish as soon as D2 lifts his leg

That's disgusting, he should be keeping it on a lead and away from other dogs if he can't control its revolting impulses. Would he like to bring his dog home or in his car covered in another animals piss?

@LastTrainEast

I think castration might help in some of these situations. and maybe do something about the dogs as well.

👏👏👏👏👏👏

One of my dog's was always trying to piss on our other dog. Never did it to any other dog though.

It does happen sometimes - it's gross but dogs aren't known for having the same manners and morals as humans! I'm a dog walker and I do have one dog who likes to pee on his brother sometimes - God knows why! There doesn't seem to be any particular trigger, and he doesn't do it to any other dog we're out with. Both dogs are neutered so I can only assume it's a behavioural issue. His brother doesn't reciprocate!

As an aside, castration doesn't always help with marking-type behaviours - it's more often a behavioural thing that requires training. So, dog kept on a lead at all times and somehow trained away from the behaviour.

A few times I've scolded the dog myself, for example when he jumped up on me, and boyfriend actually patted and reassured him! It's infuriating.

So in addition to asking if there's anything else going on when you challenge him allowing his dog to piss on other dogs, the dog has no boundaries and your boyfriend undermines you for setting boundaries about your contact with the dog.

I don't see how this can be viewed as behaviour of a lovely boyfriend. He twists things when you challenge him and rewards his dog for ignoring your boundaries, and he has an out of control dog off lead. He sounds like delightful.

Fast forward to children. Mum says 'no you're not having time on your tablet until you put your toys away'. Dad enters the room, hands the tablet to the child and tells mum not to be so mean, of course they can have their tablets. It's not nice behaviour.

If your boyfriend a bit thick? It would be very easy to stop by keeping the jog on a lead around other dogs. After the second or third time surely that should be obvious.

That's a bit of a reach @Lolasmiles. He didn't twist anything, was more taken aback by the vehemence of my reaction, I think. It's his first ever dog, a rescue who showed signs of prior abuse and my boyfriend's afraid of being too harsh on him. I needed the backup in this thread to help convince him that this is not normal or acceptable dog behaviour and he needs to man up and discipline the thing.

You don't need to worry about us fast forwarding to kids, we're middle aged and at the other end of the parenting journey

It's his first ever dog, a rescue who showed signs of prior abuse and my boyfriend's afraid of being too harsh on him

Dogs are like kids, they need a combination of discipline and affection. If he’s at the end of his parenting journey, he surely understands that? He’s going to end up with the dog running the show if he’s not careful and that’s not fair on anyone.

It's very odd behaviour - I've had dogs all my life and known numerous dogs (my mum used to run a boarding service) and I don't think I've ever seen this happen deliberately.

I've seen a few accidents where one dog is peeing on something and the other one decides to go and sniff what he's peeing on but never deliberate targeting.

I'd seek out a professional behaviourist to try and get to the root of why your boyfriend's dog is doing this, it's certainly not usual behaviour.

I've never heard of this behaviour but if the owner saw it and made no effort to stop the dog I would be cross with them. I also think it's something that should be addressed through training.

Are dogs who do this feral? Dogs are animals at the end of the day. They can't be expected to comply with human norms. It's up to the owner to try to manage their behaviour. My female gerbil pees on her neutered male cagemate (it's a dominance thing) and I don't consider her feral. These behaviours have significance to the animals.

My dog has attempted this once, I shouted him away, put him back on lead and apologised profusely to the owner. Every time I saw that dog after, I put mine back on lead and avoided them as I figured there was something about it that my dog felt the need to try to dominate.

My old dog used to cock his leg near other dogs but didn't actually do anything, like he was threatening them with a pissing on