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Do Dogs…?

November 5th, 2008

Really pee on fire hydrants?

We’ve all seen it; pictures of dogs using fire hydrants as bathrooms, cartoons of dogs heading for the red statue for some privacy.

But do our canine friends really, instinctively, use, or want to use, fire hydrants as their toilet?

Are our dogs born with the urge to use hydrants? Or is it more a learned attribute?

All signs point to convenience.

To dogs, a fire hydrant is just like any other material thing they can mark.

Anything and everything is fair game in the quest for a spot to call their own.

In the wild, and the in the times before big cities, dogs used everything in nature from trees to bushes to just the plain old ground. Now, with more and more buildings and urban areas, where’s a dog to go?

Think of a hydrant as a shortened metal tree.

Posted in K9 Science | 6 Comments »

6 Responses to “Do Dogs…?”

1. Saint Lover says:

   November 5, 2008 at 3:09 am

   HAHAHA…. Dogs that mark, will pee on anything!
2. jan says:

   November 5, 2008 at 3:31 am

   Timmy, my tiny Poodle stud muffin, is the first male dog I’ve ever had. I thought hydrants were a joke, but on our walks, we pass one and sometimes three. He always pees on them raising his leg so high I think he will fall over. I’m sure he is trying to make dogs think he is really big when they come around to sniff.
3. Dog Breed Checks says:

   November 5, 2008 at 9:41 pm

   My Dog goes anywhere
4. StephanieInCA says:

   November 8, 2008 at 7:00 pm

   My male Westie, Mr. Henry, doesn’t pee on fire hydrants because he still uses a “girl squat” just like when he was a puppy. Fine by me, I can live without every vertical surface in my neighborhood (or house).

   He is not, however, quite so good about getting his picture taken, check this one out: http://urbzen.com/2008/11/07/give-me-that/
5. Lindsay says:

   November 9, 2008 at 8:21 pm

   Ha, yeah that makes sense to me! Plus, since so many other dogs have peed on it, of course every dog wants to mark it too. Peeing contest, woo hoo!
6. Daws says:

   November 17, 2008 at 2:10 pm

   New to this site, good articles. Learned a bit about dog nutrition.