Need advise, please...

I was wondering if any other Cav owners have this issue with their Males. My Riley who is 3yrs old pees on his front legs, each time he goes. I don't know if it is just laziness or a problem. He sometimes lifts his leg and sometimes squats. The urine ends up on the back of his front legs every time and he really smells. I am constantly washing his legs because he loves to sleep by my head, yes we share a pillow. I am wondering if this constant washing is bad for his skin, but I do not know of another way to get rid of the smell. If anyone has any suggestions please provide.. I know this sounds silly, but it is an issue in my Cavalier home. The following pic is of Riley, The hair on the back of his legs is stained urine yellow!YUCK!LOL.

Many of us have the same problem!!

Some boys grow out of it, some of them don't unforutnately.

Some people recommend leaving the hair long on the penis, that this directs the flow away from the legs, but I haven't found that to be the case with mine, and they just end up smelly there too. I keep the hair trimmed short.

If the dog is entire, the urine smells much stronger anyway - neutered boys are less smelly.

If you are just washing with plain water, that isn't going to dry the coat/skin out too much - shampoo will though. Something like a good conditioner will help with that, and also helps to stop the staining.

Rubbing them down with a damp baby wipe lifts most of the smell too, and saves having a permanently damp dog. I give them a quick wash once a day with a sponge and Infacare baby bath, and then a proper wash every 7-10 days, that keeps it under control.

The joy of boys :lotsaluv::jump:

Jasper went through this, too, but thankfully grew out of it when he was neutered. I know how frustrating it is, though. We were having to wash his legs several times a day. If you don't have time to do a full wash of his legs, you could try sprinkling pure corn starch on his legs and then blotting the area dry. My groomer told me that trick, and it works pretty well. It at least takes care of the smell a bit. I also tried baby wipes and a waterless shampoo (I used Paul Mitchell's brand for dogs...it's a foam that you just put on their legs and then rub off.)

I was so desperate at one point that I was searching the Internet for some rain boots for dogs. The idea was that then he'd pee on the rain boots instead of his legs. I never found any that looked like they'd work, though. They were always too short.

I wish I could give you a magic answer. My breeder said it just takes practice for males to learn to avoid hitting their front legs, but some dogs always do it, I think.

Hang in there!

Lori

Merlin still does this sometimes but I found like Nicki that if you keep the hair short on his winky it doesn't allow a mini "spout" to form. Merlins problem though is that he cocks his leg so high he aims at himself!

Thank you all for the great suggestions. I am glad to know that I am not the only one with this situation. I believe Riley is aiming at his leg and lazy. I will try the cornstarch!

Thank you again!

Well, I don't have any other suggestions, but I just wanted to say that Riley is absolutely adorable! :lotsaluv:

you might try posting this question on some of the forums where many members show. I am sure they have lots of tricks to keep the hair clean and stain-free for the show ring. I hope to be showing mine and might need the same tricks for Bandit. At 6 months he doesn't have enough feathering yet to be a problem.