Harvey's not cocking his leg high enough :(

[indiasign]

Hi everyone, I'm a newbie to posting on this forum (having lurked a few times! ) and have a slightly sticky problem!

Harvey is our 2nd cavalier, but unlike his predecessor Bailey, he seems to have a problem with direction when he pees and as a result his side feathers are getting quite sticky and a little smelly!

Has anyone encountered this problem with their boys and if so can you suggest a solution? I don't want to have to keep bathing him, as it usually only takes him a few days to get sticky again.

Thanks

[Karlin]

Only two solutions- washing, or clipping some of that hair away. Some boys just don't have very good aim ( like some men we women have known over time... ). You do not need to totally wash him though- just a washcloth and water is good for in between baths ( or a bucket of clean water that you can dip a dirty leg into, then just towel dry). It's annoying but nothing you can do to change the height. If he's still a pup then he likely will improve in aim and height of leg.

[Kate H]

Baby wipes work quite well for a quick clean-up - they smell nice too!

Kate, Oliver and Aled

[sunshinekisses]

My boy did this when he was young, he outgrew it for the most part. Occasionally he will be sloppy and pee on himself. I ended up trimming his hair.

[jasperpaw]

I had this problem with my youngest cavalier when he was younger, he is very hairy, I got round his private area trimmed and also his sides trimmed, but he does seemed to have grown out of it now, I still get him trimmed but when it grows longer there does`nt seem to be a problem.

[Lani]

My boy did this when he was young, he outgrew it for the most part. Occasionally he will be sloppy and pee on himself. I ended up trimming his hair.

Same here. I do have his hair trimmed in on his underside and I also now allow my groomer to trim his feathering ... he's not a show dog, so while it's not breed standard, it works and his feathers are still plenty long.

My sister at one point did buy me a "Pee Coat" ... but I was too embarrassed to use it.

My google search also took me to this old post about the same issue ... it's a timeless issue that has impacted Cavalier owners forever I guess!

http://www.cavaliertalk.com/forums/a...p/t-35556.html

[CSutherland]

Bentley is 2 yrs old this month and still just stretches out to pee 99% of the time. He usually only hikes his leg if Hubby is walking him.....it's a man thing, I guess. He doesn't do a very good job of it either. Sometimes he'll hike one leg and pee toward the other. Dumb dog or just young & cute? ha.

[indiasign]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I should have mentioned that Harvey is only 9 months old so, going on some of the answers, he may grow out of it.

I had considered baby wipes but wasn't sure if it would affect his skin - I'll give it a go.

Otherwise, it's out with the scissors!

[cavalover]

In addition to baby wipes, there are also doggie wipes. Not really sure if there is a chemical difference, but we had to use them almost daily for my guy for the first year and they did not cause any irritation or discomfort to the skin.

Surprisingly, for whatever reason, neutering also seemed to help him. Within a week of neutering, he went from only doing the puppy squat to lifting his leg just enough to keep it dry.

It might sound like a strange question, but... did you happen to cut the hair on his penis? The first day we brought our guy home at 5 months, my husband and I thought it would be a GREAT idea to cut off what seemed like just a long, dirty piece of hair... it turns out that letting it stay long can help his aim and prevent him from spraying his entire leg. It was a long several months waiting for that to come back, but it now has made life much easier

[Dillboy]

In addition to baby wipes, there are also doggie wipes. Not really sure if there is a chemical difference, but we had to use them almost daily for my guy for the first year and they did not cause any irritation or discomfort to the skin.

Surprisingly, for whatever reason, neutering also seemed to help him. Within a week of neutering, he went from only doing the puppy squat to lifting his leg just enough to keep it dry.

It might sound like a strange question, but... did you happen to cut the hair on his penis? The first day we brought our guy home at 5 months, my husband and I thought it would be a GREAT idea to cut off what seemed like just a long, dirty piece of hair... it turns out that letting it stay long can help his aim and prevent him from spraying his entire leg. It was a long several months waiting for that to come back, but it now has made life much easier

Dillon was an early leg lifter (I thought so anyway!) and his aim was hopeless....but we got by with baby wipes and spot cleaning in between his baths to help keep him smelling nice...also we did trim his penis hair, but only so it was 'pointy' shaped and that did help. He does still 'curtsey' to pee every now and then; probably when he's tired...