Why Do Dogs Kick After They Wee?

She has finished. Then, with great ceremony, she kicks the grass backwards as if the lawn had insulted her. Clods fly. The lead tangles. A nearby person who thought the walk was over is now wearing turf.

The kick is not burial, and it is not a verdict on your gardening. It is a second message, sent with the feet, after the first message was sent with the wee.

Scent, but Not the Way the Cartoon Says

Dogs leave news on the ground with urine and, less politely, with the glands beside the anus. Scraping after the fact kicks up scent from the paws and from those glands, and it scuffs a visual mark as well. Other dogs read both. You mostly notice the visual one, because it hits your shoes.

They do it after weeing and after pooing. Males do it. Females do it. A tiny dog can put remarkable effort into a patch of moss. Confidence plays a part: a dog who feels entitled to the path advertises harder. It is not a reliable dominance meter, whatever the internet claims. A nervous dog may scrape too, or may wee in a crouch and leave in a hurry. Read the whole body, which is the point of dog body language. A loose, showy kick is a press release. A tucked, frantic scratch is something else.

It is also not the same hobby as rolling in a smell. Rolling collects a smell onto the coat. Kicking publishes a smell from the dog onto the ground. One walk can include both, which is a lot of journalism for a Tuesday.

Why Your Walk Includes a Shower of Dirt

The Ground Is the Medium

Grass and loose soil take a paw print. Pavement does not, so some dogs still mime the kick on concrete, scraping claws for the feeling and the gland scent even when nothing flies. Let them finish if the path is empty. Dragging a dog mid-kick is how you get a second performance further along, plus a opinion.

Other Dogs Have Been Writing

A lamppost that already smells like a committee inspires a longer reply. This is normal park behaviour. It becomes a problem when the reply is aimed at a flower bed, a picnic, or the neighbour's toddler. Keep the lead short in those places. You are not crushing her spirit. You are choosing the newspaper.

You React

A gasp and a tug can turn a four-second scrape into a game. Stay boring. Step onward when she is done. If the kick always ends in a treat because you are desperate to leave, you have hired her as a landscaper.

When the Kick Is Actually an Itch

Look at what happens next. A marking kick is a few strokes and then walking on. An itch is chewing, scooting, a red rump, or the same scratch on clean floors at home where nothing was deposited.

Book a vet if you see:

• Scooting, licking under the tail, or a smell that is hers rather than the park's
• Bald, red, or sore skin where the claws hit
• Kicking and chewing with no wee or poo attached
• Straining, blood, or a wee that looks like effort

Anal gland trouble, fleas, and allergies get narrated as "she is just kicking off." Part the fur. The glands are a common, unglamorous reason a dog becomes suddenly interested in her back end. Keep parasite prevention current. A Beagle or any dog who squats in every headline on the path still should not be raw under the tail. That is not journalism.

You Will Not Delete It

This is communication, filed next to barking and the stare. Training can move it off the picnic rug. It will not remove the urge to sign the walk. Praise a kick that happens in the grass you chose. Avoid the beds you care about by walking past them with purpose, the same way you walk past a smell you do not want her to wear.

Small dogs sign the world too. A Yorkie kicking backwards on a lead is mostly a hazard to her own hocks and your tights. Same behaviour, smaller turf. The pros and cons did not mention the turf. Consider this the footnote.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is my dog angry?

No. Anger in dogs looks like a stiff body and a threat, not a backwards scrape after a wee. She is adding a signature.

Why does the male do it more?

Often he wees more often, on more lampposts, so you see more signatures. Females scrape plenty. Count the events you actually watch before you assign the habit to one sex.

Can I train a quiet wee with no kick?

You can train a wee on cue and a walk-on afterwards. Expect the occasional encore. Paying the walk-on generously works better than scolding the feet.

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Disclaimer: This article is general information, not veterinary advice. Scooting, sore skin, straining, or blood in the urine needs a vet rather than a longer theory about scent marking.