Why does my dog lick other dogs' urine?

Dogs sometimes behave in ways that people don't quite understand, such as sniffing waste. Another natural and very common behavior is licking the urine of other dogs. But...why do they do this?

In fact, furry gets a lot of clues about other dogs by licking their urine. Jacobson's organ (or vomeronasal) is responsible for this, since it allows you to evaluate certain information about the urine and send it to the brain. Learn more about this behavior in your canine companion below.

What happens when my dog licks other people's urine

If you are an observer, you will notice that after licking urine, your dog lifts his muzzle and presses his tongue to his muzzle. It may seem that he is enjoying it and time has stopped for him...

However, this is most likely due to the Flehmen reaction . This means that the dog is left with its tongue curled up in its mouth for several moments and does not move. What's happening to her? Well, she uses a Jacobson organ. No more, no less.

When they adopt this stance, a chemical process is initiated that plays a crucial role in reproduction, perception of the environment and its social interactions.

Possible complications

Depending on what disease triggered the thirst attack, complications can be dangerous and even fatal. Especially dangerous are calculi (stones) in the kidneys and pinched nerves in the spine, as well as pyometra.

Stones threaten to block the ureter or urethra, which can lead to an attack of severe pain and the development of very serious complications, including kidney failure or damage to the ureter by the sharp edges of the stone. This can be fatal.

Pinched nerves and displacement of intervertebral discs can lead to complete or partial paralysis and disability of the animal. He will need special conditions or the dog will not survive such a complication.

With pyometra, there is a powerful source of inflammation in the dog’s body. Pus can enter other organs, leading to their infection and the development of an inflammatory process. The most negative diagnosis is sepsis, or general blood poisoning. If the condition is neglected, you may not have time to save your pet.

Could this be a threat to my dog's health?

Dogs have a powerful immune system, which, well accompanied by up-to-date vaccinations and regular deworming, will keep your companion in excellent health.

So, one dog licking another dog's urine from time to time should not be a serious problem since it is an instinctive and natural behavior.

However, if your furry companion is sick or has a weak immune system , he may become infected with viruses or bacteria from another furry.

In the worst case scenario, your dog can get leptospirosis by drinking contaminated water or urine. If the inflammation is severe or continues over time, it can cause permanent kidney damage.

If you observe these symptoms in your friend, we recommend visiting your veterinarian soon.:

Apathy . Suddenly the dog stopped showing interest in things that he used to like.
Fever . This always indicates that something is wrong, whether it is accompanied by other symptoms or not.
Redness of the mucous membranes . The inside of the mouth, nose and eyes are mucous membranes; when they start to turn very red, this is a warning sign.
Vomit . Look closely at the color, texture and frequency to let your veterinarian know.
Fatigue . This is normal when the dog is older, but when combined with other symptoms it is cause for concern.

Causes of the disease

There may be several pathological reasons for increased thirst:

Treatment with diuretics, anticonvulsants and corticosteroids. In this case, increased water consumption is normal, and there is no need to limit the animal’s fluid intake.
An inflammatory process in the body, which is accompanied by an increase in body temperature.
Disorders of the kidneys and urinary system. In this case, the animal urinates frequently and drinks a lot of water in an attempt to restore electrolyte balance. Urolithiasis is especially dangerous because it can lead to blockage of the ureter or urethra with a stone, which will lead to the development of a severe pain attack. The cessation of urine excretion causes uremia and poisoning of the body with waste products. This is unacceptable; at the first suspicion, you should immediately contact a veterinarian without wasting time.
Diabetes of the first and second types. This is a very dangerous disease, which is often accompanied by increased thirst.
Pyometra is a purulent inflammation of the internal cavity of the uterus.
Piroplasmosis, caused by protozoa, is also accompanied by increased thirst.
Polydipsia of psychogenic origin provokes an increase in water consumption.
Some types of spinal injuries, for example, pinched nerve endings, in some cases provoke an increase in thirst.

Not in all cases it is possible to easily determine the reason why the dog began to drink much more liquid. Therefore, if natural reasons for increased drinking of water are excluded, this condition should alarm the animal owner and become a reason for a visit to the veterinary clinic.

What's interesting about dog urine?

Surprisingly, dog urine is a complex universe of information. It contains a mixture of ammonia, uric acid, bacteria and hormones.

The Jacobson's organ, its subsidiary function of the olfactory system, is filled with sensory neurons that detect these chemical compounds, usually large molecules.

Dog scent connects directly to the dog's brain. From the tongue and palate, the magic begins with the detection of chemical particles in the vomeronasal organ. From that moment on, in less than a second, your dog processes the information.

Hormones are a chemical compound that cheats if the urine comes from a male or female, or if the female is in heat, for example. Moreover, the bacteria will tell you about your medical history.

How do dogs exchange “scent information”?

Unfortunately, we still know very little about the functions of dogs’ olfactory signals and their sources (as, indeed, about the chemical communication of animals in general). It is known, for example, that in the anus of dogs there are paired glands, the secretion of which can fall on feces, giving it an odor specific to the individual. In addition, on the upper side of the base of the tail there is a special gland, described by Seton in 1925, its secretion can also be a source of information about a given individual. This is probably why dogs show such interest in the anal area and feces of their fellow tribesmen.

Dogs use feces, like some other sources of odorous substances, to mark their territory. Marking is an extremely important form of behavior for many species of terrestrial animals: by leaving odorous substances at different points in their habitat, they signal about themselves to other individuals. Thanks to odorous marks, a more uniform and, most importantly, structured distribution of individuals in the population occurs, sexual partners find each other more easily, and opponents, avoiding direct contacts that could lead to injury, receive fairly complete information about the “master.”

Sometimes a visual mark is also added to the odorous mark : for example, male dogs after bowel movements usually scratch with their paws near that place, which is unlikely to be associated with the need to bury feces. Still, dogs often use urine to mark their territory. Typical urination behavior differs between females and males. Approaching the mark of another individual, the male sniffs it carefully, lifts his paw and releases a small amount of urine. Why this act is usually performed near the mark of another individual should be clear from the previous explanation: after all, this is where the “information exchange point” is located. In an unfamiliar area, where there have been no dogs before, the dog, as a rule, approaches all even slightly elevated objects (stones, bushes) and urinates on them. At the same time, the smell of her own urine prevents her from urinating in the same place until another dog leaves a mark there.

Dogs who live in an enclosure or area where other dogs never go rarely mark. Adult male dogs raised in isolation usually do not mark.

However, odorous marks indicate not only the border of the territory and the rights to it . Every time he meets another dog, a male leaves a mark in some suitable (sometimes not suitable, from the owner’s point of view) place. There is an opinion that the higher a dog puts a mark, the more significant its place in the hierarchical system. But this is hardly always true: often smaller dogs that physically cannot mark high are dominant. Most likely, the more important factor here is the degree of arousal, forcing the marking individual to “express its emotions more strongly.”

When a male dog urinates to empty his bladder, he does not lift his legs . This also happens with certain diseases or due to a strong urge to urinate, for example, if he has not been walked for a long time before. The posture in this case is the same as in young dogs that have not reached puberty: the hind legs are widely spaced and pushed back.

What information do dogs receive by sniffing the mark of another individual? It is not easy to answer this question, but the experiments of S.A. Korytin make it possible to shed light on this problem. Along the 10 km route, they placed juniper branches every 200 m, half of them were doused with the urine of a six-month-old male, the rest with the urine of an adult. An adult male, which was led along the route three times, replacing branches each time, marked significantly more often those doused with the urine of an adult male. Thus, male dogs certainly distinguish the age of the individual who left the urine mark.

The behavior of females associated with excretory function differs significantly from the behavior of males. The female visits certain places where scent marks are left, but only near her home. Usually, when urinating, she crouches (there are, however, cases when the female raises her paw, but they are rare) like young male dogs. When defecating, the position of females is the same as that of males, but after defecation, females very rarely scratch the ground with their paws. During heat, the bitch's behavior changes dramatically. She moves further from the house, visits more marks and urinates in each such place.

All dog lovers know how attractive the smell of females during estrus is to males. This is how D. Mainardi describes it in the book “The Dog and the Fox”: “The air is filled with tempting smells carried by the wind, the tail trembles in joyful languor, there is a sparkle in the eyes - all these are the harbingers of Blue’s first heat. Noses who know a lot about the matter have already sensed this event, and “howling trills of fanfare” are heard throughout the area. Often, when they smell a bitch in heat, male dogs completely “lose their heads” and stop obeying their owners. That’s why in spring and autumn, when many females are ready to mate, owners need to take care not to lose their pets.”

Specially conducted studies have shown that males of different breeds of dogs well distinguish the smell of urine of individuals of their own sex from the opposite, when the females are in a state of anestrus (that is, not ready to mate), and the latter from the detailed signals of females is in a state of estrus (estrus). Information about female estrus can be contained not only in urine, but also in vaginal discharge and feces. During estrus, special odorous substances appear in the secretions of bitches - sex pheromones, which attract males. In general, pheromones are individual substances or mixtures thereof that are released by animals into the environment and cause certain behavioral and physiological reactions in other individuals. Typically, mammalian pheromones are complex mixtures of substances that include a number of components. However, in the sexual sphere of relationships this is not always the case: fruit pheromones can be mixtures of a simpler composition of one or two compounds. In 1979, M. Goodwin and his colleagues discovered a substance in the vaginal secretions of bitches in heat - methyl p-hydroxybenzoate. If it was applied to the genitals of a female in anestrus, the male began to actively court her.

How to act

If your dog frequently licks the urine of other dogs, this is the right way to proceed:

Health is the first thing . Keep his vaccinations up to date, deworm him frequently, and feed him a quality diet. This way your friend will be healthy and happy.
Don't punish him . This is normal biological behavior as he is only trying to learn from his peers and environment. Don't put pressure on him.
Change your habit . If you want your dog to stop licking other dogs' urine, change his focus when he initiates it and encourage him to focus on something else instead of getting angry. Remember that this is something instinctive for him, he is not doing anything wrong.
Hygienic measures . Licking our face is not a cause for concern, but after a dog has licked another dog's urine, it is a good idea to give him some water. You must always maintain hygiene.

As you can see, this extreme precision in their olfactory system gives dogs an ability that we might consider a superpower. Although we should not be overly concerned, it is advisable to control it and avoid as much as possible having them lick urine from unknown dogs on the street as a preventative measure. Does your dog usually do this often? Tell us about a case you know of where this behavior occurs.

Prevention measures and diet

In order to avoid negative processes in the dog’s body, you need to carefully monitor its health, nutrition and behavior. It is strictly forbidden to give your dog food from your table, especially smoked, salted, and spicy food. You cannot accustom an animal to food that is unnatural for it - sweets, buns, food with seasonings.

If a dog is fed natural products, its food should not be salted.

The dog should always have clean water available to drink. When calculating the normal volume of fluid drunk, you need to take into account not only water, but also soups, milk and other drinks that your dog drinks.

Overfeeding an animal, even out of great love for it, means slowly killing your pet. This is the right step towards diabetes, which cannot be treated, requires constant medication and significantly reduces the pet’s life expectancy and its quality.

Taking good care of your dog can save its health and even its life.

Almost every person owns a dog, but not every little friend regularly goes to the toilet or is walked by the owner. Therefore, we will tell you how to get rid of the smell of dog urine in your apartment in a couple of minutes.