Fake Potty-er?

Okay two questions...

Anyone have a fake pee-er? Summer is sooo bad about it! I was scolding Mia for not going (dog has seriously only gone on two potty trips today) and said sternly 'Go potty!'

Summer, even though she had already gone, ran out into the yard and squatted like she was peeing only her tail was going 100 mph and she was watching me the whole time. She didn't move till I released her.

Anyone else have a dog that does that? Summer has forever if you ask her to potty and she doesn't need to go. In my apartment my roomies and I would laugh and laugh at the fake potties.

Question 2, can someone explain the behavior to me? I've always heard that dogs can't reason through things like that. Her thought process seems to be 'Well I don't need to go so I will just squat over here.' It just seems like a complicated thought process for a dog.

This should have been put in the general section.

Renegade does it though he's not a dog. Pretty sure he does it to scam a treat from me LOL

Izzie's learned the positions. She tries to fake it but i walk out with her now and she knows she can't fool me.

Izzie knows she has to do both before she gets fed in the morning. So she tries to fake me out.

Yep. All three of the girls would squat on command for a hotdog. LOL. The woes of being too good at potty training, I guess? It's a behavior learned like all other behaviors.

Probably not surprising but Kim will do this as well. I think probably because she was SO heavily rewarded for pottying as a pup and since she was an apartment dog for so long I was at hand for Every. Single. Performance. and she just put 2 and 2 together at some point.

I suspect those who say dogs can't figure such things out tend to underestimate dogkind in many ways. Too bad for them. Potentially fabulous for their dogs...if the dogs have a certain sort of personality.

Kastle does this too. It's annoying. I usually insist he "try" again and then he'll usually squeeze out a few drops for me LOL

Eden marks like a boy and so she usually has a pee stash on hand to actually pee a little. I do teach all of my dogs the same "Go Potty" command since we travel SO MUCH and are in hotels a lot. It's very convenient. Unless Kastle's faking and then it's annoying. LOL

Many of my dogs would do that as well.

Gavroche will do it if I insist he pees before I feed him at night. I know someone with a GSD that does it, too. Logan has yet to turn down a chance to pee lol. If a dog is going to fake-pee, it's just as easy to actually pee, so I don't mind - odds are they just don't have to go.

Dogs are smarter than a lot of people give them credit for.

oh yeah. My old dog would do that all the time. I think she thought it was her cue to play I never play until my dogs go at least potty and if I think they have to poop, I have them do that too. Anyway, she would stop and squat in front of me all the time then look at me, like "throw the **** ball already" and if it didn't work, she'd do it again. This was also one of the few times she actually squatted to pee. She lifted her leg as often as she squated to pee. She was a cool dog.

She may have associated the position...the squatting... with the cue, "go pee" and not singling out the actual urine coming out as the entire behavior. That may be part of it or in addition to, but perhaps the squatting only is a behavior associated with the verbal cue. It may not be that she's going through a thought process that leads to trying to fake you out, as in....hmmm, let's see....if I look like I'm going potty even if nothing comes out, she'll think I peed (ha, ha...little does she know) and stop bossing me around. (lol) In other words, "go pee" = squat and/or expel urine.

Yep, Chloe will. She'll even run around to the side of the house where she THINKS I can't see her, stand there for a bit, and run back like she went. She'll do anything for a treat.

Oh thank god I thought Daisy was the only one! She will pop a squat when I yell at her to come inside and she's too busy sniffing something.

Oh thinking about it, Rosey will do that too. If she is out front and i tell her hoise, she'll squat to buy some time LOL

So will Victor.

Xena doesn't fake it, but she sure takes her sweet time finding just the right spot to put her dainty bottom. She does the dance of a thousand squats, sometimes, I'm certain, to irritate me.

Awe, I find the fake potty performance cute! Can't say I've had a dog who actually takes it that far, LOL

HA! I was just going to say this about Orson.........minus the 'squat' and insert a hike :lol-sign:

If I say "Go potty" and he doesn't have to, he'll pretend to search for his spot--stop--look at me expectantly--I reiterate--he searches some more. This can go on as long as I'm willing, but he finally has me trained to stop it after 2 expectant looks, LOL

Tallulah does the fake pee pretty routinely if it's raining. Setting her up with a potty box has saved my sanity.

Gonzo does this ALL the time! He'll even pretend to poo. D: It aggravates me. Just do it or don't do it!!!

Fozzie, if I encourage him to potty and he's done, just looks at me like "I'm done, ya b!"

Haha, this is what Sienna does, too. I can practically hear her whining like a little kid, "but I don't hafta go!"