Top 3 Reasons Why Dogs Lick Other Dog’s Pee

While it may look very unsanitary to us, there could be valid reasons for dogs that lick another dog’s pee. Here are the most common reasons.

1. Learn more about another dog

As strange as this sounds, licking urine can help a dog learn a lot about another dog. This works because urine contains chemicals and pheromones that are unique to each dog. Dogs have an olfactory mechanism that’s a lot more advanced than ours. They have an organ in their nasal passage called the vomeronasal organ. This organ allows the dogs to detect pheromones from the urine they licked. It’s all part of the flehmen response.

2. Dogs like the taste

Some dogs may lick another dog’s pee because they like the taste. You may notice your dog licking his own pee as well from time to time. You, however, need to make sure that this isn’t a result of something concerning such as malnutrition and poor dietary habits.

Some dogs may develop a condition called pica which is when a dog craves and eats non-food item. When dogs lick another dog’s pee, it could be a sign that they aren’t getting an optimal balance of nutrients in their food.

3. Occurrence with non-neutered dogs

Non-neutered dogs may show a greater tendency to lick another dog’s pee, especially if that pee is coming from a female dog that’s about to go in heat. This behavior might reduce in frequency once your dog gets the neutering procedure done.