Why does my dog drink another dog's pee?

Question

We live in a home with three other dogs. We have a nice backyard and a doggie door, and all the animals know how to use it, but for some reason we can't get two of them to stop peeing inside the house. One is going senile, and the other is a younger boy we think is competing with our newest addition, a 4 year old Pomchi.

Well, my problem is that for some reason my 4 year old keeps drinking the senile girl dog's pee. I've seen him both licking it up after she's peed in the house as well as right underneath her leg as it's literally coming out. I don't think he does it with the other dogs -- these two always play together and you know do the dirty if they can get away with it.

Is this a sign of affection? Or what's going on here? My dog himself is very well house trained and we have never had an issue of him going in our room, only when he first moved in did he really mark the furniture but he eventually stopped. I've never seen him drink his own urine, just hers. We just adopted him about a year and a half ago and I know he was neglected in his previous home. Not sure if improper training has anything to do with it.

Any insight on why he's doing this and suggestions on how we can get him to stop are greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

It may be because he's trying to smell her pheromones for when she goes into heat, as some male dogs will show sexual interest in even fixed female dogs (or if she is not fixed, many male dogs will have particular interest in her). Many animals, including the dog, have an organ on the roof of their mouth called the Jacobson's Organ. This is used to "taste" pheromones in the air that are not detectable by the normal sense of smell. Animals with a Jacobson's Organ typically use it to detect when females go into heat or estrus by smelling, or even seemingly tasting, their urine.