male puppy hiking to pee

Question
We have a male minpin who is a little over 4 months old and has just begun to hike his leg to pee, not every time, but sometimes.  We were hoping to have him neutered before this began as he is trained to a litter box.  Our vet said he is big enough now so I have scheduled his "surgery" for next week.  My question is, can he be untrained to hike his leg if this continues after the neutering?  Thank you!

Answer
The age that leg-lifting starts is dependent on how dominant the dog. I've had it as early as five weeks, and as late as 18 months. The more dominant the dog, the earlier he starts to lift.

Since yours is still fairly young, he may quit on his own after neutering, but I wouldn't count on it. I truly don't know if this instinctual behavior can be "untrained", but try to only praise him when he squats since he is still doing that.

In the meantime, since he is apparently fairly dominant, get him into on-going obedience classes and start practicing "Nothing in Life is Free" with him. http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm