# Male Mal Puppy Bites Himself



## Jen Houser

I’ve got a bit of a situation with my Mal puppy. He is male and a little over 3 months old. He seems perfectly healthy other than this little issue: he bites his pee pee a lot. And when he does this, he whines and cries as if he was in pain (and not pain caused by the biting). He gets very loud vocally over it and will continue to frantically bite himself (fairly hard) and cry. I’ve taken him to the vet and they say nothing is wrong. They tested him for a urinary tract infection but results were good. He is on flee medication so it isn’t that either. He’s been doing it for the past several weeks, and I catch him doing it several times a day. 

Has anyone had any experience with this? It definitely doesn’t seem normal and I haven’t had any male dogs do this before. (And no, it doesnt look like he enjoys it!)


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## Gillian Schuler

No pup can bite its "pee pee" (I can't bite my own either).

I guess you mean biting his penis and I've never encountered this in a pup. I would seek a second opinion just to make sure everything is ok. Pups develop strange habits but this sounds as though he has slight pain or inflammation.


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## Anne Vaini

Jen Houser said:


> I’ve got a bit of a situation with my Mal puppy. He is male and a little over 3 months old. He seems perfectly healthy other than this little issue: he bites his pee pee a lot. And when he does this, he whines and cries as if he was in pain (and not pain caused by the biting). He gets very loud vocally over it and will continue to frantically bite himself (fairly hard) and cry. I’ve taken him to the vet and they say nothing is wrong. They tested him for a urinary tract infection but results were good. He is on flee medication so it isn’t that either. He’s been doing it for the past several weeks, and I catch him doing it several times a day.
> 
> Has anyone had any experience with this? It definitely doesn’t seem normal and I haven’t had any male dogs do this before. (And no, it doesnt look like he enjoys it!)



This reminds me of another thread that I will never be able to find. It ended up being a spine problem. Anyone else remember this?


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## Carol Boche

I do, and like you, I will never find that either. 

Some questions for the OP: 

Have you considered a second opinion? (I would)

Have you noticed anything "off" about him at all? difficulty urinating, less or frequently? Accidents that did not used to happen? 
Difficulty going into a sit or down position? 

Any change in energy levels? 

How much exercise does the pup get? 

Does he do this when he is crated or just whenever? 

And of course the staple question...what are you feeding the dog? 

Although I would be going to a different vet and doing a full work up and x-rays on the dog. 
It may be boredom, or lack of enough exercise and work to tire him out. 

Dogs left to their own "entertainment" can come up with all kinds of wierd "quirks", although I admit, biting at his own penis is odder than most.


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## Jen Houser

I haven’t gotten a second opinion yet. I just got the results from his tests yesterday, and I’ve been going to my vet for 15 years and have a very good relationship with them. But of course, a second opinion can’t hurt at all.

I haven’t noticed anything that is “off.” He urinates a lot but he drinks a ton of water (and has since I got him). He still occasionally has an accident in the house but that is happening less frequently and I chalk it up to him being a puppy. No problems in a sit or down position at all. His energy is the same too.

He seems to do the biting whenever. I can run him like crazy and he will be completely exhausted and still do it so it doesn’t seem like a boredom thing. He gets taken out for walks/runs/off the leash about 3-4 times a day. They aren’t short trips either. Sometimes we’ll spend a good hour and half outside playing and running. He is consistently biting himself regardless of the day’s activities.

I feed him Science Diet puppy dry food and Nurto Natural Choice wet food. I also have some Nature’s Variety dry food that I occasionally mix in. While he sometimes prefers that I stand there while he eats, he usually always finishes his food. He is getting fed 3 times a day right now.

As a side note, the skin around his penis and on his belly is not red or inflamed. There are no visible signs that anything is wrong.


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## Amy Swaby

Yikes for one science diet is a terrible dog food. I would feed ol roy before any of my dogs touched that garbage. I would definitely get a second opinion. Does the tip of the penis look redder than the rest?


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## Carol Boche

Well, for one, I would do a full blood panel and maybe some x-rays to see if there is some sort of internal issue or a spine.

The only other thing (and this may or may not have anything to do with anything) is I would switch his food to an all-natural kibble.Or even switch him to a Nutro kibble. Just (please) get him off the Science Diet. That is really one of the worst foods to feed. 

Does not necassarily have to be puppy kibble either. I use an adult food starting at about 5 months of age. Puppies do not need puppy kibble for very long (if any at all) so in moy opinion the puppy side of it is a gimmick. 

(really I would ask you to consider a raw diet, but I am not real pushy on that, but I would recommend at least researching it)


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## Jen Houser

Amy Swaby said:


> Yikes for one science diet is a terrible dog food. I would feed ol roy before any of my dogs touched that garbage. I would definitely get a second opinion. Does the tip of the penis look redder than the rest?


 
No, the tip of his penis is does not look more red than the rest.

Why do you think Science Diet is garbage? I've heard several vets recommend it and I've never had problems with any of my other dogs who eat it. I'm very curious to know what is so bad about it.


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## Carol Boche

Jen,

I am sending you a private message......


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## Becky Shilling

Vets recommend because Hill's provides B$g Bucks to vet schools and about all the "nutritional" education vets get is sponsered by them.


I would have a more thorough exam of his penis itself, including a good flush of the sheath. He may have some gotten some dirt, sand, grass, whatever into his sheath and now it's become a constant irritant.


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## Jen Houser

I have absolutely no problems getting him off Science Diet. Apparantly I have been talking to the wrong people because I have never heard of it being this terrible!

I actually have considered doing a raw diet but haven't made the switch yet. I actually started my puppy out on Nature's Variety but it seemed a bit too rich and gave him the runs, so I went to Science Diet puppy.

Looks like I'll be getting the full blood work and x-rays done. I'd rather be safe than sorry!


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## Chad Byerly

If he is erect, can you see any irritation? 

Our pup got a scratch (or something) and we flushed it a couple times a day with water and a little hydrogen peroxide. Treating this also took care of the humping he'd started. 

We got a couple syringes from the vet with long curved tips... We had him stand with his front feet on a footrest while I held a big storage container lid with his Nature's Variety raw mix spread all over it (or you could use can food or peanut butter). This kept him busy while the liquid was squirted in, then holding the foreskin closed you have to squish the liquid around so it gets up into everywhere. Then release, and let the liquid come out, repeat with water only, and again with water... It was really easy, and so if you have someone to help, you could try flushing it for a couple days and see if that helps.


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## Carol Boche

Chad, 

I am assuming that since you were holding the lid to the container the dog was standing with the rest of his body in the container in order to help with any clean up?


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## Chad Byerly

LOL , no no, just towels spread out... And then cleaning the floor.


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## Anne Vaini

Jen Houser said:


> I’ve got a bit of a situation with my Mal puppy. He is male and a little over 3 months old. He seems perfectly healthy other than this little issue: he bites his pee pee a lot. And when he does this, he whines and cries as if he was in pain (and not pain caused by the biting). He gets very loud vocally over it and will continue to frantically bite himself (fairly hard) and cry. I’ve taken him to the vet and they say nothing is wrong. They tested him for a urinary tract infection but results were good. He is on flee medication so it isn’t that either. He’s been doing it for the past several weeks, and I catch him doing it several times a day.
> 
> Has anyone had any experience with this? It definitely doesn’t seem normal and I haven’t had any male dogs do this before. (And no, it doesnt look like he enjoys it!)


Was the urine checked for crystals?


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## Jen Houser

Thanks all for the advice. I will check back with the vet today and hopefully I get an answer to my pup's problems. 8-[


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## Maren Bell Jones

Becky Shilling said:


> Vets recommend because Hill's provides B$g Bucks to vet schools and about all the "nutritional" education vets get is sponsered by them.


Yes and no...they do provide big bucks to vet schools for various programs (and so do the other big companies AND the pharmaceutical companies), but at least at our vet school, our nutrition class is not sponsored by Hill's. 

On a positive note, almost 3/4 of my classmates and the class below me orders food from Natura from me through their student program, including one of the Hill's student reps.  Not quite as many of the third and fourth years do, but this is the first year of the program. Don't worry, hopefully the new vets coming out of vet med school will not look at your like you've grown a third head for feeding EVO, California Natural, or Innova because at least they will have heard of it and hopefully used it.


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## Carol Boche

Jen Houser said:


> Thanks all for the advice. I will check back with the vet today and hopefully I get an answer to my pup's problems. 8-[


Please keep us posted Jen....interested to see how this turns out for you and the little guy.


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## Jeff Oehlsen

If there isn't a health issue, maybe you should tire his brain out and not his body. Do more training. Also, has he chewed on his legs or paws at all ??? It seems a bit young to do this, but I am curious.


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## Gerry Grimwood

I've had 2 pups that had an infatuation with biting their dinks, they only did this when they were bored and when out doing something the behaviour wasn't there.

Yours could be doing it for a different reason though.


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## Mike Scheiber

Gerry Grimwood said:


> I've had 2 pups that had an infatuation with biting their dinks, they only did this when they were bored and when out doing something the behaviour wasn't there.
> 
> Yours could be doing it for a different reason though.


A little Tabasco on there ass hole and they should forget all about the dink :wink:


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## todd pavlus

Just the thought makes it burn


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## Chris Michalek

the owner of the sire to my mal pup has another Mal that chewed his own tail off.


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## Bob Scott

It could be OCD behaviour. 
With Jeff on the "wear his ass out"! Still do all the vet checks.


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## Connie Sutherland

Jen Houser said:


> I've heard several vets recommend it


They sell Science Diet! Of course they recommend it. :lol:

I consider it to be among the top three for terribleness in dog food, and not at all just because of its participation in the awful recall of 2006. The best way to start analyzing the dog food you buy us to read the ingredients list.

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=ingrd

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=betterproducts

http://www.bornfreeusa.org/facts.php?more=1&p=359


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## Connie Sutherland

Maren Bell Jones said:


> .... but at least at our vet school, our nutrition class is not sponsored by Hill's. .... Don't worry, hopefully the new vets coming out of vet med school will not look at your like you've grown a third head for feeding EVO, California Natural, or Innova because at least they will have heard of it and hopefully used it.


And I can't wait. (To the O.P.: Hills Science Diet was bought by Colgate, I believe.) 

Interesting tidbit: Whole Dog Journal, a publication that accepts no advertising and is thus pretty even handed and unbiased, gave Science Diet Nature’s Best with Real Beef specific mention in its annual review of dog foods as one of the two (Purina Beneful was the other) worst dog foods based on “their lack of worthwhile ingredients.”


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## Connie Sutherland

Jen Houser said:


> ... Looks like I'll be getting the full blood work and x-rays done. I'd rather be safe than sorry!


I hope that you will post back with results.

BTW, did you answer a question I saw about paws? Is he biting or licking his paws?


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## Jen Houser

To answer the question about the paws, no he does not bite or lick them. :-k 

By watching his reactions, it really does seem like it is irritating or hurting him more than him just being bored. When he gets bored, he gets destructive with objects, and if he gets frustrated, he is very verbal about it and snappy. This is genuine crying in pain of some sort, so I really do doubt it’s is OCD-like behavior. 

I do work on training and entertaining him while we are out or in the house. He went to his first bite work class over the weekend (and impressed the instructor!) and he still bite himself once we got home (and he was pooped cause he passed out shortly after walking in the front door).

He did seem to do it less last night so maybe whatever it was is going away. My vet suggested to put him on antibiotics in case he did have an infection inside his sheath, although no discharge or anything is present. 

Thank you for the links, Connie. I will definitely read up on the ingredients! I took him off Science Diet last night and switched to Nature’s Variety until I can do more research and find the right diet for him.


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## Jen Houser

Just a quick update. The vets never found anything wrong, but Oliver has gradually begun to stop his biting. He is doing it less and less, so whatever the irritation was, it has fixed itself.


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## Connie Sutherland

Jen Houser said:


> Just a quick update. The vets never found anything wrong, but Oliver has gradually begun to stop his biting. He is doing it less and less, so whatever the irritation was, it has fixed itself.


I'm very glad to hear it!


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