Why does my female dog lift her leg to pee?

My female Maltese does this so she doesn't pee on her leg (because she has long hair). On the rare occasion that she doesn't life one leg, she ends up with pee on her leg.

Lots of female dogs lift their legs, just like lots of male dogs squat. Dogs use urine as a calling card - it carries a ton of information about the dog's age, sex, health, etc, and they love to strategically place their urine to mark their territories or to cover up other scents. Sometimes this requires aiming up a bit.

If you really want to change her behavior, you can focus on rewarding her when she squats and trying to interrupt her when she's going to lift her leg (often dogs will sniff the spot they're going to go ahead of time, so based on where she's sniffing you may be able to tell which she intends to do). If my dog is trying to stop in an inopportune place, I'll pick up my walking pace and tell her "let's go!" or "come on!" to tell her that now is time for moving, not marking. Then I give her the freedom to sniff around and pee when we're somewhere more appropriate and give her praise/treats for going in the right place. Eventually, if you're consistent, she'll learn to squat more and lift her leg less.

Hi Sharon- Like Laura said it could be "marking'. I have pet sat for female dogs that occasionally do lift their leg but also have a male dog role model (who sometimes squats to pee). I can also be a alpha female trait.
Kathleen D.

One of my dogs (they're both female) lifts her leg when she pees and the other doesn't so it depends on the dog. Bailey lifts her leg because it's how she marks things, so it's also how she pees. There's really not much you can do about this other than rewarding her when she pees normally (butt to the grass). Otherwise, she'll clean herself off once the walk is done, but consider it a mark of her personality. Of course, Bailey also tends to try to hump me, so she's definitely dominant.