Why Do Dogs Pee On Tires? (Preventing + Does It Damage Tires)

If you own a dog as a pet, you might have caught your canine friend sniffing and peeing on your tires more than once.

While this seems like a strange phenomenon, there’s an explanation for why your dog chooses to urinate on your tires. Why does this happen? Here’s what I discovered.

Why Do Dogs Pee On Tires?

Dogs pee on tires to mark their territory as they are drawn to tires because they gain scents from all over as you drive. To mark their place, they pee on the tires to warn other dogs to stay away from their area. In addition, they’ll mostly pee on vertical surfaces and leave their scent at nose level.

For more information about why dogs pee on tires, how to stop them and whether this has any impact on your tires, keep on reading.

What Makes Dogs Pee On Car Tires?

Most car owners and dog keepers have at one time or another questioned why dogs choose to pee on the car tires.

Dogs are very territorial creatures. Therefore, they urinate on your tires to mark their area and keep away other dogs. But why do they choose car tires? Let’s take a closer look.

Vertical Surface

Most dogs prefer peeing on a vertical surface; therefore, tires serve as a good example. This is because the urine scent lasts much longer on a vertical surface than on a horizontal area.

Research shows that male urination is mainly directed towards vertical targets 97.6% of the time, which explains why tires are appealing to dogs.

Just like other vertical objects such as a fire hydrant, lamppost, electric poles, bushes, and fences, car tires are strategically located for the dogs.

Nose Level

Urine placement is essential to dogs and works as a business card; therefore, to relay information to other dogs, they pee and leave the scent at nose level for other dogs.

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Once the dog pees, the other dogs can sniff out the scent, and it works as a means to mark the territory.

The Collection Of Smells

When driving, your car tires run over different types of scents from food, garbage, excrements, roadkill, and even urine from other dogs.

Dogs are drawn by such smells; therefore, you’ll find them sniffing around your tires. In addition, they’ll not be able to resist the concoctions of scents, especially if another dog has left their mark on the tires.

When this happens, your dog will also get motivated to pee on the tires to mark their territory once again.

Do All Dogs Pee On Car Tires?

Do All Dogs Pee On Car Tires?

If you just got a puppy, you might be wondering whether all dogs pee on car tires.

According to a study, most female dogs squat while peeing, while the males are the ones who lift a leg to urinate. The latter are the ones who urinate on car tires.

However, not all male dogs will lift their legs to pee until they reach 6 to 9 months, and then you’ll start seeing them next to your car marking their territory.

Does Dog Urine Ruin Car Tires?

Car owners raise concerns about whether pee from different types of animals can ruin their vehicle tires.

Dog urine contains chemical properties such as ammonia, a corrosive substance that could potentially damage your tires over time.

While the pee is not a lot, especially since dogs will only do occasional marking, it could only leave your tires with a bad scent.

However, you’ll still need to wash the rubber, wipe it down with a sponge and take extra care to protect your rims from rust formation and paint issues.

Additionally, the rubber material could crack over time due to constant exposure to ammonia. Therefore, you’ll need to constantly check them over time. If this happens, keep in mind that the pee might not be the only cause.

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How Can I Stop My Dog From Peeing On Car Tires?

How Can I Stop My Dog From Peeing On Car Tires?

Now that we’ve established why dogs are obsessed with peeing on your tires, how can you stop them? You can use these tips to redirect your canine friend from these habits.

Park Away From The Dog

If your dog likes urinating on your car when it’s parked on the driveway, consider having your car locked in the garage. This way, the dog doesn’t have direct access.

Additionally, you can also keep the dog on a leash when walking outside to stop them from peeing on other people’s cars.

Use Re-direction

Once you notice your dog is walking towards the tires, you can redirect their attention by either throwing a ball or treat to keep them distracted.

Remove Odors

If your dog has peed on your tires, you can remove the traces of odor left by cleaning as soon as possible.

Since we’ve established that dogs have a strong sense of smell, you can control them by using household ingredients to clean your tires to try and break the chain.

Use Commands

When training your dog, you can add a command that you can use to discourage the dog from urinating on your tires. With constant training, the dog will eventually wean off this habit.

Avoid Punishment

While this habit can be annoying for you as the car owner, avoid scolding or shouting at the dog when they pee on your tires.

If you constantly shout at the dog, it might fear you and begin associating your presence with fear. You can effectively stop your canine friend from urinating on your tires by using positive reinforcement.

Neuter Your Dog

If your dog has not been neutered, consider booking an appointment with the vet to stop it from urinating on your tires. Neutering significantly reduces the habit of urine marking.

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How To Clean Dog Pee From Your Tires?

How To Clean Dog Pee From Your Tires?

Once you notice that the dog has already urinated on your tires, you need to clean it up as soon as possible to reduce any possibility of tire damage.

If you check out most driver forums, there’s always a worry that dog urine could harm your car tires, especially the paint on the rims.

Water will help you remove any pee stains on your rims. Immediately the dog has urinated on your tires, splash some water, and don’t leave the tire exposed to the ammonia for too long.

To remove all the scents, you can use standard cleaning materials from the garage or auto store to keep the smells away until your next drive.

During the cleaning process, be careful not to use harsh chemicals that might affect the rim paint and coating when trying to remove the stains.

To know more about tires, you can also read our posts on whether or not donut tires fit all cars, if studded tires works, and how tires are recycled.

Conclusion

Dogs pee on tires as a means of communication to other dogs and to mark their territory. While this may leave a bad smell on your tires, your canine friends are drawn in by the scents already existing on your tires.

Tires are a convenient place because they are a vertical surface; therefore, they keep the scent for longer, and also the smell can be maintained at nose level for other dogs.

Since the pee is not much, it doesn’t cause too much damage to the tires; however, if the tires are not cleaned for a long time, the ammonia might start corroding the rim coating.

To avoid these problems, you can use the tips above to keep your dog away from your tires.

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