8 yr. old now flicks dirt behind to cover up #2. Why?

I am sure they learn from watching others. It was so funny when he started raising one leg for the first times. He would get the legs mixed up at first... My pooch would squat to do his business and I started doing my foot up an down while he was doing that. Now he does this all the time... So cute.... Then he looks up at you with that look as if asking if it is ok to do his business....

Moma calls it his poop dance...

Our dog scratches all the time after peeing on something... Macho thing I guess. Haven't seen him cover up the poop yet... Thats what the cats do here... Guess he will start doing that as well...

Roy Ken

Any changes in her or your enviorment recently. She is feeling the need to mark her territory extra special according to this: In their genes..

Just because. She did it once, and now does it. Or she saw another dog do it. Or the silicon switch inside her head switched.

3 of our 6 dogs do it, the other 3 don't. our Shih Poo never lifted his leg until he saw the beagle I got lift his. The Shih Poo was neutered young and so were the 2 big dogs. They simply put their legs apart and go. The Shih Poo only saw them go that way so he simply emulated the pack behavior.

After he saw the beagle lift his leg, I saw the light bulb go on.

One of the big dogs (Rhodesian Ridgeback/Doberman cross) gets all four legs going when he is flinging dirt. The beagle uses his back 2. The newest guy, an 8 mos old Shih Tzu gets all four going when he urinates.

There is something from back in their evolutionary history that causes them to do it and all they need is a trigger to get going.

I'd say she has been hanging around a bad crowd. She has picked up some of their bad habits.:D Our dog had some puppies recently. They started that behaviour at 4 weeks. I can't imagine why a dog would start doing that when they hadn't before. Did you change food or something?