Has your puppy ever greeted you with a little puddle of pee on the floor or your shoe as soon as you entered your house?
Although this seems cute, it can get annoying and unpleasant as time passes. This is a physical, instinctual response, also known as submissive or excitement urination, and it is very common for young puppies.
It occurs when dogs feel shy, excited, scared, or anxious, and it often shows acknowledgment for your dominant position. You did not ask for it, but it’s their way of expressing their feelings until outgrowing this behavior.
Both submissive urination and excitement urination are common for puppies; also, some dogs urinate for both reasons simultaneously. This behavior modification depends on the dog’s emotional triggers and state of mind.
Wondering how to distinguish these two habits?
Let’s find out more on this topic.
Excitement Urination in Dogs
Yes, the wriggling body, licks on your face, and wagging tail on the front door are adorable, but not cute when combined with pee on the floor. It might make you wonder if you are paying the punishment for leaving them alone, but most often, it has nothing to do with giving you a lesson; it’s just their expression of love.
Excited peeing most likely occurs in hyper, happy, and young puppies without bladder control. As dogs get older, they mature emotionally and calm down; however, there are some cases when this habit gets worse.
Sometimes they manifest this peeing even without lifting or squatting as usual and then can pee while standing, bouncing, or walking. The most common sign of a dog’s excitement is barking and wagging the body with the tail on the side.
How to Stop a Dog from Peeing When Excited?
If your dog urinates from excitement, there are a few ways to control this behavior. Below, we are adding the three most valuable methods for controlling this behavior.
Frequent walks
Take your dog on regular walks to encourage outdoor peeing and plus keep your pet healthy. As long as dogs have an empty bladder, they will be able to “hold it” while having excited energy.
We are aware that some dog owners are not mathematicians, but let’s tell you one quick trick to count how many hours dogs can “hold it”: x+1=y (x is the month of age, and y is the solution of how long dogs can “hold it”). Let’s take a 5-month-old puppy, for example, 5+1=6, so a 5-month-old puppy can hold their bladder for up to 6 hours.
However, while puppies are still young, we recommend more frequent walks to avoid this bad habit.
Try to relax your dog
Not every dog knows how to relax on its own – some puppies need some help from their owners. This is not something to worry about since it can be achieved with daily short training sessions.
With everything available on the internet, you can practice short positive reinforcement sessions and help your dog achieve a relaxed, task-driven mentality.
Avoid interactions
As soon as you acknowledge that your dog is fully capable of holding the bladder, be sure that it has an excitement urination issue.
In case your dog gets too stimulated, avoid direct eye contact, turn away and wait for them to calm down. After your dog settles down, moderately greet them, stay calm, and walk away again if you notice another excitement peeing session.
Sometimes you cannot control a dog’s level of excitement, but daily exercises such as agility training, playing catch, running, or jumping hurdles can significantly lower it.
We get that you might get frustrated or angry, but using negative reinforcement is not the solution. Last but not least: stop wondering why dogs pee when excited, and instead, be grateful that you own such a dog.
Medical Causes of Inappropriate Urination
As mentioned, there are some cases when dogs don’t urinate submissively, so it’s crucial to rule out other causes to fix these behavioral issues.
Not so often, behind the dog’s inappropriate urination, there are underlying medical causes such as:
- Sudden diet change – If your dog changed its drinking and eating habits, expect a normal physical response to change as well.
- Urinary incontinence – This is related to urinal health issues such as having weak bladder control and not being able to “hold it”.
- Urinary tract infection (UTI) – If you have an older dog, be aware that infections in the urinary tract are extremely common in later years; also, it can be a warning for diabetes or kidney disease.
If inappropriate urination occurs in multiple series during a few days, ask for veterinary advice immediately.
Submissive Urination: Behavioral Issue
Both submissive or excitement urination are common for young dogs that cannot control their urge to pee. Since a submissive type of urination is instinctively made, it is a behavioral issue.
These are the factors that lead to submissive urination:
- Age – Submissive dogs under 3 months tend to inappropriately urinate to show that you are in a socially dominant position. However, with the appropriate obedience training, they can get rid of this annoying habit.
- Incomplete house training – Adopted dogs show off their insecurity with submissive urination. Sometimes, rescued puppies also show submissive urination because of separation anxiety towards their previous home but don’t panic; this condition can be easily managed with training.
- Fear from the past – Like we have memories that sometimes we wish to forget, so do dogs. Therefore, the reason behind the inappropriate dog’s urination may be a trauma from the past or being punished.
- Separation anxiety – Having a dog means always having someone that cares about you and misses you. So, don’t be surprised if your dog pees before you leave home – it’s out of emotional distress; but also, don’t be surprised if your dog pees as soon as you get home – it’s out of excitement. Unfortunately, submissive peeing is not the only sign of separation anxiety, and it’s often followed by other destructive behaviors such as chewing and excessive barking.
Dog behavior is a science that needs to be further researched. Do not panic immediately if your dog pees inappropriately; this behavior is equally common for both male dogs and female dogs.
Opposite of submissive peeing, many dogs pee to mark territory, express dominance, and tell other dogs “who’s the alpha”. This behavior is called urine marking.
How To Stop Submissive Peeing?
Young puppies can outgrow inappropriate urination as they get older with the appropriate training. Therefore, invest your time in training before it gets too late.
The most common signs of submissive peeing include:
- Raising the front paws
- Tucking their tails
- Licking
- Flattening ears back
First of all, you need to avoid direct eye contact and redirect their attention. Below are some tips that helped many pet parents to minimize the submissive urination:
- Take your dog outside to better connect with the outdoors for future urination.
- Give them treats as distractions as soon as you get home.
- Make a modest greeting to avoid the dog’s inappropriate urination.
- Teach your dog to follow instructions such as “shake” and “sit” when meeting other people.
Change your approach
Unlike excitement peeing, submissive urination can be regulated very easily by improving the dog’s confidence. Firstly, sit on the ground to make yourself smaller, avoid eye contact, and allow them to approach you. As a reward for the cuddles, give them treats and gently pet them under the chin.
Proper training can stop submissive urination in young dogs, while when an adult dog cannot hold their pee, you should immediately book an appointment with your vet.
Desensitize your dog to specific triggers
The most challenging thing for pet parents is determining the reason that triggers inappropriate dogs’ urination. As soon as you trigger them, reward your puppy for not peeing again under the same circumstances.
Another solution to fix this issue is providing your dog with a canine diaper that will discourage your dog from urinating submissively. On the other hand, an excellent tip for pet parents is to clean up the urine stains so the dog doesn’t smell the urine scent and think twice before urinating in the same area.
Things to Avoid
We know that this behavior can get annoying, but try to approach it with consistent, encouraging, and positive reinforcement. Avoid angry comments, loud noise, and punishments cause it may make the submissive peeing worse and do more harm than good.
Try to avoid the following things:
- Scowling and growing at your dog – Most dogs act negatively to this, which can only worsen this behavior.
- Angry and frustrated comments – This can only contribute to fearful body language such as shaking, averting eye contact, and tucked tail. You’ll only confuse your dog with such negative reinforcement, and the dog’s inappropriate peeing will occur again and again.
- Not interacting with your dog – Getting angry and walking away should not be your response if you notice inappropriate urination. Instead, use commands to redirect its attention.
Admitting that you cannot train your dog is not scary at all. That’s why dog trainers exist. Contact a professional dog trainer and help your puppy as soon as possible.
FAQ:
Summary
Dogs urinate inappropriately due to many reasons such as submissive or exciting feeling, or even some medical causes that additionally affect the pet’s health. The good news is that as soon as puppies get a more confident attitude, they will outgrow this behavior, but the bad news is that puppies are not going to lose this habit overnight.
*photo by vzmaze – depositphotos