Why does my dog pee out of excitement?

Why does my dog pee when excited or frightened?

               Dogs, especially puppies but sometimes adults, too, will often urinate when excited or frightened. But why does it happen, and what can be done to treat it?

               Both males and females exhibit this behavior.  Submissive urination is an uncontrollable physical response and it often occurs to signal another dog (or person) that the dog is not a threat to others.  Excitement urination is also an innate uncontrollable physical response to stimulation and is more common in puppies. Most pups will outgrow excitement/submissive urination.            

First, there is a slight distinction between submissive (fearful) urination and excitement urination.  Submissive urination often occurs if a puppy or adult dog is frightened or unsure of a situation.  Some dogs urinate if you reach over top of them to pet them or if someone scolds them, speaks in a loud tone or makes a loud noise.  This type of urination is also accompanied by other submissive body postures such as crouching, flattened ears, tucked tail or even rolling over on their back to expose the belly.  These are all signs designed to say, “I’m not a threat, please don’t hurt me!” 

Excitement urination tends to occur more often in young puppies who simply lose control of their bladder when excited. It commonly occurs when someone goes to greet the puppy by reaching for them or when using a loud or high-pitched voice.  These puppies do not exhibit submissive signs but rather will be happy, wagging their tails and they may jump up or run around.

It is important to rule out medical causes of excitement or submissive urination such as urinary incontinence, bladder infection, or bladder dysfunction (ectopic ureters, neurologic problems). Other reasons may include incomplete house training, urine marking or separation anxiety.

To reduce submissive/excitement urination, DO NOT scold or punish the dog while he is urinating as this may actually worsen the behavior.  Never use rough behavior and do not rub the dog’s nose in the urine. DO NOT stare at, lean over, or acknowledge the dog while she is urinating.  It also helps to use a calm voice, no baby talk or high-pitched speech and don’t reach over the dog’s head.  Ask guests (and remind yourself!) not to greet or make a fuss over the dog when he first approaches, giving him a chance to calm down or check out the person before eye contact or physical contact is initiated by the person.

DO clean any soiled areas with a urine odor eliminator.  DO approach the dog from the side, reach under the chin to pet her instead of over her head and crouch down to the dog’s level instead of towering over her.  Do your best to ignore the dog if he is urinating.   DO build confidence by working with your dog teaching obedience training using treats and positive reinforcement rather than punishment.  DO keep your puppy on a schedule for house training, feeding and providing water.

Most puppies will outgrow excitement urination as they get older and have better control of their bladders. Submissive urination may continue into adulthood, but by following the above suggestions, you may be able to make your dog more comfortable in stressful situations and limit submissive urination episodes.

This blog brought to you by the Patton Veterinary Hospital serving Red Lion, York and the surrounding communities.

https://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/sites/g/files/dgvnsk491/files/inline-files/Submissive_and_Excitement_Urination_in_Dogs.pdf

https://pets.webmd.com/dogs/submissive-urination#1

Picture this: you’ve come home after a long day of work. You open the front door and are greeted by your ecstatic pup, his tail wagging wildly. Your dog’s delight is so infectious that you can’t help but grin as you bend down to pet his head. And then it happens. Your joyous pooch has suddenly produced a jumbo-sized puddle.

So why do pups pee when they’re excited? Here are four reasons behind inappropriate urination and how to stop it.

The 4 Main Reasons Your Dog Pees When Excited

A super submissive dog may urinate when you are in a dominant position. This can include bending from the waist to pet your dog, looking him directly in the eyes, or greeting him face on.

A dog will urinate submissively when he is trying to appease someone he perceives as “socially dominant.” This can happen when you approach your pooch, greet him, or punish him. Shelter dogs that are anxious, shy, and timid will submissively pee.

To minimize submissive urination, avoid direct eye contact with your dog. Always approach him from the side and crouch down to his level. Scratch your dog under the chin rather than on top of his head. Keep your return-from-work greetings low key. Take your dog out to pee as soon as you get home. If your dog urinates inside, don’t make a fuss when cleaning it up.

Dogs can also pee inside out of sheer joy and excitement. This is more common in puppies and dogs that are under one year of age. While most dogs will grow out of it, the problem won’t just vanish overnight.

To help your pup with his excitement urination issue, always stay calm and quiet when greeting him. Consistency is key here.

Keep all playtime outdoors or in areas of the home that you’ve secured with pee pads or newspaper. Give your dog plenty of praise when he relieves himself outside and on walks.

Know the stimuli that trigger your dog’s excitement. Is it meeting new people? Playing with other dogs? Slowly desensitize your dog to these triggers to curb his excitement.

Some dogs can suffer from severe anxiety when they’re away from their owners. Separation anxiety can lead to excessive barking, chewing, peeing inside, and other destructive behaviors.

If your dog has separation anxiety but you can’t be home all of the time, consider enrolling him in doggy daycare. You can also ask a trusted friend or relative to stay with the dog in your home when you’re away.

Try spraying calming pheromones on your dog’s bed or using a pheromone diffuser.

If your dog’s urinating isn’t related to excitement or submission, it’s essential to rule out any underlying medical causes before trying to correct the behavior. Some medical causes for your pet’s accidents can include:

• Urinary incontinence
• Urinary tract infection (UTI)
• Change in diet
• After neutering

Talk to your vet if you think a medical issue is contributing to your dog’s peeing problem.

Final Thoughts

If you’ve ruled out all medical issues, you can attempt to train your excitable dog to not pee in the house. Always remain consistently calm and quiet near him. Don’t hype-up greetings. And desensitize your pet to situations that trigger his excitement.

After a while, your pooch will be free from pee!

Featured Image Credit: New Africa, Shutterstock

When your dog gets excited, he most likely wags his tail and jumps around. You might also notice that your dog pees when he’s excited. This is often the result of a physical response called submissive urination. It’s completely normal in young dogs. 

You have to remember that your dog feels that both you and he are part of a pack. He recognizes that you’re the dominant figure in the pack. It’s typical for submissive urination to occur as a way of acknowledging that dominance. 

You’ll often see submissive postures along with urination if the behavior is dominance-related. These are postures where your dog’s tail is down, he may roll over on this stomach. and he will likely avoid direct eye contact. This is all dog body language that translates into, “I know you’re the boss.” 

Submissive urination also happens when your dog feels frightened or anxious as well as simply excited. It’s equally common in both male dogs and female dogs. Usually, puppies will outgrow this behavior, but it’s not uncommon for inappropriate urination to occur in older dogs if you scold them or if they are startled by something like a loud noise. 

The question is when you should worry about submissive urination? Let’s look at a few situations where it may indicate a problem you should be concerned about. 

Medical Causes for Inappropriate Urination

If you think that it’s possible your dog’s urination may not be related to simple submissive behavior, there are some medical causes for frequent urination. You’ll likely see that your dog’s urination is not done on purpose, but you want to think about whether or not he can control it. 

If you think your dog can’t control his urination, that’s a condition called incontinence, and it may be a symptom of a health problem. If your dog seems to have lost bladder control, it could mean he has a weak bladder, but it could also mean he has a urinary tract infection (UTI). 

UTIs are not an uncommon problem, and therefore, if you see your dog urinating frequently and notice he lacks bladder control, you probably want to take him to the vet to make sure there isn’t a medical cause behind his behavior. UTIs can be treated fairly easily with antibiotics.

It’s also possible that if you’ve changed your dog’s diet recently, his behavior might simply reflect a change in bathroom habits as a result. Still, it’s a good idea to be safe rather than sorry. After all, you two are best friends, and you don’t want anything happening to him. 

Submissive Peeing as a Behavioral Issue

Submissive peeing is a normal part of young dog behavior. They are learning their rank in the group, and they are showing that they know their place. But if young dogs don’t learn how to control their urge to pee, it can become a behavioral issue as they get older. 

Submissive peeing is common in dogs that are younger than 12 weeks of age. Of course, they are in a more vulnerable state at such a young age, and normally, young dogs will grow out of inappropriate urination. As you implement appropriate housetraining, they learn to control themselves and can hold their pee. 

If your dog is older than 12 weeks or an adult dog and still exhibits submissive urination, that may be the result of incomplete housetraining. They may not yet have learned when it is appropriate to urinate and where. This may be something you see more commonly in adopted dogs because they have not yet learned the rules in their new house. 

Submissive Peeing as a Sign of Insecurity

If you don’t implement and complete proper housetraining, your dog may develop a habit of submissive urination when they feel insecure. It’s also possible your best friend was inappropriately punished in the past, and they are frightened that will happen again. 

Another cause of insecurity is what is known as separation anxiety. This can also result in submissive peeing. Your pooch may become emotionally distressed when he sees you’re leaving, and he may potty a little as a result. 

When you come back home, he may experience excited peeing. This is actually different from submissive urination, but in this case, it is still a result of insecurity your dog has about you leaving. 

There are some natural ways you can help alleviate your dog’s anxiety, and that may help when you leave the house, but the problem still may require some dog training too. 

Urine marking

Another behavioral issue you might see that involves urination is urine marking. It’s important to note that this is different from submissive urination. In the case of urine marking, your dog is not peeing because of submission. In fact, it’s the opposite — he’s peeing to show dominance. 

Okay, so you know your dog’s inappropriate urination is not medical but rather a behavioral issue, so, what do you do? Well, this is where dog training can help. 

Dog Training to Stop Submissive Urination

It really doesn’t work to reprimand your dog when he is peeing submissively. That will, in fact, make the problem worse because your display of dominance will make him more insecure. Instead, it’s helpful to implement a plan of dog training that includes behavior modification. 

The first part of this plan is to recognize the signals your dog gives when he’s feeling the need to do a little submissive urination. Typically, he will raise his front paws, tuck his tail between his legs, flatten his ears, and lick. He will also do what is known as a submissive grin. This is where he seems to be smiling as he licks at the air. 

When you see this type of dog behavior, you want to react quickly to quell your dog’s excitement and urge to urinate out of submissiveness. Rather than reprimand him, take him outside immediately so that you can show him this is the appropriate place to pee. 

If you’ve just returned home, you can distract him with a treat so that he has something productive to do with his excited energy. The American Kennel Club (AKC) also recommends ignoring your dog for a few minutes when you get home initially to let him calm down before you pay attention to him. 

A proper greeting

When you are ready to greet him, get down on your dog’s level and keep your greetings low-key so he doesn’t see you acting in a dominant manner. You can also train your dog to ‘sit’ or ‘shake’ when he’s greeting someone by rewarding him with positive reinforcement for that behavior. Ask any other family members to do the same when they are greeting the dog as well. 

That will keep the dog training consistent and help your puppy’s socialization. It’s important to make sure he feels comfortable meeting new people as part of that socialization process, so you might even practice it with people who are strangers to your dog. 

Inappropriate Dog Training Methods

When you’re training your dog, you always want to use positive reinforcement methods to stop submissive urination. Toward that end, keep your commands positive, consistent, and encouraging. 

Don’t make a negative face like a scowl or a frown at him since it can confuse your dog. Also, while his behavior might be frustrating, if you react with angry comments, you’ll scare him and make the submissive peeing worse. 

If your dog is in the act of submissive urination, don’t walk away. Instead, redirect his attention to something like a treat that will interest him and help build his confidence. While you do that, use the commands that he is familiar with so that you can reinforce those. 

If you feel like it’s just too frustrating for you to handle this problem on your own, it might be worth considering contacting a dog trainer who can help you and your dog. 

Final Thoughts

Submissive urination is a common problem for pet owners. Sometimes, it’s just an act of excitement urination rather than a true show of submissiveness, but it’s something that you need to make sure your puppy outgrows. 

If you’ve got an adult dog or your puppy doesn’t appear to be outgrowing the problem, it may be time to make sure it’s not a health issue, and then, it’s time for some dog training to help solve the problem. 

Proper socialization and positive reinforcement can help your dog overcome any feelings of insecurity when you leave or when meeting new people or dogs. As with any kind of dog behavior, understanding it is key to solving any behavioral issues that may develop. 

Ensuring your dog’s wellness means more than simply making sure he’s physically healthy, you also want him to be happy!