Your dog urinating indoors can be frustrating and often leads to a reason for getting rid of your pet. I think the saddest thing is that most owners don’t even try to get to the bottom of this problem before making a decision. What can you do if your dog pees when she’s excited? I’ll start by telling you what not to do: never punish her, as this will only make things worse.
Now I’ll explain to you what causes this behavior, and how you can help your dog get rid of it.
What Causes This Reaction?
It’s not unusual for puppies to lose control of their bladders when they’re overjoyed or afraid of something. But, as your dog grows and you start potty training, around the age of six or eight months she should lose this habit.
If she doesn’t, you shouldn’t immediately assume your dog has a behavioral problem. Take her to a vet first and check any signs of medical issues that could be causing the urination.
Once you know that your dog is healthy, you can start thinking about other factors that cause her to pee inside. According to Dr. Karen Becker, excitement and submission are the two most common reasons why dogs urinate indoors.
Excitement urination:
- it’s caused by excitement and being overjoyed;
- usually occurs when your dog is greeting someone: her human family, your friends, or another dog. It can also happen during a play session, or when she receives a tasty treat or her favorite toy;
- when peeing, she looks happy, she might even bark to get attention. She wags her tail and perks her ears up;
- in most cases, she only loses a few drops.
Submissive urination:
- it’s a natural response to fear, being your dog’s way of saying she recognizes your superiority in the pack;
- it can occur in various situations, such as when you take her to the veterinarian, when she meets someone she’s afraid of, or even when you pet her and she feels dominated by your position;
- when it happens, she keeps her mouth closed and takes specific body positions, such as laying on her back, raising her front paws, or standing with her head low;
- she’ll tend to eliminate larger amounts of urine, not just a few drops.
5 Easy Steps to Help Your Dog Control Her Bladder
You need to understand that in both cases your dog doesn’t have control of her bladder and peeing on your carpet is not something she does on purpose, so you shouldn’t punish her or raise your tone because this will only confuse your dog and reinforce her fear.
Instead, follow these easy steps to help your puppy:
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- Identify what exactly causes your dog’s behavior. Very often it’s arrival that makes her excited
- Eliminate the stimulus. For example, postpone interaction for a fewfter you’ve entered your house. This interesting video by Jim Burwxplains how you can do that:
- Start obedience training. Besides the reasons explained in the video above, obedience training will also help your dog be more confident, which wrevent submissive urination on the future. Another way to h elp a dog that suffers from low self-esteem is to take her swimming, or teach her agility sports.
- Act differently when approaching your dog. Changing the way you communicate can make her feel better. Kneel next to her instead of bending over, avoid eye contact, and always keep a calm tone.
- Clean all dirty spots without making too big a deal out of the incident. Any urine odor sends your dog the signal that it’s ok to eliminate in the area, so use special products against pet dirt. Notice that dogs can smell urine even if your senses don’t identify anything unusual.
Conclusion
Sometimes a puppy pees when she’s excited. Luckily, in most cases, it’s temporary. However when things don’t go as planned, solve the issue without punishing your dog. I know it requires a lot of patience, but the results are well worth the effort.
