If your dog keeps peeing in the house, you may not be dealing with a housebreaking problem. Although often confused for one, indoor urination is often a sign of extreme excitement in dogs or a fear that makes them want to show their submission. These behaviors can be modified, but not with housebreaking tricks. Instead, you must offer dog training that helps your dog tackle his or her fears and inability to contain his excitement. Here’s how.
Visit the Vet
The first step to fixing urination problems is a visit to a Lakewood area vet. Dog training can modify behavior but won’t fix physical problems. Make sure your dog is healthy and that he isn’t suffering from a bladder infection or other ailment. If he is, his accidents may be beyond his physical control. This step gets your dog the medical attention he may need and sets you both up for successful training and behavior modification.
Change Greetings
To help with urination on greetings, change the dynamic when greeting your dog and ask guests to do the same. Simply ignore your dog when you first come home or keep your greeting short, calm and low-key. Fussing over the dog simply adds to his excitements and increases the odds of a piddle puddle. Instead, give the dog time to calm down before greeting him. If possible, allow your dog to greet guests outside while you are training your dog and others with a new greeting ritual. Doing so will eliminate the need to clean up any accidental messes. Be aware the even after retraining your dog, he may still pee out of excitement when he has been at the kennel or Lakewood dog boarding facility and hasn’t seen you in several days. Some breeds, such as Golden Retrievers, are more prone to this behavior and may take longer to learn control.
Use Proper Greetings
A bashful dog will be less likely to pee from fear when you approach him using language he understands. You want to send a message that says you mean the dog no harm. To do so, turn sideways to the dog so that he sees you at your narrowest. Kneel next to the dog so you are not standing over him and keep your spine straight. The goal is to kneel next to the animal, not above him. Avoid direct eye contact and wait for him to approach you rather than reaching for him. When he does, pet him under his chin so you’re not taking your hand up over his head.
Crate Rules
If you have crate trained your dog, you may use the crate to kennel him during the day rather than sending him to dog daycare. This keeps him from roaming through the house and getting into trouble while you’re gone, but it also changes the way you greet him. If your dog is created when you come home, ignore him for awhile until he calms down a bit. When he does, go open his crate unceremoniously without talking to him or getting excited.
Ignore Accidents
Scolding your dog when he has an accident only serves to reinforce his fear and makes submissive urination problems worse. Instead, praise your dog when he urinates outside and on walks but ignore him when he pees inside. Simply clean the mess calmly while ignoring the dog completely. While you should not chastise the dog, don’t reassure him either. Telling him that he is not in trouble or trying to soothe him reinforces the negative behavior. Simply clean up the mess casually and pretend the dog isn’t even there.
Exercise your Dog
While you were at work all day, your dog sat at home. Boredom and a lack of exercise lead to energy reserves your dog doesn’t know what to do with, which may be one of the reasons he gets overly excited so easily. Take time every day to walk, run or play with your pet. A tired pet is much less prone to overzealous excitement and the urination it brings. Dog training is also important. Dogs gain praise from you and learn confidence as they learn to do tricks and please you. This confidence-booster is a big help when working with dogs who urinate out of fear.
Sending your dog to a dog daycare facility will provide exercise and play times with other dogs, which provides exercise your dog needs and reinforce the training for your dog.
Avoid the Unknown
While you’re working with your dog to curb submissive or excited urination, stick to places where you can control the environment. Don’t, for example, take your dog to a potentially stimulating or scary place like one of the two dog parks in Golden. You don’t have any control over who else might be there, which means you could be putting your dog into a situation where he will become afraid or excited. A set back will be disappointing for both of you, so avoid unknown and uncontrollable environments until you’re sure your pooch has learned to hold his bladder.
Urination problems can be overcome but it takes time and patience. You can teach your dog how to curb his enthusiasm and show him that the world isn’t a scary place. The steps to treating both urination problems are the same, so its fine to use these techniques on your dog even if you aren’t quite sure which one you’re dealing with. with a little love and the right kind of attention, your dog will learn to keep your floors dry and you’ll both be happier.
