Urination Issues

There are three common urination issues that will cause dogs to urinate when they are not “supposed” to. These are submissive urination, excited urination, and incontinence. These types of urination have nothing to do with potty training. They are a reaction or out of the animal’s control. Knowing which one you are dealing with and measures to help with the issue are important. It is also important to know, upfront, what you should never do when a dog is portraying any of these impulses. You do not want to make the issue worse.


For each of these issues, you should never:

Submissive Urination

Submissive urination is a dog’s uncontrollable, instinctive reaction to the presence of another dog or human that they feel is superior or is intimidating to them. This is a subconscious response that cannot be controlled. The underlying cause of submissive urination is fear or uncertainty. There are many triggers for submissive urination.  Some of these could be a person approaching, punishment, scolding, and a deep or loud voice.  Submissive urination can appear in dogs of any age.


Even if your puppy/dog has never been mistreated, overly punished, or abused, they can still show signs of extreme submissiveness. Signs of submissive behavior to look for are flattening of the ears, avoiding eye contact, lowering of head and neck, cowering, tucking the tail, or rolling onto back, and exposing the belly.

Reasons why your dog may be submissively urinating:

Things to Do

Vet

Rule out a medical cause by taking your dog to the veterinarian. If this issue is caused by a bladder infection, weak sphincter, or other medical reason, this issue needs to be remedied.


Socialization

Socialize, socialize, socialize. Your dog needs to gain some self-esteem and security. Most of this cannot be done in your home bubble. Your dog needs to gain confidence when around other people and dogs. Training classes, dog parks, and animal play dates outside the home are good ways to boost your dog’s confidence.


Take a submissive dog out as much as possible to socialize. Smelling where other dogs have marked and leaving his/her own marks will help them learn who is around. As they meet new friends, do not force the issue and provide positive reinforcement. Make sure that you are in situations where you can also be comfortable.  If you are nervous or unsure, your dog will notice it and you will make the problem worse.

One-on-One Interaction

Preventative Measures

Excited Urination

Excited urination is different in that a puppy will usually grow out of this reaction. With excited urination, submissive signals are absent and urination occurs while standing or walking during greetings and playtime. This behavior occurs more frequently with puppies and can resolve with age. Potential causes are accidental reinforcement of the behavior by the owner, decreased bladder sphincter tone, and a genetic predisposition.


Reasons why your dog may be excitedly urinating:

Things to Do

Vet

Rule out a medical cause by taking your dog to the veterinarian. If this issue is caused by a bladder infection, weak sphincter, or other medical reason, this issue needs to be remedied.


Interacting

Gently and calmly greet and interact with your dog. If the problem occurs upon your returning home due to the dog’s excitement, ignore the dog right upon walking in the door. Wait about 5 minutes for them to calm down before giving them attention. At this point, ask guests to ignore the dog when entering (they can give appropriate attention when dog approaches them later)


Use treats rather than physical praise, such as petting.


When you return home after being gone for a couple of hours, avoid eye contact, saying anything, or touching your dog. Enter the house with a calm and relaxed state of mind and do not give your dog any kind of attention until they calms down. The idea is not to encourage this over-excited behavior.


Play with your puppy outside or in an area padded with newspapers or absorbent pads, so that if accidents happen, there will not be a big mess. When accidents do happen, do not punish your dog. Instead, just clean the area quietly, using special cleaners that will remove the stain and odor.


When your puppy urinates in the desired spot, like outside on the grass, make sure to praise and even offer treats. This will encourage good behavior and soon your dog will learn that this is what you expect.


Besides puppies, small dog breeds tend to show excitement urination, due to the fact that they are more coddled than the rest of the dog breeds. You will use the same methods to curb this action in every gender/breed.

Incontinence

Incontinence is the involuntary leakage of urine. If your dog is incontinent, it means that they are not even aware of the fact that they are urinating. This incontinence occurs often in places where pets are resting (like in their bed or on the couch), and it tends to be a normal or large amount of urine.


Causes

Several medical conditions can result in inappropriate urination or urinary incontinence in a dog:

Differences between Incontinence and Inappropriate

When a dog is incontinent, you will not see them squatting or lifting their leg. Remember that this is happening without the dog’s cognitive knowledge. It is usually caused by bladder weakness that is a result of another issue (even if this issue is age). In addition, incontinence is not associated with fear or excitement.

Finding the Cause

If you find urine around the house, or you suspect urinary incontinence, you need to take your dog to the vet to discuss the details of your observations.


The doctor will perform a physical examination to note changes in your pet’s body, as well as some diagnostic tests. This usually starts with urinary testing (a urinalysis and urine culture) and blood work. These tests can decode many medical causes of the changes in urination. Other tests may be required depending on the results of these tests.


Once your vet understands more clearly what the medical condition is, they can address it specifically:

Treatments

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