Dog
Urination when Excited
Q:
Why does my dog urinate when he gets excited
and how can I stop it? Can the dog control
this behavior? Any help you can provide
would be greatly appreciated.
A:
Submissive
urination is the discharge of a trickle
or a few drops of urine when a dog gets
excited or when he wants to show deference
to a person or another dog as the leader.
A
bit more information is needed in order
to deal with any behavioral problem and
a professional trainer (positive training
only, of course) can help you identify
possible causes and set up a behavior
modification program for you.
That
being said, five things are necessary:
- Check
out your dog's physical health. Make
sure the problem is indeed submissive
urination by having your dog checked
out by a veterinarian to rule out
any physiological problems.
- Increase
your dog's confidence level .
By teaching your dog new behaviors
(including tricks), he will gain confidence
and not be as timid.
- Do
not use negatives . Make
absolutely sure no punishment is administered.
- Ignore
your dog for 90 seconds when you first
come home . Basically you
want to reward a calm, relaxed dog
rather than inadvertently reinforcing
the submissive behavior. By ignoring
your dog for the first 90 seconds,
his excitement level will drop a bit
and then you can ask him to lie down
or do something else before he has
a chance to eliminate.
- Teach
a substitute behavior . Get
your dog's mind off urinating by giving
him something else to do instead.
For instance, throw a treat on the
ground and say "find it." Teach him
to go to his bed. Teach him to fetch
a toy. Teach him to lie down.
I
hope this helps!
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