Behaviour
A puddle at every homecoming, or whenever a visitor leans over him. He knows where to go; in those moments he simply can't hold it.
Worth knowing. If he dribbles in his sleep, the puppy is always wet, he wees often, in small amounts, with effort or with blood, or he drinks a great deal, it may be medical: infection, incontinence or a malformation. See your own vet first.
You walk in after an eight-hour day, the puppy comes flying down the hall wagging his whole body, and by the time you have bent down to stroke him there is a puddle on the floor. Or your mum comes round, leans over the dog with a big "aren't you gorgeous!", and he rolls onto his back, lifts a leg and wees on himself. The dog knows perfectly well where he is meant to go. In those moments, though, he isn't in control. In most young dogs it clears up by itself by about a year old, on one condition: that you don't make it worse without meaning to. Below is what is really going on and what you can change from tomorrow.
There are two situations that look the same on the floor but start from different places. It is worth knowing which one you have, because you handle them slightly differently.
You see it at greetings, when visitors arrive, during wild play. The dog jumps, wags, spins, and the wee comes out on the move, sometimes in drips all down the hall. His body is up, his ears happy. A puppy's bladder muscles are still weak, and a big emotion takes control away from him. As he grows the muscles get stronger, so most dogs grow out of it, usually somewhere between six months and a year.
You may also hear it called "submissive urination". It happens when the dog feels overwhelmed by someone: a person leaning over him, staring at him, talking loudly or reaching for his head, especially a big person or one he doesn't know. The dog makes himself small. He sinks down or rolls onto his back, flattens his ears, licks his lips, wags his tail fast and low, looks away and wees, sometimes just a few drops. It is his way of saying "I'm no threat, please calm down". The old name, "submissive", sends you down the wrong track: he isn't submitting to anybody, he is trying to calm the situation down.
With both kinds, the odds go up in these situations:
Telling him off is the most common mistake and the one that does most damage. With appeasement weeing, a person raising their voice or leaning over the dog in irritation is precisely the situation that makes him wee. So he wees more, to calm you down. It looks as if he doesn't understand. In fact he has understood perfectly that you are upset, and he is doing the only thing he believes settles an upset human.
Rubbing his nose in it teaches him nothing about where to go, because where was never the problem. All he learns is that you coming close can be unpleasant, and dogs who have been through that often wee more at greetings, not less.
Then there is the opposite, the cold shoulder. Not looking at the dog as you come in does help, but someone striding past him stiff and frowning can be just as intimidating. You want a calm greeting. It doesn't have to be a cold one.
Mopping up the puddle with a lot of fuss right in front of him doesn't help either: all he sees is you getting worked up.
And the last one: waiting for him to "grow out of it" without changing anything. Most dogs do grow out of excitement weeing, but if every homecoming is an explosion and every puddle comes with a telling-off, some dogs keep the appeasement weeing into adulthood.
This step solves most of the problem, and it is all about the people.
For the first few weeks, greetings happen outdoors, where a few drops don't matter. You come home, pick up the lead without a word, out you go, he wees on the grass and you celebrate with him; only then do you go in and say hello properly. Visitors are met outside too, at the gate or in front of the building, during a short walk.
A dog whose nose and mouth are busy can't make himself small and can't jump all over you.
If you know visitors are coming, take him out ten minutes beforehand. Coming home after many hours is riskier than coming home after one, so that is when you take extra care. A washable rug or a puppy pad in the hall for the first few weeks takes the stress out of it for everyone.
With appeasement weeing, a dog who feels surer of himself has less need to calm anyone down. Easy games he wins often help: treats to find round the house, simple "sit" and "touch my hand" exercises, after which you make a fuss of him in a warm voice and give him something tasty. Let him approach new people himself, at his own pace. Don't "make him get used to it".
| Day | What you do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Everyone at home learns the greeting rule. Washable rug by the door. Start a diary: when, with whom, how much wee. |
| 1–7 | Greetings happen outside, or with treats tossed on the floor at the door; a calm greeting, low down, after a few minutes. |
| 2 | Explain the rule to visitors in advance; the dog goes out for a wee before they arrive. |
| 3–7 | Ten minutes a day of treat searches and easy exercises that build his confidence. |
| 7 | Read the diary: how many episodes, with whom, in which situations. Decide from there what else to change. |
Any puddles that still happen get cleaned up without a word, while the dog is in another room, with an enzyme cleaner that removes the smell.
Emotional weeing only happens at certain moments and only after an emotion. If you see anything else, go to your vet first:
Take a fresh morning urine sample and your diary to the appointment.
The link is small but real: treats tossed on the floor at a greeting are already nose work. A dog searching with his nose down changes his own state, breathes more slowly and forgets the excitement at the door. In our training we see the same thing on a bigger scale: shy dogs who used to shrink in front of people grow in confidence once they find they can track something down on their own. Search games around the house are the everyday version.
Ask a trainer for help in any of these situations:
At an assessment session we look at the dog and at the people around him. Most of the time, emotional weeing is solved by what the people change.
What dog owners search for most often on the internet about this problem, with the short answer.
Most dogs do: excitement weeing gets rarer as the bladder muscles strengthen, usually between six months and a year. You help a lot by taking the drama out of greetings: a calm hello after a few minutes, greetings outside, treats tossed on the floor. If you tell him off, some dogs keep it into adulthood.
Often it is appeasement weeing: the visitor leans over him, stares or talks loudly, and the dog makes himself small and wees to show he's no threat. Ask visitors to ignore him for the first few minutes, then say hello low down, from the side, with a treat in their palm.
It's the old name for appeasement weeing: the dog sinks down or rolls over, flattens his ears, looks away and lets out a few drops when someone overwhelms him. It has nothing to do with disobedience or submission; he is trying to calm the situation down. You work on it with calm greetings and games that build his confidence.
No. It frightens him, and in dogs who wee to calm an upset person it does exactly the opposite of what you want: more wee. Clean up without comment, while he isn't watching, with an enzyme cleaner, and change the way you say hello.
In an adult who has never had the problem, rule out a medical cause first: a urinary infection, incontinence, illnesses that increase thirst. Take a morning urine sample to your vet. If he's healthy, look at what has changed at home: a new person, arguments, a house move.
A behaviour that appears suddenly or changes for no apparent reason can have a medical cause. For full details, consult your dog's own veterinarian.
They often come together: the same causes, plans that complement each other.
You take him out, he stands in the grass for ten minutes, you come in and he goes on the rug. House-training takes set times and a real fuss when he gets it right.
He asks to go out every hour, squats and passes a little, sometimes pink. Cystitis is the obvious guess, but stones and the prostate look the same at first.
Her bed is wet in the morning and she does not seem to know. Incontinence has causes that can be found, and the commonest responds very well to treatment.
You walk in and his paws are on your chest before the door has shut. Jumping up is a greeting, and he keeps doing it because it has worked every single time.
An assessment session tells you where you stand and which plan makes sense for your dog. The behaviour programme then works step by step, reward-based only.