Episode #172 Understanding Submissive Urination and Excitement Peeing in Puppies

Have you ever been caught off guard by your puppy's unexpected puddle during a joyful greeting or a timid encounter? This episode is a treasure trove of insights into these common but often misunderstood behaviors. You'll learn to distinguish between a puppy's display of submission and uncontrollable excitement and discover how to interpret the precursors to these little mishaps. By understanding your puppy's body language, you're taking the first step toward a more harmonious and dry relationship with your puppy.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

This is the Puppy Training Podcast, episode 172, understanding Submissive Urination and Excitement Pean in Puppies. This podcast is designed to help you on your journey of becoming best friends through love and learning, as you train your own dog from home, and I'm here to help you every step of the way. This is the Puppy Training Podcast and I'm your host, amy Jensen. Hello, how are you today? Thank you for listening to the Puppy Training Podcast. How are your dogs? I hope you're doing great and enjoying the start of spring weather.

Speaker 1: 0:40

In today's episode we're going to talk about a fairly common issue that we get asked about frequently, I would say, and it's one that many puppy families face. It's submissive urination and excitement peen. We actually got this question again this week and I thought you know what it's time to do a podcast on it. So today I'm going to talk about what each of these are and how to help solve these issues. I know these can be frustrating, but please know and understand that your puppy is not trying to make your life hard, I promise.

Speaker 1: 1:14

Submissive urination and excitement peen are two separate behaviors, but they often get lumped together because they both involve urinating in response to certain stimuli or triggers in the puppy's environment. Let's break down each one to start off with. So submissive urination typically occurs when our puppy feels overwhelmed. Maybe they're scared or they feel threatened. It's our dog's way of showing submission and trying to appease something they perceive as a threat. So this often happens during greetings or interactions with new people that they've never met before or animals they've never met, maybe in situations where the puppy feels stressed or anxious. So it's like the puppy is wetting themselves. It's not on purpose. They can't control their bladder at this point Now. On the other hand, excitement peen occurs when a puppy gets overly excited or stimulated. So this could be during playtime, when meeting someone they're really excited to meet, or when maybe their person returns home after being away for a while and your puppy's so happy to see you and they just can't contain themselves. So, similarly, this is an experience where your puppy cannot control their bladder. They have a little accident. So they're not trying to be difficult, they're not trying to pee. It's something that they can't yet control.

Speaker 1: 2:32

How do we recognize these behaviors? Submissive urination often involves the puppy crouching low to the ground, or maybe you'll notice that they're tucking their tail between their legs. Sometimes they'll even roll over on their back and then they'll pee on their bellies. They may also show signs of anxiety, such as lip licking or yawning or looking away. They're trying to avoid eye contact. Now excitement peen, on the other hand, usually happens when the puppy's in a state of high arousal. They're really excited, so their tail carriage is going to be high and maybe wagging pretty fast. They might be jumping up and down or showing just overall puppy exuberance. Right Now, the urination is often unintentional and it happens again as a result of the excitement.

Speaker 1: 3:15

Let's talk about how to help prevent these behaviors, because there are things that we can do to help set our puppies up for success in both of these cases. Now, first and foremost, it's essential to create a calm and supportive environment for your puppy. Try to avoid situations that you know will trigger submissive urination or excitement peen, and the longer you live with your puppy, the more you're able to see these patterns evolve and you're able to again set your puppy up for success by recognizing what might cause them to do this kind of urination and we can help prevent it. So, at least until your puppy gains more confidence and bladder control, do your best to not put them in these types of scenarios. We can start by increasing the distance between our puppy and the triggers that we're noticing. You know those things that cause this kind of peen to happen, both types, whichever kind we're dealing with. We want to create distance for our puppy away from those triggers.

Speaker 1: 4:10

I like to ask people not to approach my puppy but rather let my puppy go up to them if they are interested. Especially in the case of submissive urination, my puppy's nervous about meeting someone. If I can keep that person five to 10 feet away and let my puppy sniff and explore them from a distance, oftentimes that is super helpful. So in the case of excitement peeing, again, keep your puppy a good distance away from the excitement until maybe two to five minutes have passed. So keep them on a leash or you can use a baby gate or an exercise pen. You can set these up strategically in your home such that when somebody comes into your house and the puppy might be super excited by them, the puppy's not able to just rush right up to them and similarly, the person's not able to just walk right up to your puppy. There's going to be a barrier in place. And then let again those first initial minutes just pass and, as you see your puppy start to settle themselves, they will be better able to control their bladders when saying hello.

Speaker 1: 5:05

You can also try redirecting their attention away from the exciting person, for example, that they want to agree, and towards a game or training exercise. Here's one that I like using when your puppy sees the exciting person from about 10 plus feet away and with your puppy on a leash, toss a food reward away from the excitement. Now, don't toss it so far that they can't get it. They are on a leash, so be mindful. But allow your puppy to go get the food reward and return as soon as they turn back to you and that exciting person. Toss another food reward away. And repeat this several times until those minutes have passed and your puppy's better able to contain their excitement. You'll notice a downshift in their behavior and this game leads into a lovely sit to be greeted behavior, as you can wait to toss the next food reward until your puppy offers a sit Now when it comes to greetings.

Speaker 1: 5:53

In either case, we want to teach our puppy to approach new people or animals calmly. It helps if I stay calm myself. I also encourage my puppies to sit or stand quietly rather than rushing forward with overwhelming excitement. This is something that we can set up in a training session with the help from family or friends, that they can work on this for several minutes with our puppies. Always, again, set your dogs up for success by showing them what to do and reward them for it. So remember, our puppies don't know that there are actual rules of engagement when greeting a human. It's our job to teach them. So have a picture in mind of what you want this scenario to look like and then show your puppy how to do that and that they get paid to do that For excitement.

Speaker 1: 6:37

Peeing work on impulse control that patience that puppies lack. It can be taught and they can learn how to be patient, but it takes some time and the calmness. During exciting moments I like to practice exercises with my dog, such as sit stay or a down stay, and then I start to present distractions and I slowly increase the difficulty as my puppy gets better at remaining calm no matter what distraction is happening around them. So, again, there's going to be some behind the scenes work that needs to happen that can help our puppies again gain that patience and impulse control. Also, recognize there is an age component here. As those bladders mature, they get stronger and our puppies are less likely to have submissive urination or excitement peeing. But there's several things, as I mentioned, that we can do in the meantime, while we're waiting for their bodies to mature. To help with these scenarios, consistent, positive reinforcement training will help build our puppy's confidence and reduce their anxiety overall.

Speaker 1: 7:36

Now, a common question many puppy handlers have is whether their dogs will outgrow these behaviors. While some puppies do outgrow submissive urination and excitement peeing as they mature and gain confidence, others will need ongoing management and training. Remember, patients and understanding are really important when dealing with these behaviors. Punishment or scolding our puppies will only make the problem worse and could lead to more anxiety and more stress, which we don't want. Instead, focus on building your puppy's confidence through positive reinforcement, consistency and patience. Please reach out to us if you are struggling to manage these behaviors on your own. We are happy to help you. All right, that's it for today. Thank you for tuning in. Remember, understanding your puppy's behavior is the first step toward building a strong and healthy bond. Until next time, happy training. Have a great week, you guys. If you have a question about anything you heard on this podcast or any other puppy training question, visit my site, backsterandbellacom, to contact me.