Submissive/Excited Urination

[Cass C]

So Lily has made huge strides with her shyness, and now at 5 months she even has a few dog friends. However she is still having issues with peeing whenever someone new she is excited about or that she hasn't seen in a while pets her, sometimes after having just peed outside. Right now we do introductions outside as much as possible.

 

She also pees when she gets in "trouble". By trouble I mean we lower our voice when she isn't listening to a happy excited voice or when we have to physically mover her off the bed, because she won't listen when we tell her to get off. At this point she complies but pees everywhere.

 

The vet has given her a clean bill of health, so does anyone have ideas on how to stop the urination, because otherwise she is house broke.

[Kian's Mom]

Not much help here but I had a cocker that I got at about 9 months. She would also do this. By the time she was about 2 she had outgrown it. The Border I have now would do that but there were only 2 people that she did it to. My boss has a very deep voice and a friend of mine that I think had a lot of excitement in her voice. She was about 9 month when she quit doing it.

I never scolded either one of them for it. I was told it was a submissive sign or that they were overly excited,

and they would out grow it. They both did.

Most of the time it was as you said greeting someone and I think having a person tower over you is a little intimidating . I would have them ( the dog ) sit and the person squat down more on their level and that did seem to help.

[toney]

It is not unusual for young border collies to pee submissively. By young I mean 2 years old or younger. At five months you are probably looking at several more months before she grows out of it completely. Most do grow out of it. There are ways to make the environment less stressful for the pup but submissive urination will probably continue off and on until she gets older and more mature.

[Camden's Mom]

Mine peed submissively just about every single time he met a new person until he was about 8-12 months old. It made socializing... interesting.

 

It was almost always out of excitement but on occasion is was out of fear. He's nearly two years old and still does this on occasion, but the behavior really started to fade as he reached his first birthday. I'd say, nowadays, when it happens it's almost always out of fear (example: at the vets office whenever the doctor or a vet tech walks into the exam room he pees a little).

 

If you focus on confidence building and making all of her interactions with people very positive experiences, you'll see the behavior begin to fade away. I would not correct the submissive urination, in fact it's best just to ignore it, IMO.

[medic09]

Golan peed the first time we went to see him, and maybe once or twice after we brought him home. Have't seen it since. Pazzy, my departed Aussie/sled dog did submissive peeing for the first months of her life. I see to recall she outgrew it by the time she was about a year and a half old or two years, maybe.

[Shetlander]

Ignore it during greeting. I warn people and try to do the greeting outside where it is easier to ignore.

 

For situations like the bed, try to avoid the trigger. If putting your hands on her to get her off the bed causes the peeing, don't do it. I would clicker train (or happy training with treats/toys) to get on and off furniture so she will obey better. Make it a fun game. You could also have her drag a leash and when she doesn't listen, don't say anything as you pick up the leash and walk away from the bed or whatever you want her off/away from (if she follows easily on leash - don't drag her but walk as tho you expect her to follow).

 

The good news is this usually passes with time. Just avoid any scolding or negative reactions. Good luck!

[Cass C]

Thanks I will give your advice a try and in the meantime I will do my best to be patient with her until she hopefully grows out of it.

[skye2014]

Skye does this when she meets anyone new or sees people again she has not seen in a few days. Luckily she does not do this with us. It is pretty normal and I think anyone who knows about dogs is not surprised or offended. It can take a while to grow out of. I know Jasper did it on occasion for several years.

One strategy that works for me is to always have your dog meet people outside. If company is coming meet them when they get out of the car so peeing happens before anyone picks her up or comes in. Warn people that she may pee and it will not be unexpected. If we take her to some one else's house we try to do the greetings outside.

We took Skye to the vet at 12 weeks and as soon as the 3 vets saw her she peed but everyone smiled and the vets took her away to play with her.

Be patient and don't make a fuss since it is not a toilet accident.