Is there a way to stop a dog/pup peeing when they are excited.

Everytime I come home Lincoln, understandably, gets excited. In the process his bladder control is awful and ends up peeing on the floor or on your trainers if he's around your feet.

He's only 17 weeks at the moment, but I'd like to try and kick him out of this habit if there is any way to do it?

I had a similar problem with Sasha when she was a young puppy - was told to ignore her when you walked in to the house and to get everyone else in the house to do the same.

Not saying it will work for you - but it worked for me.

Hope he grows out of it soon

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My family :
Sox 31 year old pony
Zara 15 year old horse
Chloe 12 year old black Lab
Sasha 9 year old black Lab
Francis (allegedly) 14 years Rescue Dog
Tosh 17 year old rescue dog - RSPCA prosecuting owner - sadly pts 28.07.11
Saffron 18 month old tortoiseshell cat
Spike, Prozac, Ginger and Snap, and now Ritz & Ryvita the Guinea Pigs

R.I.P Gabby Guinea Pig - passed away 26.01.11

Mum and Dads dog was the same when she was younger but she's 8 now and well over it, she just naturally grew out of it and stopped because we didn't do anything specific to stop her!

It was an automatic reaction to greet my dogs when I arrived home and this seemed to make Sasha worse.

We opened the door, ignored her, walked round for a few minutes, then spole to her and it didnt take long.

Worth a try?

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My family :
Sox 31 year old pony
Zara 15 year old horse
Chloe 12 year old black Lab
Sasha 9 year old black Lab
Francis (allegedly) 14 years Rescue Dog
Tosh 17 year old rescue dog - RSPCA prosecuting owner - sadly pts 28.07.11
Saffron 18 month old tortoiseshell cat
Spike, Prozac, Ginger and Snap, and now Ritz & Ryvita the Guinea Pigs

R.I.P Gabby Guinea Pig - passed away 26.01.11

I think ignoring is generally the best solution to this problem.

Greeting excitement with excitement generates even more excitement, if you catch the drift.

Best to ignore, not in an overtly obvious way, but naturally as in potter in, take your coat off, switch the kettle on, get the milk out, breathe and when the excitement has calmed down and they start to almost walk away, then call them to you for greeting. If however they are most likely to need a pee, potter to the back door at let them out, just don't watch/stare or glance at them until they are calmer.

With time they figure out that calmness begets fuss

Got to try this - Teddy goes nuts when anyone comes in and still occasionally dribbles a little. Sounds like a good plan. Wish I could get my 10 year old granddaughter to do it too, mind you.

I think this may be a winner!

We will have to give it a go, I think once he gets a bit older and his bladder control is naturally a bit better he won't be as bad.

I was fairly impressed today though, he was left for 5 hours on his own from when my other half went to work and when I got in and only did one wee and got it on the paper in the kitchen so very impressed with my little boy!

Going to try the ignoring and see how it goes!

How old is Teddy and what Breed?

Kenzie grew out of this around 6 months.

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* kicking him won't help; in fact, even SCOLDING will make it worse
* it's not a 'habit' yet, but anger or disapproval will create a feedback loop - he leaks, U scold, he leaks more...
* this is involuntary on his part - he is not 'choosing' to do this

step 1: eliminate any possibility this may be a low-grade or chronic infection,
and/or anatomical problem: vet, vet, vet.
just a simple peek under a scope for bugs may not find a chronic problem - culturing his urine may show
what's causing the problem.
anatomically, it could be bladder adhesions, a tilted bladder that retains urine in a pocket even when it's 'empty',
a narrowing of the ureter, gravel in the urine [not likely at his age, but...], or any of a number of other quirks.


step 2: for now, put a belly-band on him at all times indoors; only take it off when he is outside to toilet.
they are inexpensive, & simple to use. An all-cotton one with fully-enclosed elastic is best, as he won't get a rash
from a hydrocarbon elastic or synthetic fabric in tender areas. wash & dry it before use: brand-new fabric
often contains sizing or dirt repellents, which again can trigger rashes in tender places. Oh - No fabric-softener,
no perfume-y dryer-sheets, just like a baby's clothing.

belly-bands are lined with cheap peel-&-press pads, sold in any grocery or pharmacy; use unscented pads
with no deodorant, since the liner is changed every time it is damp OR at the minimum, once every 24-hours even if dry,
it's not going to have time to get smelly [except to a dog's nose].

step 3: if this is simply immaturity & lack of muscle tone [the sphincter muscle], he will simply outgrow it.

step 4: unlikely but possible: if he is a very soft-natured dog, this may be his lifelong state.
if there is absolutely nothing wrong with his anatomy, & he has ZERO nasty microbes in cultured urine,
and he is 6-mos-old or 9-mos-old & still leaks when he gets excited, this may just be his soft nature.
remember it is involuntary - he has no more control over it than U do over blinking: it happens.

step 5: just in case, IF it is his 'soft nature', there may be meds to help; polypropanolamine [sic?] may be one,
or there may be others, but that is a vet matter - so ask the vet when U go to get his urine & anatomy
checked-out.

the critical thing is Not to Scold, Punish, or even look angry -
if it becomes a feedback loop: he leaks, U get cross, he leaks more...
it will be much harder to fix, since it will be again, involuntary:
dribbling urine is a SUBMISSIVE signal from a puppy to an adult,
& when the first signal fails, his worry will cause another leak.
that's why the belly-band is so important: it's a non-event.
U won't even know if he leaked until U check the pad, outside.
no wet floors, no odor, nothing to tread-in & carry onto the carpet...
all good!

make all arrivals very low-key: don't talk to him, just come in, set down anything in Ur hands, & take him out.
greet him AFTER the belly-band is off & AFTER he's voided & run about a bit - very casual, quiet voice, warmly.
excited, squealy voices can trigger a leak - so can loud voices, so shouting hello to the neighbor 2 gardens down
is not suggested; wave & smile warmly, instead.

**** are there children in the house? if so & they are under 10-YO, all of this will be much harder -
training young children NOT to rush in the door & squeal, "oh, Poppy, we MISSED U so..." is hard.
the puppy is easier. much easier. ****


belly-bands velcro closed - be sure to close the velcro & safety-pin it shut, when U wash the belly-band,
otherwise it traps lint & the velcro becomes useless. Good luck - hopefully it is a minor chronic infection,
or just his youth; treatment will fix one, & time will fix the other.

he sounds like a very sweet puppy - soft pups who leak often have lovely natures.

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terry pride, APDT-Aus, apdt#1827, CVA, TDF
*wolves R wolves, dogs R dogs, + primates R us.*
tmp, sept-2007