Any pet behaviourists out there please advise me with my dog, he wees when someone goes to stroke him?

Question

I have a Springer Spaniel who is now 3, ever since we have had him from 8 weeks old he has weed a bit when someone goes to stroke him, i took him to puppy socialising classes and the lady said that he would grow out of it! i have also took him to the vets to check that he doesnt have any type of infection but that has come back clear, she thinks that it is soe type of behavioural problem as he has done it for so long. What he does is if someone comes in the house he will run up to them excited to see them and if they put their hand down to stroke him he will wee, it wont just be a little bit of wee it can be quite a lot, he doesnt do this with us though just friends and even people in the street if they go to stroke him, he is an absolute gorgeous dog and the best around the kids but this is really annoying me now, we dont tell him off when he does it as i dont think that is the right thing to do. i get nervous when people come round and i dont want people to stroke him because i dont want him to wee over them. We do get people to ignore him then stroke him outside and he would definately wee but he could wee again even if friends have been round for ages! I am sure that i must be doing something wrong! Should i advise friends who do go to stroke him that if he starts to squat down then to straight away turn away from him and ignore him or what should i do, i know that this is quite long but i am trying to give as much detail as i can. Apart from when he does this he is such an exciteable and happy dog always jumping around and being a complete nutter which is typical springer i know but i really want to know if i can do something about him keep weeing!

Answer 1

It is called submissive or excitement urination and is very common. Working in veterinary medicine I have seen a lot of dogs do this. You go to great the cute doggie in the lobby, they are sooo excite or scared and there goes the puddle. We have one cute blue heeler that boards with us and every time you go get her from her run she pees cause she's so happy to see you.

Good Luck is there are things you can do to help with this. The ones that I think have worked best are:

1.) Keep greetings low key. Inform visitors to your house to not get excited when greeting your dog. Have them ignore the dog. This worked well when teaching my own dog to deal with seperation anxiety. He used to get so fussy when I left or came home.

2.) Use a command when approaching him. Make sure anytime someone comes to greet your dog he is given something to do. If he knows sit and stay work with him on that when your family gets home. He already does not urinate with you so it will help with the routine. Have visitors come in the door and keep treats nearby. When the dog approaches them have them give a command or two and make your dog wait before recieving the treat. Then your dog will hopefully associate the treat and pet with doing a good job on the command and not on meeting someone new.

I have attached a helpful link on submissive urination.

Also please make sure to attend more than just a puppy class. Try getting into a canine good citizen class or a higher level obedience training. It is very important (esp with your breed) that you work hard now to train him. In the end you will all be happier the better trained he is.  

Answer 2

This is called submissive urination. It is not uncommon but that doesn't make it any more fun to deal with. For one thing, tell people to never pat him on the head. That is considered a dominance action by a dog.

Enter "submissive urination" in Google or Yahoo and you will find dozens of articles with suggestions. You may need to work with a pet behaviorist but start with the various suggestions first.

Here are a few

http://www.clickandtreat.com/webart105.h...

http://www.canismajor.com/dog/ttouch3.ht...

Answer 3

Springers CAN really be spazzes!  My best friend has one and he is still a freak at the age of 11!

His behavior is considered submissive peeing, and most dogs do grow out of it.  You'd like to think he would've by age 3, I'm sure.  Because it's still going on, he might also be overexcited at receiving attention (imagine - a springer spaniel being overexcited???)  There are some things that you can do to minimize the peeing by minimizing his excitement.

When you come home, don't make a big deal over him, and encourage family and friends to not pet him for several minutes after they arrive at your home.  He might be having trouble transitioning from being alone to having you or other people around and giving him attention.  That, combined with a submissive personality, can trigger him to pee inappropriately.

When you come home, try to ignore him for about 5 minutes until he adjusts to the fact that you've returned.  Once he's calmed down from your arrival, put him outside for a potty break.  After he's done, give him some attention.  Talk to him calmly and don't get him wound up.  

Getting some of his excess energy expended can help as well.  Playing catch and physical activity outside can really help calm him altogether.  

I've had two dogs in my life that both did the submissive peeing thing.  My dog's trainer was the one who showed me how to break the behavior by ignoring them, and it really worked!

BTW, you did the right thing by talking to your vet to rule out a physical problem, and I think a little modification of how you interact with him might correct this.

Good luck!

Answer 4

http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/7742/...

You may find this helpful, I have the same problem with one of my German Shepherds though she only does it when greeting my husband.

Answer 5

This is called sumissive urination and a lot of dogs will do this mainly because they are eager to please and don't want to upset anyone.

If he only does this when people put their hands down to stroke him, was he pushed down a lot when he was a puppy for jumping up at , possibly by the children?   It is a natural reaction for kids to do this and his could be a contributory factor and he is reacting in this way because he knows it's wrong to jump at visitors so  he could be a little nervous thus causing him to wee as he does.

I would ask your visitors to refrain from stroking him immediately they enter your home and tell them to fold their arms across their chests and not to give him any eye contact whatsoever.  Just let him greet them but don't let them put their hands on him.  It may work, it may not, but it's worth a try .

Springers are complete nutters, as you say.  I know, I have one.  I had two up until a year ago until we had to say goodbye to her at the age of 14 yrs.  They were both crazy when they were young but both of them seemed to become a lot calmer by the age of 4 yrs, so there's hope!  

I hope you can resolve the problem.  Other posters may have some good ideas for you.  Good luck.