Sunday, December 29, 2013

Submissive urination



Submissive Urination

How can you tell if your dog’s urination is due to his submissiveness?  Here are some tell-tale signs, according to the Dumb Friends League:
  • Urination occurs when he’s being scolded.
  • Urination occurs when he’s being greeted.
  • Urination occurs when someone approaches him.
  • He is a somewhat shy, anxious or timid dog.
  • He has a history of rough treatment or punishment after the fact.
  • The urination is accompanied by submissive postures, such as crouching or rolling over and exposing his belly.     
                              (http://www.ddfl.org/behavior/submissive.htm)

Low-key arrivals help socially-immature dogs that urinate submissively when greeting their owners.  This is a stage that the dog will generally outgrow if you are patient.[1]  Ignore a dog that urinates submissively until he has had a chance to calm down.  Clean up all messes thoroughly to remove all trace of the odor.  Never punish him, because punishment will make him more anxious and actually trigger the unconscious reflex to urinate.  Dogs that urinate submissively or in excitement lack sufficient control of their bladders, so punishment will make the situation worse.  Once the dog has had a chance to calm down, try greeting the dog outside or indoors on the kitchen linoleum or some other easy-to-clean surface. Low-key departures and arrivals can also help prevent a similar problem called separation anxiety, described in the next section.


[1] Remember that you should have already checked with your veterinarian first to rule out other reasons for the excessive urination such as a bladder infection

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