Dog
and cat pet tips - on Pets.ca
Cat illness, dog is sick, behavior
problems....Once a week Pets.ca will publish a pet tip.
Tip - 14 - Submissive
urination in dogs - Submissive urination is not a house training
problem
Dogs are genetically
programmed, to live in a hierarchical group. Some dogs are more
dominant, and other dogs are less dominant or more submissive.
Normally dogs will accept their owners as the leaders of the
pack. They are in essence, accepting them as the top dogs in
the house. Extremely submissive dogs, dogs with self esteem issues
or puppies, will often urinate when they get excited. This often
happens when their owners return home after having gone out,
when they are told it is time for a walk, when guests or people
they know show up at the house, and even sometimes when they
are petted. What they are doing in essence, is sending out the
message "You are my superior, I am not a threat". They
do this through urination, because a dog's urine contains information
about its status in the group.
It is extremely important
not to yell at a dog, punish, or discipline a dog for submissive
urination. By yelling at the dog , all you are doing is reinforcing
the dogs feeling of submissiveness. This may cause the dog
to urinate even more.
The key to curing a
dog's submissive urination problem is to remove the excitement
that causes it, and by building up a dog's confidence, since
confident dogs don't urinate when they get excited. When you
come home, do not greet your dog with excitement. In fact, it's
better if you ignore your dog completely for the first few minutes.
Nonchalantly, let your dog out to urinate or have another family
member take the dog out. It is very important not to get your
dog excited. Don't make direct eye contact with him since direct
eye contact is a sign of dominance, and don't talk to him, or
talk to him in a low monotone voice. When the dog urinates, lavish
excessive amounts of praise upon him. The goal here, is for the
dog to get excited about urination outdoors.
Obedience training is
a GREAT way to build up a dog's confidence and it also provides
socialization with other dogs which is good for confidence building.
Playing fetch or having the dog do something constructive for
which it receives praise is another way.
See the
other pet tips here:
© Pets.ca 2006
www.pets.ca
