8 Ways to Stop Submissive Urination in Dogs

• You walk in the door after being out for a few hours and you give your dog an excited and emotional greeting

• When friends and other visitors arrive at your home

• If there is discourse or loud arguing going on

• When a dog or puppy is scolded

• If a loud noise frightens your dog such as thunder, firecrackers, tire blowout, siren or yelling.

• Young puppies and timid, frightened dogs, as well as those with dog parents who are less friendly with their pooches are most frequent displayers of submissive urination.

• Warmly compliment your dog for positive behavior such as going outside to urinate

• Greet your dog calmly from a standing position. When you bend down and your dog lies down to say hi, he will be showing more submissive behavior which reinforces other behaviors of this nature such as submissive urination.

• Avoid direct eye to eye contact when you first see your dog upon returning home. This can be intimidating to a timid pooch and precipitate submissive behavior.

• Don’t grab and hug your dog when you walk into a room where submissive urination has occurred. Once again, a shy pup may see this as an act of dominance and the result will be submissive urination.

• If submissive urination occurs at a specific time, such as before sleeping, or just before you go out, try limiting your dog’s water drinking at that time. Be careful not to deprive your dog’s water access for more than just a very short period of time as water is essential to his well being.

• Don’t make a big deal out of your return home. The excitement in your voice and greeting can be a signal to your dog that he should submit to your entrance and respond with submissive urination. Enter the room calmly and without fanfare. Just let your dog come to you. He will relax once he knows this is not a time for him to respond to dominant behavior by submissive urination

• Join a group dog training class. Submissive urination is not a house training issue. But by  helping your develop other behaviors such as responding to basic commands of sit, stay, come, fetch and others you will be reinforcing positive behaviors and can then divert your dog from submissive urination when that moment occurs.

• Never scold or punish your dog who is displaying submissive urination behavior. This will only reinforce the behavior and in the case of punishment can be inhumane and unlawful as well.  Just say “NO", in the popular vernacular of many anti drug use advocates. Do this in a firm but calm voice each time.