# Peeing when getting petted?



## cowgirlup_22 (May 11, 2011)

Kiva is almost 6 months old.She has been so good and knows sit,stay,lay down,and comes when called with absolutely no hesitation.Rarely does she do something naughty and has never been hit. Here is the problem: whenever I go to pet her or even talk to her she cowers a bit and pees all over the place  I have never raised my voice to her nor have I hit her. Its to the point where if I want to pet her I have to get her outside on the back deck or on the grass and then pet her so she isn't peeing in the house on the carpet. My questions to all of you are: Why do you think she might be doing this? Do I keep petting her if she does pee while I am petting her? Any tips on how to get her over this? :help: Or am I the cause of it? *sigh*


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

Excitement or submissive urination is not uncommon in puppies. Most pups grow out of it. It took Vinca til she was about 7 months old before she stopped peeing every time Daddy touched her. 

You can do a lot to mitigate the behavior. When you first come home, ignore your pup. Don't give a special hello greeting or anything like that. Don't even speak to her, just let her out of her crate and go outside with her. Continue ignoring her until she goes potty in the appropriate place, then praise her calmly. Calmly.

Everything you do with this dog needs to be calm and collected right now. Even talking to her or reaching for her is making her head explode.  It doesn't mean she's afraid of you or that you are doing something wrong; some dogs are just so excitable that they lose control. Again, this is a phase most pups grow out of, so be patient and calm. When she starts getting into that excited state where you think she's about to pee, ignore her until she calms down. Then let her come to you for CALM praise and petting.

Did I mention to stay calm?


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## Shaina (Apr 2, 2011)

My girl does this as well. I work at a doggie daycare, so every morning when I'm going to work, she is just bonkers to get inside. I have to have all my staff totally ignore her as she bounces and wiggles around towards them or she piddles everywhere. I do the approach Freestep recommended - ignore her until I get her outside and let her do her business. THEN she gets attention


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## cowgirlup_22 (May 11, 2011)

thanks for the advice  There is one problem though. She isn't excited or bouncing around or anything like that when this has happened.I try to remain as calm as possible/keep my energy down and make sure not to raise my voice at all. I sure can't wait till she outgrows this.lol It just confuses me because she doesn't act like that when my husband tries to pet her  go figure..I am going to try what you guys suggested. That should hopefully make things a bit less messier until she outgrows this annoying habit..


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

cowgirlup_22 said:


> thanks for the advice  There is one problem though. She isn't excited or bouncing around or anything like that when this has happened.I try to remain as calm as possible/keep my energy down and make sure not to raise my voice at all. I sure can't wait till she outgrows this.lol It just confuses me because she doesn't act like that when my husband tries to pet her  go figure


Yeah, my pup never peed when I would interact with her, only my husband. I am the one who feeds, walks, trains and plays with her, and yet she got so excited to see Daddy that she would go into a tailspin! It is befuddling.

If your pup isn't showing excitement by bouncing around, she's showing her emotional state by piddling. It's good that she isn't bouncing around AND piddling, because it makes it ten times harder to control a piddling problem when the pup is going 100 MPH. I still recommend ignoring her, and praising her calmly when she comes to you. It seems there is something about you coming into HER space (vs her coming into YOUR space) that compells her to pee. Possibly she is overwhelmed? 

Who knows what goes on in a puppy's brain, so many little neurons firing so quickly and bumping into each other, I'm sure the pup is confused as well.  Just ignore her and let her come to you for a while. If you want to encourage her to come to you, instead of calling her to you, simply carry treats on you all the time and give her a treat when she comes to you without piddling. Eventually her little brain should "click".


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## cowgirlup_22 (May 11, 2011)

Freestep said:


> Yeah, my pup never peed when I would interact with her, only my husband. I am the one who feeds, walks, trains and plays with her, and yet she got so excited to see Daddy that she would go into a tailspin! It is befuddling.
> 
> If your pup isn't showing excitement by bouncing around, she's showing her emotional state by piddling. It's good that she isn't bouncing around AND piddling, because it makes it ten times harder to control a piddling problem when the pup is going 100 MPH. I still recommend ignoring her, and praising her calmly when she comes to you. It seems there is something about you coming into HER space (vs her coming into YOUR space) that compells her to pee. Possibly she is overwhelmed?
> 
> Who knows what goes on in a puppy's brain, so many little neurons firing so quickly and bumping into each other, I'm sure the pup is confused as well.  Just ignore her and let her come to you for a while. If you want to encourage her to come to you, instead of calling her to you, simply carry treats on you all the time and give her a treat when she comes to you without piddling. Eventually her little brain should "click".


I will definitely try that! Just a few minutes ago she was laying by my chair on the floor quietly watching my kids color.I picked up my laptop and calmly sat down on the floor next to her..didn't look at her or anything like that..just ignored her and sat down. Out of the corner of my eye I could see her staring at me like, "Wth? aren't you going to going to pet me?" lol I continued to ignore her.She then laid down and rolled over waving her paws in the air wanting her belly rubbed..without looking at her I just nonchalantly reached my hand over and started rubbing her belly..I then turned my head to look at her and am happy to say that she didn't pee!  lol I stopped petting her and just watched her. Kiva rolled back onto her side and laid her head down on her paws.I reached over again and started petting her softly on her side.Other than her slightly lifting her left hind leg when I had first touched her she didn't tinkle  Its a start


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

cowgirlup_22 said:


> I then turned my head to look at her and am happy to say that she didn't pee!  lol I stopped petting her and just watched her. Kiva rolled back onto her side and laid her head down on her paws.I reached over again and started petting her softly on her side.Other than her slightly lifting her left hind leg when I had first touched her she didn't tinkle  Its a start


Good job.  

Resist the urge to continue petting when she's not actively asking for it. As you see she *almost* peed when you started petting her side. Of course you will eventually be able to touch her wherever/whenever you want to, but for now, get into the habit of ignoring, and fight the urge to pet unless she asks you to pet her.


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## cowgirlup_22 (May 11, 2011)

Freestep said:


> Good job.
> 
> Resist the urge to continue petting when she's not actively asking for it. As you see she *almost* peed when you started petting her side. Of course you will eventually be able to touch her wherever/whenever you want to, but for now, get into the habit of ignoring, and fight the urge to pet unless she asks you to pet her.


Ok. I will do that.  thank you so much.


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## Germanshepherdlova (Apr 16, 2011)

Sounds like submissive urination. Work on building up her self confidence. Good luck.


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## lrodptl (Nov 12, 2009)

Yup,submissive urination. I have a 23 month old that I could never approach without him cowering and peeing. It's now much better but it's taken tons of patience and bonding. Time to watch your body language. Never approach from above with hand,crouch sideways and let dog come to you,or sit or lie down,no need to even touch,never hold eye contact,never lean forward towards the dog,no excited talking,distract with treats or ball,all conversation should be matter of fact. Be very careful with any verbal corrections at all. Daily leash walks,daily one on one training outside,lie on the kitchen floor and play catch day after day after day. Do not punish for peeing but immediately bring to her pee area. It's tough,very tough!


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

Great advice from Freestep. The main thing is to make her come to you on her own for now. She will outgrow it. Mine went through it at that age too.


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