How to stop a dog from peeing in the house

As a dog owner, there are few things more frustrating than coming home and seeing a wet spot on your carpet. You know your dog did it, because he keeps doing it, despite your best training efforts. Is there a way to get him to stop?

Why a Dog May Pee

There are several reasons why a dog may pee in the house. The most obvious one is that he simply hasn’t been able to fully grasp training – or in the case of some stubborn breeds, has not had the desire to learn. If this is the case, you need to be persistent with your training techniques and lovingly work with your dog to get him over the hump.

But what if your dog passed training with flying colors? Indeed, there are a few reasons why a fully trained dog may have started to urinate indoors on a regular basis, sometimes without warning. These reasons fall into two categories: behavioral problems, and medical problems.

Inappropriate Dog Urination and Behavior

When a trained dog regresses to indoor urination because of behavioral issues, it’s relating to a psychological or instinctual response. It is not because your dog suddenly “forgot” how to go pee where he’s supposed to. Your dog is smarter than that.

Also, it’s important to note that your dog will not go to the bathroom indoors to spite you, or because he’s mad because you didn’t give him your table scraps. While some of the behavioral causes may take on the appearance of the dog doing something mean, the reality is that your pooch does not know the concept of vindictiveness.

Behavioral urination could be split into two distinctive categories – marking and soiling. Marking is an instinctive behavior most often carried out by intact males used as a tactic to claim territory. This behavior can be triggered by numerous changes to a dog’s life, from significant things like a new baby or odd stuff like a new vacuum cleaner.

Soiling, on the other hand, is linked to a host of psychological issues. A common problem that falls under this umbrella is excited urination, which unsurprisingly is what happens when a dog pees because he’s super jazzed about something. The behavior is common in puppies – even trained ones – because they haven’t mastered bladder control.

Another form of behavioral tinkling involves submissive urination. This act is a dog’s way of letting you know that he respects your alpha dog status and that he doesn’t mean you any harm. You may see this type of behavior manifest in an adult rescue dog that comes to your home after a rough start to his life.

Separation anxiety can also be a root of indoor urination if you`re leaving your pooch home for extended periods of time. The cause of this behavioral issue may look like spiteful behavior since it`s associated with a dog being upset because he`s separated from his owners. However, this behavior is driven by a need to cope with his own nervousness.

If your dog suffers from behavioral-related urination problems, your best bet is to re-introduce him to certain training methods in order to correct the issues. This may take some time and patience on your end, but you should see results if you hang in there. If you don’t, you may want to consider enlisting professional help.

Urination and Medical Issues