Excited Leaks

Q: My dog is the happiest, most loving guy ever - but when he's really excited (like when we come home, have people over, etc.) he pees a bit. We thought he'd grow out of it, but he's now 10 months old and still sprinkles every day. How can we address this?

A: Shannon Malmberg, of Zen Dog Training, responds: Submissive urination is not a uncommon occurence in very young puppies, but by 10 months of age it is now a conditioned response to over-excitement, almost as if exuberant greetings have "trained" your puppy to piddle! We humans find puppies adorable and our gushing over them can lead to problems.



The immediate remedy for this behavioural problem is quite simple but must be practiced with patience and complete consistency before you will begin to see a turnaround. I've had some puppies very quickly give up sprinkling, whereas others take a few weeks of practice to bring their energy down at the front door.



Ensure that every person coming through the door (that includes yourself) ignores your dog completely (no touch, no eye, no voice) until he displays calm energy and a decreased interest in the person's arrival. In this more balanced emotional state, the puppy can be interacted with in a CALM almost disinterested manner. (In the early stages of training, this might mean waiting a half hour!) Some people post a note outside of the door, advising friends and family on how to enter calmly, to ensure consistency in working through this problem.



As a longer-term measure, proper obedience training will benefit your dog because it will teach him self-control and the ability to focus and work through distractions. I teach a go-to-place command at the front door, so puppies have a "job" to do when people enter the home. This helps to prevent over-excitement, jumping up, barking, aggression, piddling and all the other front-door behaviour problems many dogs develop.