happy Pee

[fireworksinjuly]

How do you stop a dog from happy peeing when a stranger pets him?

Kino does it a lot...he just gets soo excited...

[Carrie]

Does he do this when people come to your house and does he do it still after they've been there for a while? When you meet strangers, do they go right away and start patting him or does it make any difference if they stand there and chat with you first and then Kino goes to them for a pat? In other words, does he stay excited after a few minutes or is he continuously excited and peeing no matter whether it's the first part of the greeting or after a few minutes?

I guess in either case, you might try asking the stranger to hold off on attention to Kino until the stranger becomes more familiar to Kino and let Kino go up to the stranger on his own. You might ask the stranger (tell him what you're trying to work on and can he help you with this) to keep the greeting very low key and just give a mild, little scratch under Kino's chin. The stranger could squat down low and turn sideways, hardly looking at Kino when he gives a pat under the chin....as long as Kino isn't apt to be fearful or aggressive. (I'm always a little nervous when someone's face is right in the face of a dog, but if he stays back a little..)You might even make a point of going out and seeking out helpers for this. Does he act at all that way if the stranger doesn't pat him, but only speaks to him? You could even have some treats in your pocket and when he can accept a pat without peeing, he could get a treat and some low key praise.

That's all I can think of for the moment. I bet Kit will have a good idea. I'm kind of using intuition on that, not a very specific remedy.

[fireworksinjuly]

Most of the time he runs up to people when they get in the door and they pet him....so he pees... MOST of the time after the initial pet hes fine...except with Dave- one of our friends...I think he really likes Dave cuz with him it takes two or three pets to get all the happy pee out.
He doesnt do it if people just speak to him, they must touch him for happy pee.

Hes never been fearful or agressive...the one time he got annoyed with a kid right in his face I removed him from the situation right away, but since then hes never been like that.....

My Mother in Law thought having him sit down to get pet would help...No...he peed ON the person rather then on the ground....thats the way it was pointing...

[Carrie]

My Mother in Law thought having him sit down to get pet would help...No...he peed ON the person rather then on the ground....thats the way it was pointing...

Perhaps when he was aked to sit, he felt more like a lower rank than ever and that may be his situation...that he feels low on the heirarchy (if there is something similar to that nature with humans) of the group. In order to counteract some of that, he probably needs just a little elevating so that is why I say for a person to get down to his level, turn a little so as not to seem too "big," or too obtrusive and to scratch or pet under the chin, not over the top of the dog. Some confidence building games may help. Does he seem submissive in any way? I'm thinking that even if he doesn't seem that way, it may be that in conjunction with the excitement peeing....a submissive urination deal going on. (?)

Has he always been doing this or is this something new?

[fireworksinjuly]

Originally Posted by Carrie

Does he seem submissive in any way? I'm thinking that even if he doesn't seem that way, it may be that in conjunction with the excitement peeing....a submissive urination deal going on. (?)

He used to be with JR's brother. I knew where that stemmed from, and we quickly fixed his brothers behavior and slowly Kino stopped submissive urinating shortly after....But it is possible that some of his happy pee is from that still...

Originally Posted by Carrie

Has he always been doing this or is this something new?

Hes always done it with Dave...but previously had never done it to anyone else....until today when I had him at my mothers work and her co-worker pet him....and he happy peed all over their office carpet.... she was in a chair so she wasnt too "tall"...buit not as to sound mean...she is a slighly large woman so still may have seemed "big" to Kino....

Both of them have dogs that they would have smelled like...can this effect it?

[Carrie]

Smelling dogs on someone may have a remote possibility of a dog peeing on them, but I would expect that to be done by a dog who wants to mark something, like showing that something is his or showing all who will notice, that he was there.

In Kino's case, I'm guessing that it is more related to submissive urination, but I am no expert. This is just a feeling I get. I hope Kit will see this thread and give you some input. He may grow out of this as he developes more confidence.

[flyndog]

I agree with Carrie. The best way to deal with submissive urination is to ignore the dog completely for several minutes. Don't speak to the dog, don't look at the dog. Definately don't pet the dog. The visitor has to pretend like there is no dog.

Your mother-in-law's idea of having him sit instead of rush to greet the visitor is a good idea. You need to keep him from rushing to the door. You can tether him or put a leash on him and hold him to keep him away from visitors who want to pet him. But the visitors have to completely ignore him.

[ducker]

I'm going to chime in with my little experience. We were having this problem with Snickers as well. Primarly a submissive urination. Not only to new guests but when we came home from work. We knew it was a combination of excitment/submissiveness.

What we ended up doing was waiting for her to calm down a bit. Once she was a bit more calm, we then took her outside to go the bathroom.

She infrequently has accidents with us now.

We're still working on the issues with guests.

How old is Kino? under a year?

-Mike

[fireworksinjuly]

Originally Posted by ducker

How old is Kino? under a year?

-Mike

13 months...we got him at 4 months

[Carrie]

we got him at 4 months

Do you know....or mind my asking how much, what kind of socialization did he get prior to your adopting him? What kind of exposure did he get to strangers? Just curious. It could be nothing to do with that, but then again it might. It could just be his own, individual temperament.

[fireworksinjuly]

Originally Posted by Carrie

Do you know....or mind my asking how much, what kind of socialization did he get prior to your adopting him? What kind of exposure did he get to strangers? Just curious. It could be nothing to do with that, but then again it might. It could just be his own, individual temperament.

Well Carrie, as you know we did get him at a pet store...(please no one harass me for this I dont want to get into it- I know its not a good idea but I love my dog). So he did see quite a few strangers before we got him, but never really on good terms...He did happy pee to JR and I the first time we looked at him, but not the second when we took him home.

[Franklin]

I have a 4 year golden that is a very very big problem with happy pee. It is a combination of submissive pee and happy pee. I have tried many of the techniques above but nothing works. I tried waiting in the garage to give him a chance to settle down but he just pees when he hears the garage door open. We also tried opening the back door and letting him out right as we get home, but he just pees all the way to the door and out the door. Ignoring him just makes him pee in one spot. Our carpet is destroyed and we can't take it any more. It's very embarrassing when guests come over and he pees on thier shoes. I hate to lock him in the basement.

Note: He doesn't seem to have confidence problem with other dogs.

[Sweetpea]

This made me feel much better knowing other dogs also have the same problem as Emma. Here is a funny little thing that happen to me tonight. My bf and I went out to pick something up to eat. An old friend came over to talk to me when I was sitting in the van, waiting for my bf to come out with our food. Emma jumped up on me and gave me a golden shower You think I would have known after having her for a 1 1/2 now. Geeez. I guess I keep praying she will grow out of it. My vet said she may never. Some dogs are just like that. She has no medical problems. She pees every time we go to the vet. Also when anyone gives her any attention when they first come in. She is getting better at home. We ususally bring her outside to greet people or have them not talk or look at her until she settles down. She seems to pee in the van if anyone comes up to see her. I usually keep a towel with me. Which I forgot tonight. Emma also pees when my brother pets her. Not sure why she pees everytime he pets her. He always feels so bad I make him pet her outside when we go over to my parents house. Emma has always been around lots of people and always goes for van rides. I think I might just need to get pull ups for her or change her name to puddles. Any Ideas?