# Peeing out of excitment...



## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

Yes, Brooks did this, especially when young females talked to him.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

Yep, Flora did it, lol, it frustrated me so much! She did it once in Petco and the girl who was petting her (an employee who was squealing like a little girl and getting Flora all worked up) treated me very rudely once she realized Flora had piddled. Flora grew out of it, although occasionally when she gets REALLY excited she will urinate. Fortunately it's only happened outside. 

It'll pass, I promise!


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## Rainheart (Nov 28, 2010)

It really depends on the individual dog. Some puppies will grow out of it. My Ginger never did, though.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

This is a really common problem. In order to solve it, you first need to understand it. It sounds like you already do, but just in case others read the thread, let me say that this kind of peeing is a dog's attempt to appease and please the human he's interacting with. It's a way of saying "I'm not a threat, and I'm really happy to see you." You want him to say this with his behavior, but you want to stop one piece of it. So, if you punish the dog (again, you already seem to understand this, but it's important to say), you'll actually deepen his need to appease and make the problem worse. Never punish a dog who pees out of excitement or submission.

The solution is to take the excitement out of greetings. He's simply overwhelmed with the need to appease that he goes too far. You need to catch people before the approach and tell them, "Sorry, but we're training a problem behavior. I need you to ignore the dog and avoid eye contact and excited voices for a few minutes."

The more often he pees during a greeting, the longer the behavior will persist, so you need to avoid, avoid, avoid for a while. Greetings have to become more calm for the time being. People should ignore him until well after he has settled. It can take a good 5-10 minutes. One he's calm, they can interact with him. I suggest having him sit for these interactions, since it's harder for dogs, particularly boys, to pee in a sit (though certainly not impossible). And have the humans gently stroke his cheek while avoiding eye contact (eye contact is very intimidating in dog body language). Voices should be calm and midrange in their pitch. You want him to learn that calm sitting leads to attention and that over-exuberance leads to being ignored, and you definitely want to start preventing the situations that cause him to pee.

Also, if there are other parts of your training protocol that are intimidating or surprising (prong collar, collar pops, loud voices for corrections, etc.), I would try to go easy on them or eliminate them for the time being.

This behavior will typically get better as a dog gets older, but some dogs develop a lifelong habit, so I wouldn't wait it out. I'd be proactive about training calmer greetings.


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## Bill (Feb 14, 2011)

My 3 year old Buddy does it alot when greeting and I have tried the ignoring and telling visitors to not make over him and ignore him but it has not helped. He's just so darn happy to see someone.


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## JBG (Feb 14, 2011)

MyBuddy22 said:


> Bauer is 4 months now, and seems to pee all over the floor when he greets people. He loves people so much he gets overly excited and pees a bit. Its embarrassing especially at the vets. Everytime we go he pees on the nurses. I guess it doesn't help when eveyone is making a huge fuss over him too being a golden puppy and all. But, Have any of your pups done this, and will he grow out of this? thanks.


My father-in-law got his German Shepherd as a full-grown dog. I am the adult husband of his daughter, and as the dog got to like me he would regularly pee in excitement. I am told I am one of the few he did this for.

As for golden retrievers, it is my understanding that they develop a vicious disposition around 1 year old. That should stop the "excitement peeing".


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

JBG said:


> My father-in-law got his German Shepherd as a full-grown dog. I am the adult husband of his daughter, and as the dog got to like me he would regularly pee in excitement. I am told I am one of the few he did this for.
> 
> As for golden retrievers, it is my understanding that they develop a vicious disposition around 1 year old. That should stop the "excitement peeing".


Haha, this made me laugh. Goldens are so mean!


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## JBG (Feb 14, 2011)

kdmarsh said:


> Haha, this made me laugh. Goldens are so mean!


They look mean. And they batter hard with their tails.


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## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

Gladys does this a bit. I agree with Tippy, I think it's a way of saying "ok, I'll let you be the boss". Our dog school teacher said that, and added that dogs with this disposition excel in obedience and agility because they like to please. 

That kind of endears her to me instead of making me upset or mad about the piddling. It's not like she's trying to be bad or act like a baby.

Gladys does seem to try hard to please (even if she has her moments!).

I try to get her to empty her bladder before encountering any exciting places and/or people: empty bladder before going into Gramma's house, empty bladder before going into petstore, vet, dog school etc etc. I also try to keep her from getting overexcited, try to keep things low key, although that's not always possible, I can't control every situation.

She sprinkled a bit in CGC class last night. I confirmed with dog school teacher this can't really be trained out, just keep practicing and try to get her used to new people and places and hope with experience and maturity it lessens (I guess that's somewhat like growing out of it).

As for goldens looking mean, one time I had Boomer at the train station in the city; he was just sitting there panting, with his big grin on and some guy said "that dog look mean". I was like ... "huh? what dog are you looking at?" He said Boomers teeth were showing -> he equated that with looking vicious. He was serious too. I told him I thought he was just panting and had his grin on but the guy didn't seem convinced.


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## Elisabeth Kazup (Aug 23, 2008)

Brian is right on with his assessment and suggestions.

Penny did this. Ignoring her until the 'arrival period' was over did help but it was not immediate, took some time for her to adjust her excitement level and expectations of what would happen during the arrival period. It took about a month or more.

When the weather was nice and I knew when someone was coming over...specifically when Penny's Dad was coming home from work...I waited outside and had her go potty when I saw his car turning the corner. Going potty right before the arrival time at least reduces the amount of pee.

For cleanup: I saved bread bags and put them on like a plastic glove. I soaked up the urine with paper towel and then pulled the bag off my arm and over my fistful of wet paper towel. Tie it in a knot and no muss, no fuss and no touching doggie pee. Then I used a spray bottle with bleach water in it and paper towel to go over the spot.


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## JBG (Feb 14, 2011)

boomers_dawn said:


> As for goldens looking mean, one time I had Boomer at the train station in the city; he was just sitting there panting, with his big grin on and some guy said "that dog look mean". I was like ... "huh? what dog are you looking at?" He said Boomers teeth were showing -> he equated that with looking vicious. He was serious too. I told him I thought he was just panting and had his grin on but the guy didn't seem convinced.


 Just to be clear I was kidding about them looking vicious.


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## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

JBG said:


> Just to be clear I was kidding about them looking vicious.




I know that, I thought so immediately after the vicious disposition comment.

I thought it was funny that someone out in public really thought Boomer looked mean.


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## JBG (Feb 14, 2011)

boomers_dawn said:


> I thought it was funny that someone out in public really thought Boomer looked mean.


Is Boomer actually gentle?


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## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

JBG said:


> Is Boomer actually gentle?


Yes, he's a perfect saint. 
See the avatar picture? With the St. Patricks day googly antennas?
That's Boomer ... does he look scary? :jester:


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## JBG (Feb 14, 2011)

boomers_dawn said:


> Yes, he's a perfect saint.
> See the avatar picture? With the St. Patricks day googly antennas?
> That's Boomer ... does he look scary? :jester:


I just wasn't aware of golden retrievers being a particularly gentle breed for these reasons:


They always have something in their mouth;
Their tail often slams into people's legs; and
Whatever they have in their mouth, however heavy, is dropped on or near people's feet.


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## Colorwolf (Feb 21, 2011)

My 4mth old Buddy does exactly the same thing...
So now I always let him out to release his bladders before meeting anyone. Normally that does the trick. I take him out to release his bladder every 2 hours or so. Hasn't peed excitedly since.


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