Eliminate Common Problems With House Training A Dog. 

 House training a dog can be a frustrating and confusing problem that most pet owners dread. In this article we will cover two of the most common house training problems...

 Submissive and or excited urination as well as Sent marking.

Submissive/ excited urination: Submissive urination is when a dog urinates on himself and on the floor do to extreme excitement or stress. For example, when you return home from being gone for an extended period of time, this can cause a great deal of excitement or stress for your dog.

What causes submissive/excited urination?

Usually found in puppies and highly sensitive or timid adult dogs, submissive/excited urination can be a symptom of sheltered and or abused dogs. This undesirable behavior usually happens at greeting time after a prolonged absents, play time, when guest arrive, a loud stressful situation in the home, behavioral corrections or loud sudden noise.

Click here to get the answers to this and many other question on house training a dog.

End this problem safe and effectively.

The good news is that this problem is not hard to cure. Take these few steps and you can have submissive/excited urination under control quickly.

1- Take your dog to the vet. (rule out medical reasons such as a bladder infection or diabetes.)

2- Limit your dog’s water intake so that he can better control his bladder. You don't have to restrict his water intake over a long period of time, just when you know certain events are coming up. For instance, if you have guests coming over or you plan a playtime session with your dog, limit his intake of water about an hour before your event.

3- Clam greetings- When you and others greet your dog, try to keep things mellow. The more excited he gets the more likely you will have an accident. When he greets you at the door after a long separation, give him a monotone hello, a quick pat on the head and move on to settling in for the evening.

4- DO NOT punish your dog harshly. Remember he has a hard time controlling himself and really does not want pee on him or you for that matter. When you catch your dog in the act of submissive/excited urination, stay calm but firm and give the command "NO", then praise him when he stops. Getting angry and punishing your dog harshly for his condition will only make things worse.

-Scent marking, How to stop it for good!

Scent marking is a common way many animals mark their territory and it acts as a calling card for the opposite sex. Scent marking, normally has nothing to do with house training or house breaking. The main reasons for scent marking are dominance and territory. A dog can be perfectly house trained and still mark with urine inside the house.

Scent marking can be one of the most miss-understood and frustrating problems when it comes to keeping unwanted urine out of the house.(often time confused with house training.) 

O.K., how do you tell the difference between scent making and bad manners?

Your dog is scent marking if:

-The amount of urine is small and targeted at a wall, door or the corner of the furniture. (Basically any vertical surface.)

- If your dog is a male over the age of 6 months and has not been neutered. Unneutered dogs can be expected to scent mark. Female dogs have been known to mark as well but it is not common. And the same goes for female dogs, spayed females are even less likely to scent mark. Spayed and neutered dogs do mark but it is very rare.

- If your dog has ample time out doors to go potty and you still have problems with urination, he is probably scent marking.

- He targets new objects in the home such as new furniture, guests clothing, shoes...etc.

- If you have multiple dogs in the house with a conflict.

-Other un-neutered un-spayed animals in the house.

How do you eliminate this problem altogether?

First of you should always spayed and neuter your pets as soon as possible. For most dogs and cats that would be around 6 months old. Often times this will stop the scent marking altogether, unless your dog has a long time of scent making in the past. If your dog has ingrained a habit of marking your house, he may still mark after being neutered, although it should be a lot less.

It is also very important to thoroughly clean the soiled areas. Use a cleaner free of ammonia and vinegar because they have similar smells to urine. There are plenty of commercial cleaners on the market that are designed to lift pet stains and odors. Check your local pet stores or supermarkets for suggestions.

Change the meaning of the marked spot.

Most dogs will mark the same spots again and again. What you need to do is change what this spot means to your dog. You can do this by putting his food bowel or his bed next to the spot. Maybe even spend some time in that spot yourself.  If there is a conflict with another dog or animal in the house, you can take steps to resolve the problem. You can do this by paying more attention to the more dominant one. Feeding that dog first, playing more with that dog and so on. What you will be doing is reinforcing the chain of command eliminating the need for him to express his dominance. By making it clear where each dog stands in the hierarchy of the house you can stop the scent marking very quickly.

For more information on how to successfully house train your dog (as well as a whole bunch of in-depth information on house training troubleshooting and related issues) you’ll probably want to check out The Ultimate House Training Guide.

It’s the complete dog-house-training guide. The Ultimate House Training Guide and comes highly recommended. Click on the link below to get your copy now!