3 Reasons Why Your Dog Pees Almost Every Time He Sees You

A dog peeing when he sees you can become problematic, especially if you live in a carpeted house where it’s harder to get out odors and stains. Dogs that pee when they see you might have certain medical issues going on that could be an underlying cause. While sometimes this behavior is the result of a medical condition, there are several other reasons why your dog might be peeing when he sees you.

1. Your Dog is Super Excited

Excitement could be a trigger for your dog and could be why he pees sometimes when he sees you. This is especially true if you were at work all day and walk in the door with him greeting you. He might just be overly-happy you are home and this excitement is releasing a small amount of urine. The best thing to do is try to lower the excitement level in those situations where your dog is known to urinate.

2. Your Dog is Doing Submissive Urination

Submissive urination is something you might not have heard about before, but it’s a likely cause as to why your dog might be peeing when he sees you. Submissive urination is most frequent around other dogs and it’s a sign from your dog that he’s not a threat. Lowering his body or cowering are common during submissive urination and your dog might tuck his tail or lower his ears as well.

This behavior occurs most often in puppies, but older dogs that don’t have confidence might also engage in this behavior. Submissive urination is also something that happens more in certain dog breeds just like with other behavioral traits.

3. Your Dog Has Urinary Incontinence

Your dog might be peeing every time he sees you because he simply has a health condition like urinary incontinence. If you have an older dog or a young puppy this might be the real issue going on. With young puppies under 12 weeks old, they don’t have the same bladder control as a mature dog, which means they might not know how to hold in their pee.

Some dogs have urinary incontinence due to medical issues and they might not even know they are peeing, so it can even happen in their sleep. Medical urinary incontinence happens too as a result of other medical issues or medications. If you feel that the issue could be medical, seek out a veterinarian so appropriate medical tests can be performed and the issue can be corrected.

How to Stop a Dog’s Submissive Urination

Stopping submissive urination could require a little bit of work on your part. A lot of dogs grow out of this by age 1, but some dogs continue to do this forever. If your dog is older and still doing this submissive urination there are some steps you can take. The first step is to try to greet your dog outside rather than inside if possible. If you have another family member home, get them to take the dog outside when you come in to prevent accidents inside.

You also can redirect your dog when you walk in the door by having toys or treats if being outside is not an option. Behavior modifications work too, such as teaching your dog to sit as soon as you walk in the door. Teaching your dog to sit might be easier said than done, and takes training in calmer situations first in order to really work. You also might decide to ignore your dog when you get in the door and that gives the dog a chance to calm down before you give them attention.