Submissive Urination
By Scotty Valadao – Accredited Behaviour Consultant (ABC of SA™): Tellington TTouch Practitioner
Although submissive urination may be an annoying, unacceptable behaviour to us humans, to dogs it is simply normal canine communication. Dogs do this to show social appeasement i.e. to show it is not a threat to a human or to another dog and it is more common in pups that are lower down in the social hierarchy, but when they gain confidence this behaviour normally stops occurring. Some dogs urinate submissively due to a lack of self confidence, while other dogs may urinate due to over excitement. Some dogs will produce dribbles of urine while others appear to lose total control of their bladder.
With an adult dog that is urinating due to a lack of self confidence, it is more likely to occur in situations such as:-
· When dog is being scolded or punished.
· When being scolded or punished a while after the actual event e.g. dog knocks down a lamp and owner screams at dog when arrives home. Dog associates screaming with owner arriving home, not the event of knocking down the lamp, hence the dog becomes nervous of the owner arriving home and the behaviour is reinforced by the owner then shouting at the dog for urinating.
· When being approached. In some cases a dog will urinate submissively only towards strangers (some only towards, men or children) while other dogs will exhibit this behaviour when the owner arrives home as well.
· When being petted, especially by strangers.
· With dogs that are nervous, timid or fearful in general.
· Some dogs will even engage in this behaviour when out for a walk and being forced to go an area it is nervous of, or at the vet or if it feels intimidated.
· If the dog is a rescue and could possibly have been ill treated in the past.
There are also behaviours that a dog exhibits which are known as Calming or Appeasement signals at the same time that will give further clues to the dog’s state of mind and how fearful the dog actually is. e.g.
· Dog rolls over to expose its tummy.
· Dog tail tucks while urinating – hindquarters possibly held lower than normal.
· Dog crouches down
· Dog raises front paw
· Dog flattens back its ears
· Dog will lick its lips or nose
· Dog turns its head away
· Dog appears to blink or squint its eyes
· Dog exhibits a submissive grin (this may look like the dog is smiling or showing its teeth)
What is important to realize is that the above behaviours are the dog telling us to ‘stop, I feel threatened’. To shout, punish or reassure the dog by way of petting it will only reinforce this behaviour and make the situation worse. This applies especially in the case of a dog that rolls over and exposes it tummy – it is not asking for a tummy rub, the dog is scared and if some well meaning person then leans over the dog (threatening to a dog) to calm or pat it, a bite could be the result and the dog is blamed for this rather than the human, who did not recognize the dogs signals in the first place!
As with all behaviours it is important to understand and recognize what situations cause the dog to engage in this behaviour. Once we understand as to why our dog is acting in a particular manner, it is so must easier to understand and put in place the modification to change the behaviour and help the dog to become more confident.
Modifications
The very first step is to ensure that there is no medical condition for the behaviour occurring, especially if this is a new behaviour, so a visit to the vet is called for to rule out age related incontinence, urinary tract infections, urinary incontinence, or any disease that has associated symptoms such as soiling or any medication the dog is taking that may have a side effect of increasing drinking and as such elimination.
With all interaction with a dog that is nervous or fearful our own body language will give the dog a lot of cues. So do make sure that you yourself are confident, not thinking that the dog will urinate and rather have a picture in your mind of what you do want. Don’t do exercises such as the following if you have had a bad day, are feeling out of sorts or angry. Dogs pick up a lot more of what we are feeling than we realize and will react accordingly. Also all dogs learn at different paces, so be patient and don’t go too fast and remember to praise the behaviour you do want.
1. Arriving Home
If you have a dog that urinates when you arrive home, simply walk in and totally ignore the dog. Don’t look at it, speak to it, or pay any attention to it at all. Give the dog a few minutes to digest the change, then kneel down with a treat in your hand, leaning back slightly, call the dog, ask it to sit and then offer the treat and pet slowly and quietly. By kneeling down you are not threatening the dog by leaning over it. As the dog gets used to this you can gradually fade the food treat and your next step would be to start standing up and calling the dog to you and then ask for the sit and initially bring in the reward. Again, when the dog is used to this, start to fade the reward.
If you have a dog that is no longer urinating when you kneel down, but still does so when you stand up, take a step back and instead of standing all the way, bring your body about half way up taking care not to bend over the dog and gradually stand up straight as the dogs becomes more confident.
Really praise the dog quietly as it sits and takes the treat. You are now rewarding the dog for the behaviour you do want. Dogs are very bright and will quickly figure out what works and what doesn’t and which behaviour brings rewards.
The above can be reinforced by taking the dogs daily allowance of food and instead of feeding in a bowl call the dog to you, ask for a sit and reward with a piece of food. The idea of this is to repeat over and over in order that the behaviour of coming to you is no longer threatening. The dog will gradually gather confidence and the behaviour will extinguish.
2. Visitors Arriving
A variation of the above is done. Tell the visitor in advance not to pay any attention to the dog when they arrive and if you feel the dog would be more secure, put on its lead. Tell the visitor to bring some really nice tasty treats with them. As the person comes through the door they ignore the dog completely (as you do). Depending on the degree of fear, the person can start tossing a few treats to the dog, or else call the dog, ask for a sit and give the treat. You can reinforce this yourself by praising the dog for going to get the treat and calling it to you and asking for a sit and treating as well. Remember that the person must not lean over the dog and if the dog is really fearful, they would be better off kneeling down with their head slightly turned away calming/appeasement signal to the dog) and then toss the treat. We are now changing the dog’s perception of a stranger to being a rewarding experience rather than a fearful experience.
It is important to do this as much as possible, not just once a week. Like Gary Player once said ‘the more I practice the luckier I get!’ the same applies here. Rather take a Saturday afternoon and invite a bunch of people to come over, one by one at regular intervals to practice. The same person can also come in and out the door several times before moving onto the next person. Realize that your dog may get the idea quickly if it is a woman visiting, but totally freaks out with a man or a child. Just understand the dog is scared and make the person stand further away. Always work with ‘where the dog is at’, as we say in TTouch, don’t do more than the dog can cope with. Give the dog a break in between, and if you feel it is becoming too much for the dog, rather do shorter visits with more time in-between.
3. Urinating when out in unfamiliar places and at the vet
Many dogs with this problem will start urinating if faced with going to an unfamiliar place, or to a place it perceives to be threatening such as a vet. To change this, what you need to do is to walk your dog in the normal manner and watch its body language to see when it is starting to feel threatened or wants to go towards home. The second this happens, instead of forcing the dog, simply turn around towards home, walk a few steps, then turn around back to the direction you were facing, and toss a treat a step away from you. As the dog goes towards the treat, praise and then toss another treat. At this stage, stop and turn back towards home and then repeat the process. You will gradually get the dog to walk further without reacting.
Some dogs that are fearful are fine if they follow a daily walking route and only react when in a strange location. Start to build up the dog’s confidence by changing routes on a regular basis, even going a few steps at a time in the new direction and the going back as above.
If the dog is fearful and urinating as it arrives at the vet, simply change the dog’s perception of the vet. Drive into the vets parking area, get out the car with the dog (put it on the ground) and if it will walk, walk away from the door, tossing a treat or two. If it wont walk and just stands shaking, then stand there a few seconds, even whistling, get back in the car and come back and repeat the process. When the dog is relaxed, get in the car, go around the block and then come back and repeat. You will gradually build up the dog’s confidence until it can walk in and out of the vet without stressing and urinating. Remember to keep on praising the dog, as above, for the behaviour you do want.
The majority of vets I work with have receptionists that are passionate animal lovers. When your dog is going in and out happily, engage their help and ask them to approach your dog the way you did for visitors. If you vet is willing, he can even partake in this exercise as well. I do find that the majority of vets are happy to do this as it is much easier to examine a dog that is not stressed out of its mind.
4. Punishment
I am not a believer in physical punishment at all especially when working with a dog that is timid nervous or fearful. Rather bring in what is termed a NRM (Non Reward Market) in your everyday interaction with the dog rather than shouting, smacking or screaming at the dog. Dogs actually listen more to somebody that speaks quietly, calmly and with authority rather than somebody who constantly shouts at it. Do you remember the teacher at school who talked softly and you listened more??
Non-reward markers are an excellent part of training and interactions with our dogs. We need to be able to let our dogs know when we are not happy with the behaviour it is exhibiting. An example of this is simply to use the words ‘poofy’ or ‘uh-uh’ or similar. We can use various tones of voice with these cues as well which changes the intensity of how we say it. What is very important where the NRM is concerned is the timing, in fact the timing is crucial, it must be used WHILE your dog is performing the incorrect behaviour, not before or after otherwise the dog will think that the NRM relates to behaviour she did in-between.
The beauty of using a NMR such as uh-uh or similar, is that it is a not a word we use in everyday use. The word ‘no’ is not having any effect, and it is a word we use daily – ‘no, I don’t want a cup of coffee, no thanks, don’t want to go out, etc’, in other words it has lost its honesty, and simply by changing the word, bringing in new behaviours to go with it, as well as consistency, can have an instant turn around.
What is also important when using a NRM, is that the second the dog stops performing the unacceptable behaviour, to immediately praise the dog for stopping – ‘’uhuh’ – behaviour stops – ‘good dog’. You are then indicating to the dog what you do want, and also what you don’t want. This then leads to a better understanding for your dog and you are opening up excellent lines of communication. It is impossible to tell a dog to do nothing, so we are now feeding it what we want and what we don’t want. We are putting in place, clearly defined boundaries and in the case of a nervous or fearful dogs we are not adding to the stress and by raising ourselves in the combined human/canine hierarchy we are making the dog feel more secure.
With an adult dog that is urinating due to a lack of self confidence, it is more likely to occur in situations such as:-
· When dog is being scolded or punished.
· When being scolded or punished a while after the actual event e.g. dog knocks down a lamp and owner screams at dog when arrives home. Dog associates screaming with owner arriving home, not the event of knocking down the lamp, hence the dog becomes nervous of the owner arriving home and the behaviour is reinforced by the owner then shouting at the dog for urinating.
· When being approached. In some cases a dog will urinate submissively only towards strangers (some only towards, men or children) while other dogs will exhibit this behaviour when the owner arrives home as well.
· When being petted, especially by strangers.
· With dogs that are nervous, timid or fearful in general.
· Some dogs will even engage in this behaviour when out for a walk and being forced to go an area it is nervous of, or at the vet or if it feels intimidated.
· If the dog is a rescue and could possibly have been ill treated in the past.
There are also behaviours that a dog exhibits which are known as Calming or Appeasement signals at the same time that will give further clues to the dog’s state of mind and how fearful the dog actually is. e.g.
· Dog rolls over to expose its tummy.
· Dog tail tucks while urinating – hindquarters possibly held lower than normal.
· Dog crouches down
· Dog raises front paw
· Dog flattens back its ears
· Dog will lick its lips or nose
· Dog turns its head away
· Dog appears to blink or squint its eyes
· Dog exhibits a submissive grin (this may look like the dog is smiling or showing its teeth)
What is important to realize is that the above behaviours are the dog telling us to ‘stop, I feel threatened’. To shout, punish or reassure the dog by way of petting it will only reinforce this behaviour and make the situation worse. This applies especially in the case of a dog that rolls over and exposes it tummy – it is not asking for a tummy rub, the dog is scared and if some well meaning person then leans over the dog (threatening to a dog) to calm or pat it, a bite could be the result and the dog is blamed for this rather than the human, who did not recognize the dogs signals in the first place!
As with all behaviours it is important to understand and recognize what situations cause the dog to engage in this behaviour. Once we understand as to why our dog is acting in a particular manner, it is so must easier to understand and put in place the modification to change the behaviour and help the dog to become more confident.
Modifications
The very first step is to ensure that there is no medical condition for the behaviour occurring, especially if this is a new behaviour, so a visit to the vet is called for to rule out age related incontinence, urinary tract infections, urinary incontinence, or any disease that has associated symptoms such as soiling or any medication the dog is taking that may have a side effect of increasing drinking and as such elimination.
With all interaction with a dog that is nervous or fearful our own body language will give the dog a lot of cues. So do make sure that you yourself are confident, not thinking that the dog will urinate and rather have a picture in your mind of what you do want. Don’t do exercises such as the following if you have had a bad day, are feeling out of sorts or angry. Dogs pick up a lot more of what we are feeling than we realize and will react accordingly. Also all dogs learn at different paces, so be patient and don’t go too fast and remember to praise the behaviour you do want.
1. Arriving Home
If you have a dog that urinates when you arrive home, simply walk in and totally ignore the dog. Don’t look at it, speak to it, or pay any attention to it at all. Give the dog a few minutes to digest the change, then kneel down with a treat in your hand, leaning back slightly, call the dog, ask it to sit and then offer the treat and pet slowly and quietly. By kneeling down you are not threatening the dog by leaning over it. As the dog gets used to this you can gradually fade the food treat and your next step would be to start standing up and calling the dog to you and then ask for the sit and initially bring in the reward. Again, when the dog is used to this, start to fade the reward.
If you have a dog that is no longer urinating when you kneel down, but still does so when you stand up, take a step back and instead of standing all the way, bring your body about half way up taking care not to bend over the dog and gradually stand up straight as the dogs becomes more confident.
Really praise the dog quietly as it sits and takes the treat. You are now rewarding the dog for the behaviour you do want. Dogs are very bright and will quickly figure out what works and what doesn’t and which behaviour brings rewards.
The above can be reinforced by taking the dogs daily allowance of food and instead of feeding in a bowl call the dog to you, ask for a sit and reward with a piece of food. The idea of this is to repeat over and over in order that the behaviour of coming to you is no longer threatening. The dog will gradually gather confidence and the behaviour will extinguish.
2. Visitors Arriving
A variation of the above is done. Tell the visitor in advance not to pay any attention to the dog when they arrive and if you feel the dog would be more secure, put on its lead. Tell the visitor to bring some really nice tasty treats with them. As the person comes through the door they ignore the dog completely (as you do). Depending on the degree of fear, the person can start tossing a few treats to the dog, or else call the dog, ask for a sit and give the treat. You can reinforce this yourself by praising the dog for going to get the treat and calling it to you and asking for a sit and treating as well. Remember that the person must not lean over the dog and if the dog is really fearful, they would be better off kneeling down with their head slightly turned away calming/appeasement signal to the dog) and then toss the treat. We are now changing the dog’s perception of a stranger to being a rewarding experience rather than a fearful experience.
It is important to do this as much as possible, not just once a week. Like Gary Player once said ‘the more I practice the luckier I get!’ the same applies here. Rather take a Saturday afternoon and invite a bunch of people to come over, one by one at regular intervals to practice. The same person can also come in and out the door several times before moving onto the next person. Realize that your dog may get the idea quickly if it is a woman visiting, but totally freaks out with a man or a child. Just understand the dog is scared and make the person stand further away. Always work with ‘where the dog is at’, as we say in TTouch, don’t do more than the dog can cope with. Give the dog a break in between, and if you feel it is becoming too much for the dog, rather do shorter visits with more time in-between.
3. Urinating when out in unfamiliar places and at the vet
Many dogs with this problem will start urinating if faced with going to an unfamiliar place, or to a place it perceives to be threatening such as a vet. To change this, what you need to do is to walk your dog in the normal manner and watch its body language to see when it is starting to feel threatened or wants to go towards home. The second this happens, instead of forcing the dog, simply turn around towards home, walk a few steps, then turn around back to the direction you were facing, and toss a treat a step away from you. As the dog goes towards the treat, praise and then toss another treat. At this stage, stop and turn back towards home and then repeat the process. You will gradually get the dog to walk further without reacting.
Some dogs that are fearful are fine if they follow a daily walking route and only react when in a strange location. Start to build up the dog’s confidence by changing routes on a regular basis, even going a few steps at a time in the new direction and the going back as above.
If the dog is fearful and urinating as it arrives at the vet, simply change the dog’s perception of the vet. Drive into the vets parking area, get out the car with the dog (put it on the ground) and if it will walk, walk away from the door, tossing a treat or two. If it wont walk and just stands shaking, then stand there a few seconds, even whistling, get back in the car and come back and repeat the process. When the dog is relaxed, get in the car, go around the block and then come back and repeat. You will gradually build up the dog’s confidence until it can walk in and out of the vet without stressing and urinating. Remember to keep on praising the dog, as above, for the behaviour you do want.
The majority of vets I work with have receptionists that are passionate animal lovers. When your dog is going in and out happily, engage their help and ask them to approach your dog the way you did for visitors. If you vet is willing, he can even partake in this exercise as well. I do find that the majority of vets are happy to do this as it is much easier to examine a dog that is not stressed out of its mind.
4. Punishment
I am not a believer in physical punishment at all especially when working with a dog that is timid nervous or fearful. Rather bring in what is termed a NRM (Non Reward Market) in your everyday interaction with the dog rather than shouting, smacking or screaming at the dog. Dogs actually listen more to somebody that speaks quietly, calmly and with authority rather than somebody who constantly shouts at it. Do you remember the teacher at school who talked softly and you listened more??
Non-reward markers are an excellent part of training and interactions with our dogs. We need to be able to let our dogs know when we are not happy with the behaviour it is exhibiting. An example of this is simply to use the words ‘poofy’ or ‘uh-uh’ or similar. We can use various tones of voice with these cues as well which changes the intensity of how we say it. What is very important where the NRM is concerned is the timing, in fact the timing is crucial, it must be used WHILE your dog is performing the incorrect behaviour, not before or after otherwise the dog will think that the NRM relates to behaviour she did in-between.
The beauty of using a NMR such as uh-uh or similar, is that it is a not a word we use in everyday use. The word ‘no’ is not having any effect, and it is a word we use daily – ‘no, I don’t want a cup of coffee, no thanks, don’t want to go out, etc’, in other words it has lost its honesty, and simply by changing the word, bringing in new behaviours to go with it, as well as consistency, can have an instant turn around.
What is also important when using a NRM, is that the second the dog stops performing the unacceptable behaviour, to immediately praise the dog for stopping – ‘’uhuh’ – behaviour stops – ‘good dog’. You are then indicating to the dog what you do want, and also what you don’t want. This then leads to a better understanding for your dog and you are opening up excellent lines of communication. It is impossible to tell a dog to do nothing, so we are now feeding it what we want and what we don’t want. We are putting in place, clearly defined boundaries and in the case of a nervous or fearful dogs we are not adding to the stress and by raising ourselves in the combined human/canine hierarchy we are making the dog feel more secure.
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