All great advice Jeanie.
I've had some excited urinators in my life. I currently have one that is going through this. The most important thing is to ignore the peeing. In other words, when he does end up peeing because he is excited don't make a big deal out of it. Don't rush off to put him on a pad or yell or scold. Act as if literally nothing happened because when you move quickly or yell it will just make him pee all the more and encourage the behavior. I know it is hard not to want to snatch him up quickly when this happens but you can't. Make your morning wake up slow and calm as if you had not a care in the world. Maybe you'll get out of bed right away, maybe not. Keep movements slow and boring. Slowly and calmly take him to the appropriate place to pee. When he does pee there, praise him for how calm he remained. If he peed too soon, ignore it for now and clean it up in a little bit with not an inch of frustration coming from you. This is the hardest part, for you to remain calm no matter what because he feeds off of you. If you are excited or frustrated he will feel it and then he becomes that and ends up peeing.
Once they have learned you ignore the behavior, they become calmer as they aren't as excited and the behavior completely stops.
Its much harder training for the owner than it is for the dog as we all hate accidents and want to rush them to a safe spot where they can pee rather than having them pee on our bed or floor. But with excitable or submissive peeing, you've got to let it go. For example, you wake up and he's all excited and is peeing in your bed. Slowly and calmly walk him over or pick him up and put him in his potty area. Go back to the bed in a few minutes without him to calmly clean the bed. If you can calmly take him to his potty area an he does go, praise him for being so good by staying calm. Don't praise unless you made it there without him peeing.
My Harmony would pee anytime you tried to pick her up, she would get so excited. If I rushed her off to the nearest pad or exclaimed or yelled, it would just cause her to do it more often. Once I literally stopped saying or doing anything when it happened, just slowly picked her up regardless of what happened and continued on my way, the behavior completely stopped. It is amazing how quickly it stops once you ignore it. I would say within just a few days of me doing this, I could then pick her up without her ever peeing again and she hasn't done it since. |