Step-by-Step Strategy to Curb Excitement Urination in Dogs and Protect Your Furniture

Understanding Why Dogs Dribble When Excited

This scenario often played out on my days off: the kids were upstairs, my wife was shopping, and I was watching a football game. My Maltese perched on the back of the couch, either watching me or napping. When the doorbell rang, he would wake, bark a few times, and leave a few drops of urine on the leather as he alerted me to the visitor.

That dribbling was a case of excitement urination, which falls under the umbrella of submissive urination. Dogs that urinate from excitement or submission do not do it intentionally.

I had to clean the leather and use a scent remover so he would not be drawn back to the spot. It was not a huge issue, but it was irritating, and over time it would ruin the couch. I wanted a fix.

You can train an excited dog and stop them from peeing on the couch.

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Sleeping dogs will not urinate but it does not take much to wake them up.

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Excitement Urination and Submissive Urination: What's the Difference?

Excitement urination is linked to submissive urination. Anyone who has spent time around puppies knows the submissive pattern: the pup comes when called, head lowered, tail wagging, leaving a trail of urine.

Excitement urination tends to appear in young dogs that are simply happy and do not show all the submissive signals seen in other pups. If your dog does this, you are likely more interested in solving the problem than just reading about it.

Pet stores and online retailers sell many products for indoor urination, but this is not something a simple purchase will fix. The first step in stopping it is to boost the dog's confidence. We had already enrolled our Maltese in puppy obedience training, and as he gained confidence, the problem lessened. However, my dog's issue was not purely submission, and he still dribbled occasionally.

What else could be done?

Throwing a cover over the couch will help while excitement urination is being treated correctly.

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Training Steps to Reduce Excitement Urination

Many trainers and veterinarians say dogs will outgrow this. That can happen with submissive urination, but it is not the case when the dog is simply excited. Training methods designed for submissive urination work well for that issue but do not help a dog that is dribbling on your couch.

I knew I had a unique problem.

How to Lower Arousal When Your Dog Is Stimulated

• Identify what triggers the excitement. For my dog, it was the doorbell. A visitor at the door often meant extra attention and play.
• Condition him to the trigger. I had my daughter go outside, ring the doorbell, come in, and walk around the house while ignoring the dog. He dribbled at first, but after repeating this off and on for several hours, he learned the doorbell did not predict anything exciting.
• Find another way to condition him. When the doorbell rang and a neighborhood kid arrived, I did not speak to my dog; I picked him up and carried him to the laundry room. I asked the visitor to ignore my dog until I had put him away. This was not easy because everyone wanted to pet my friendly little white dust mop.
• Teach him to ignore the trigger. After about five minutes, he would calm down, and I could open the laundry room and let him out to greet the visitor. After that, he would jump back on the couch.

Using these four steps is the best way I found to get excitement urination under control. When the dog is not excited, he can handle new experiences well, and the extra effort pays off with far less cleaning and possibly no need to buy a new couch.

If your dog has excitement urination, follow these four steps to eliminate the problem:

1. Identify the stimulus or what is making them so excited.
2. Condition them to get used to the stimulus.
3. Use alternative methods to condition.
4. Convince them to ignore the stimulus.

If the training tip above does not work, some articles suggest using doggie diapers. I would not want to put my Maltese through that indignity, but I doubt my couch would object.

Aside from the excitement urination, my dog caused no problems on the couch. If your dog is also aggressive about the couch, you might need to train them to stay off the furniture.

Sources

Urinary Incontenence in Dogs, Washington State Unversity, spital.vetmed.wsu.edu/2021/10/26/urinary-incontinence-in-dogs/

Keller, Megan, Why Dogs Pee When Excited or Scared, PetMD, ior/why-dogs-pee-when-excited-or-scared

Stellato, A., Jajou, S., Dewey, C. E., Widowski, T. M., & Niel, L. (2019). Effect of a Standardized Four-Week Desensitization and Counter-Conditioning Training Program on Pre-Existing Veterinary Fear in Companion Dogs. Animals: an open access journal from MDPI, 9(10), 767. i.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6826973/

This article is accurate and true to the best of the author's knowledge. It is not meant to substitute for diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, prescription, or formal and individualized advice from a veterinary medical professional. Animals exhibiting signs and symptoms of distress should be seen by a veterinarian immediately.