I was called upon for advice recently by a client with a puppy who was urinating every time she was approached for any kind of handling.
Toilet training had gone well and this was a new development. A recent visit to the vet had ruled out any underlying physical problems and that is always a good first step in sorting the problem.
When I visited the family it was very clear that this puppy was living a very busy life with several family members handling her in quick succession and as she was handled she was urinating which led to loud outbursts and some disapproval from the children. Family life was busy with lots of coming and going to school and activities, and several times a week friends came over to visit the puppy. Everyone was involved in training but not everyone had the same approach. When toilet training has been going well it can be frustrating to see what many owners perceive as a setback when your puppy starts urinating on contact.
This behaviour is not related to toilet training. The puppy is unable to control undeveloped muscles when excited or worried. Never punish a puppy for submissive or excitement urination as this will make the matter worse.
It is important to know that with the right approach you can resolve this problem.
We set about involving everyone in the family with a consistent approach which will give the best result and reassure the puppy. I suggested the family invest in a crate which would serve as a safe haven for the puppy and also provide the owners with a place to contain the puppy when they were too busy to cope with accidents. When an accident happened the parents were going to clean up the mess without comment as to punish the behaviour will result in a very confused and unhappy dog. Sympathy and consoling will also confuse your dog as she may think she is being reward for correct behaviour by your tone of voice. The children made a ‘do not disturb’ sign for the crate and this was to be placed on the crate several times a day to give the puppy down time and much needed sleep. The crate also teaches children that access to the puppy is not allowed 24/7 . We put in place a new approach to homecomings and partings where all family members would avoid rushing at Roxy to greet her in an excitable manner, instead everyone would calmly enter the room and leave Roxy until she was confident and calm and approaching. All greeting would take place at her level and only when she was able to give eye contact and show confident body language like all four paws on the floor and an upright stance rather than her usual form of body language which was rolling onto her back.
From now on the parents would supervise all training with Roxy and would have overall say on what was the correct way to approach training. It is important to do daily training with a puppy like Roxy to increase her confidence and give her a chance to succeed and earn praise and rewards. Using food rewards with Roxy would also teach her how positive handling could be and increase her enjoyment of human contact. Teaching Roxy to look to her owners face with the cue `watch me’ would increase eye contact and is a valuable training tool to have to get your dog’s attention .The training motto was to be Compassion and Speak Commands not Reprimands.
When I left everyone was on board and now two weeks later Roxy is improving already with few episodes to report. The family say she is relaxed with contact and is proving to be a very smart puppy in her training.
By Trish Mahon
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