Submissive urination.

Dr. Marie replied:

Bless you for adopting Bailey!

I don't usually get too worried about a dog not drinking much (unless it is combined with a lack of appetite and lethargy). Some dogs need less water than others.

If your vet feels he was recently neutered then he still may have some testosterone in his system. This could be why he gets distracted easily on his walks. If this is the case it should get better over the next few weeks.

I definitely agree that submissive urination can be frustrating. There are a number of things you can do to help curb this habit though:

• The first thing I would do is have your vet do a urinalysis on his urine just to be sure there is no medical problem. If there is any sort of inflammation in his bladder then this can make the submissive urination worse.


• Not making a fuss of him. If we can reduce the amount of excitement, then this can reduce the bad behavior. So, try to make no eye contact. Bend down to his level and put your hand out for him to smell. He should get used to you being near him and not have to urinate.


• You may want to try something called stay training. To do this, you teach the dog to go to a particular corner of the room on command and sit and stay. Once this is accomplished, you practice telling him to stay and then go near him and then go away. Do this repeatedly and he should get the idea. Then, the trick is getting him to repeat this during a time when he might be more excited. So, when you come home after being away for a while, tell him to go and sit in his corner and then quietly come in the house. Once you have been in for a while you can release him from the stay. This should greatly reduce the urinating.


• It will also help to teach him to urinate on command outside by saying a code word such as "hurry up" whenever he is peeing. Then, when he finishes his pee reward him with a treat.


• If he does urinate inside, do not punish him. He will think he is being punished for urinating (and likely not understand that it is because he urinated inside) and then he will not want to urinate with you when you take him outside.

Regarding his crate, lots of good experiences are the best thing. Find something he likes, like a toy kong stuffed with peanut butter, or some other type of treat and make sure he can only have that treat when he is in the crate.

Start with small stays in the crate and gradually work up the amount of time he is in there.

If he is really anxious about being in the crate then you may need to have a behavioral consult with your vet to talk about anti-anxiety medications. These are usually only needed for a few months until he adjusts and then we can often wean dogs off.

I hope this helps!

I will be heading offline now (you caught me just before bed) but if you have more concerns I will check in again in the morning.

Dr. Marie.


Do you have a pet website? Interested in learning more about SEO for Wix?

---

Check out our dog age calculator and cat age calculator.