Submissive urination can be a frustrating issue for owners who are constantly cleaning up their dogs piddles. Fortunately most dogs will outgrow submissive urination between 6-9 months of age. Below we have put together a list of solutions we use and recommend for submissive urination.
CHECK INTO SUPPLEMENTS
A well balanced diet is key for controlling submissive urination. Fortunately there are several prescription and non-prescription remedies that may help curb the issue.
Proin is a prescription medication so you will need to talk to your vet to see if this is a good fit for your dog. Its used to treat urinary incontinence in older dogs and I’ve had several client dogs have good success with this. Unfortunately there is a risk of side effects so again, talk to your vet and see if this is a good option for your pet.
Hormone Therapy such as DES is another alternative you can talk to your vet about to see if its an appropriate option for your female dog who has spay incontinence.
Homeopet Leaks No More is a holistic supplement you can buy OTC.
Pet Care Sciences Bladder Strength Supplement is available OTC and has great reviews on Amazon for its efficacy. It is made in the USA and is an easy, affordable thing to try. The only downside is its not recommended for dogs under 1 year.
Nutrition Strength Bladder Support for Dogs is another product that is Made in the USA of natural ingredients and available OTC. It is a little pricier than the other supplements but they have a Money Back Guarantee so it may be worth the investment!
MANAGING URINARY INCONTINENCE
We have discussed alternative supplements and prescription options for urinary incontinence. You may consider investing in Washable Diapers or Disposable Diapers to help manage the amount of urinary leakage. Reducing your dogs area with an exercise pen or baby gate andusing washable or disposable pee pads on the ground may also make the issue more manageable.
TRAINING FOR URINARY INCONTINENCE
While there isn’t a great deal of “training” you can do for urinary incontinence itself, one form of management that I have found highly successful for dogs with this issue is redirection. Growing up my first dog was a rescue German Shepherd named Libby who unfortunately would be overcome with excited urination. A simple game we taught her is “go get your toy” when we’d come home from work and school and instead of getting overly crazed at the door (which inevitable led to pee) she would focus on finding her toy long enough to get her outside for greetings.
I also had a client dog who suffered from excited urination when the owner would come home so we taught him a “place” command (go to your bed) and it was enough to redirect his thinking and help calm him down. Once he was calm, he could be released from the bed and greeted outside or sometimes he would be calm enough to greet without peeing once he had settled on his bed.
In addition to redirecting the dog to another more desirable behavior, there are little things you an do yourself as an owner to minimize the issue.
Stop the baby talk !
Ignore the dog the first 15-20 minutes you get home
Try not to lean directly over the dog. Approach from a more neutral side-stance and try not to hover over the dog too much.
Save yourself the clean up and greet the dog outside first.
Get your dog on a set food/water schedule and reduce water around times you will be coming back home.
We hope some of these tips will help you deal with your dog with urinary incontinence. If you have questions please feel free to shoot us a message on our website http://www.ocdogranch.com! If you have feedback on any of the recommendations above or have other ideas for the issue, please drop us a comment!