Managing Dog Peeing Behavior

Last night, a very upset pet parent contacted me about her dog. This client was completely convinced her dog pees in the house out of vengeance. During our conversation, she mentioned her dog is completely potty trained, but has just started urinating in one spot in her bathroom. She was recently hospitalized for a week, leaving her dog home alone. She assumed her dog was peeing in her bathroom because she wasn’t home.

Once I calmed her down, I asked several questions and we chatted about appropriate steps to prevent this dog behavior from happening again. Inappropriate urination in dogs happens quite often, but it’s not caused by vengeance.

Dogs Don’t Seek Vengeance

Dogs are simply blessed creatures. They don’t seek revenge, vengeance, payback or retaliation. Honestly, that’s a wonderful way to live. While it’s easy to attribute human emotions to our dog’s actions (we are human; that’s what we do), dogs don’t think that way. Science has debunked this common dog myth too. On that same note, dogs don’t feel guilt either.

Dogs are opportunists. They make decisions based on current circumstances. Dogs do what works for them in that moment.

After asking this upset client about her dog peeing in the bathroom, it turns out Sugar Bear doesn’t like pottying outside in the rain. It had rained every day for 10 days. If Sugar Bear refuses to pee outside, his pet parent brings him back indoors and forgets about it. Well, Sugar Bear still needs to pee. So, he trots off and finds a room far away and pees in a specific corner of the bathroom. Problem solved: His bladder is empty and life can happily carry on.

How to Prevent Your Dog From Peeing in the House

Anytime a previously potty trained dog urinates in the house, it’s best to rule out any health issues first. A quick trip to your vet’s office, with a urine sample in hand, should be the first step to prevent your housebroken dog from peeing in the house.

Once your dog’s health has been cleared, it’s time to change his behavior through management. Block access to the bathroom or the one room where your potty trained dog pees with a securely placed baby gate. Managing your dog’s environment prevents him from wandering off and peeing in the house. Keep this barrier up for several weeks until your dog has learned to potty outside instead.

Take a Step Back to Potty Training 101

Start Off With Leashed Potty Breaks

Taking a step back in your dog training progress and reteaching a behavior is completely normal. Reintroduce your dog to leashed potty breaks for several days. Grab your dog’s leash, stuff a few treats in your pocket and take your dog outside in the most boring area of your home. Now, just stand there and wait.

Likely, your dog will sit, down, bark, or stand there and look at you. He’s trying to figure out how to earn the treat in your pocket. Just ignore him and wait. Your dog will walk away and urinate. As your dog pees, say “yes” softly. Once he’s done urinating, give him a treat.

The word “yes” marks the behavior you want (i.e. urinating outside) and means he earns a treat for doing this behavior. Remember to say “yes” softly or you’ll risk startling your dog and he’ll stop urinating. Oops!

If your dog doesn’t potty after 10 minutes, bring him back inside and keep an eye on him. You might want to consider crating your dog since you might get distracted. After 30 minutes or so, take your dog back outside on leash and wait in the boring spot again.

All dogs need to urinate, so the behavior will happen. If he doesn’t urinate now, he will eventually; you just have to wait for it. Continue taking your dog to potty in the boring part of your backyard until he potties on leash. Remember to say “yes” softly as he urinates and reward once he’s completely done.

Teach Him to Potty First, Play Later

After a few days of leashed potty breaks, you’ve likely rewarded outdoor urination many times. Now, take your dog outside, off leash, and reward him for peeing outside. Once your dog potties, play a quick game of fetch. Your dog will learn to potty first and play later. In the rare instance your dog runs around and plays instead of urinating outside, return to leashed potty breaks again.

Remove the Baby Gate

Once you’ve witnessed your dog urinate outside for two weeks, you can now remove the baby gate. Make sure the previous indoor potty spot has been thoroughly cleaned with an enzyme-based cleaner specifically made for dog urine before removing the gate. Watch his old indoor potty spot carefully for any new marks.

Usually, following these steps will eliminate inappropriate urination 80% of the time. However, if your dog continues to potty indoors, it’s time to hire a professional dog trainer. There are oodles of reasons why this behavior continues to happen, so it’s important for you to contact a positive reinforcement dog trainer to assess and recommend.

Hang in there!