Dog Training Nation

In Dogs We Trust

You are here: Home / Blog

What To Do If Your Dog Pees When Excited

by

Dog Pees When Excited: Quick Solutions to Change the Behavior

Dog Pees When Excited
Click_and_Photo/iStock

Oops, my dog just leaked urine on a guest’s shoes! Don’t worry, it happens and can certainly be prevented next time. This is a common dog behavior that happens when a dog gets overly excited.

Some experts call this behavior submissive urination, but I disagree. Don’t let the word “submissive” fool you. Dogs don’t voluntarily or involuntarily urinate to show respect or dominance to humans. As we know, the dominance myth between humans and dogs was dispelled years ago.

When healthy potty trained puppies or dogs involuntarily urinate, there’s a reason. Excitement and fear are usually the causes of dog peeing. Identifying the exact trigger is the first step in changing your dog’s behavior. If you suspect fear causes your dog to urinate, check out this article for details.

Quick Solutions

A full bladder and excitable greetings just don’t mix. As a dog matures, her muscles learn to hold urine within her bladder. If something happens to disrupt this process, urine can leak out. Check out these quick solutions.

If you have a puppy

Younger puppies and dogs pee when excited until they learn bladder control. By six to eight months of age, a younger dog should be able to hold her pee when excited. Until then, take your puppy out to potty right before guests arrive and provide potty breaks every 20 minutes or so.

If your dog pees during greetings

If your dog leaks urine during greetings, it’s best to take her potty before guests arrive. Keep greetings fun, but controlled. Ask friends to reward your dog for “sitting” or “touching” on cue. Not only will this eliminate your dog from piddling on your guest’s shoes, but it also provides positive socialization opportunities and teaches good manners around guests.

If you’re at the vet’s office

Sometimes, dogs get so excited at the vet’s office, they pee. As best practice, arrive 10-15 minutes before your dog’s vet exam. Walk her around the area, so she can completely empty her bladder before meeting new and exciting people. Male dogs take a bit longer to completely empty their bladders, so walk them near plenty of trees and bushes for lots of pottying opportunities.

Bring plenty of treats, and reward your dog for “sitting” as veterinary staff members approach your dog. This will redirect your dog’s attention, and prevent your dog from jumping up or peeing when excited. Additionally, this teaches your dog that vet visits are super fun and rewarding.

What Doesn’t Work

Punishment doesn’t work, and will make the dog behavior much worse. Remember, your dog is involuntarily urinating, which means she’s unable to control this behavior. Never scold or physically correct your dog for this behavior. Just grab paper towels and clean up the mess. Next time, remember to provide plenty of opportunities for your dog to empty her bladder.

Remember….

Dogs peeing when excited is temporary, and will improve by following a few best practices. When in doubt, make sure your dog’s bladder is empty before meeting new people. Don’t forget to reward good behaviors, such as “sit” and “stay.” Punishment never works. 🙂

Seeking Free Dog Advice? Look No Further

by

Top Dog Websites Every Pet Owner Should Visit

Dog Websites
ballero/iStock

Sharing your home with a dog or puppy is challenging, especially during the beginning stages. Plus, pet owners really want the very best for their dogs, and knowingly seek advice pertaining to dog training tips, latest health information, and cool new dog games and toys too. The Internet is jam-packed with information, making it difficult to find credible dog websites that provide advice based on facts and research instead of opinions and hearsay. If you’re looking for free advice about dogs, you’ll love these dog websites! Either sign up for their free newsletters or browse their websites. These experts are the real deal!

Dog Health & Nutrition Website

Health and nutrition topics are rapidly evolving within the pet industry. It’s the new trend lately. Dog nutrition is an important part of good health, so it makes sense to pair them together. When a topic becomes popular though, false statements and misinterpretations spread like wildfire. To find the latest health and nutrition information for your dog, subscribe to Monica Segal’s monthly newsletter. If managing your email inbox is a chore, you can visit Monica’s site and browse through several years of extremely important information.

Monica Segal is certified in animal health, which includes nutrition, and works with numerous veterinarian nutritionists on difficult cases. Many dog owners seek Monica’s help with nutrition when their dogs become sick either with cancer or a chronic disease. She’s had numerous success stories, and she’s an invaluable source for understanding and selecting the best supplements for your dog.

If you want to tweak your dog’s diet a bit, would like to feed your dog a raw or cooked diet, are looking for the best supplements, or just want to learn more about dog health and nutrition, then this dog website is for you!

Dog Training Website

Every dog should learn polite behaviors because they’re not born with an instruction guide. 🙂 With that in mind, it’s very common for pet owners to seek dog advice online. The Internet is packed with dog training opinions, but several can harm the relationship between pet owner and dog. Unfortunately, anyone can call himself a dog trainer and start a blog. There are no regulations within the dog training field.

When searching for dog training tips, it’s best to find sources written by professional dog trainers. How do you find them? Seek dog websites whose writers are certified. Those who actively seek out and earn national dog training certifications as well as complete yearly continuing education to maintain them are the ones you should trust.

One of the best dog websites for dog training tips is right here at Dog Training Nation (DTN). Fanna Easter has earned multiple, not just one, nationally recognized dog training and behavior certifications. Plus, Fanna started and runs her own dog training business in a large metroplex working with reactive dogs every day. DTN offers solid advice based on 20-plus years of experience and science. Our articles explain why certain dog behavior happens, how to positively change behavior and when to reach out to a certified dog trainer.

Dog Food Website

Whole Dog Journal (WDJ) is an amazing resource on just about everything pertaining to your dog, especially dog food. This grassroots magazine provides an infamous annual list of the best dog foods available within the US. WDJ folks are very particular and have strict expectations and standards when reviewing dog food. These experts review all types of dog food, such as dry kibble, canned food and treats.

An added bonus is this magazine is ad-free, meaning the editors aren’t swayed by money from large pet industry companies. All funds come from subscriptions. Honestly, this reason alone is worth subscribing to the magazine. If money is tight, subscribe to their free newsletter, which also offers monthly tips about products, nutrition and training advice.

Fun Dog Website

Daily mental stimulation is just as important as physical exercise. It keeps your dog’s brain busy and fulfilled. Food stuffed toys are an amazing mental stimulation tool. While it’s highly recommended to feed all meals using food puzzles and toys, stuffing daily snacks into these toys are a great idea too. Kong not only makes tough food puzzles and toys, but they also offer a free newsletter that provides different food stuffing recipes and tips on using their products.

Your dog will thank you for subscribing, reading and implementing advice from experts!

Are Antler Chews For Dogs Safe?

by

Antler Chews for Dogs: Pros and Cons

Dog Antler Chews
Hoard11/iStock

Chewing provides plenty of mental stimulation and exercise for dogs. Plus, most high value dog chews taste pretty good. Puppies must have plenty of chewing opportunities, especially during the teething process. While we assume younger dogs enjoy chewing, most senior dogs enjoy a good raw bone, bully stick or antler chew too. 🙂

Providing antler chews for dogs can be a good or bad thing, depending on your dog’s chewing style. Let’s discuss the pros and cons of antler dog chews to help you in this decision.

Pros of Antler Dog Chews

Antler dog chews have recently become a very popular chew item for dogs with good reason. Here’s a short list of antler pros:

  • Antlers are available in most pet stores or online
  • Last a long time (six months to a year, depending on your dog’s chewing style)
  • Different sizes to choose from, depending on your dog’s size
  • No animals are harmed because antlers are shed naturally
  • Odor-free
  • Antlers contain nutrients, such as collagen and calcium
  • Most importantly, dogs love them

Cons of Antler Dog Chews

While antlers are extremely popular dog chew toys, they have some very serious cons too.

  • Antlers are made of bone, on which chewing will cause tooth and gum damage
  • Antlers will splinter during the chewing process
  • Most dogs can whittle down areas into needle-sharp points
  • Antlers are expensive! Prepare to pay between $10-$50 per antler, depending on size
  • Imported antlers contain chemicals

Tooth & Gum Damage

This is easily the most common health issue with antler chews for dogs. Veterinary dentists don’t recommend antler chews due to the alarming amount of slab fractures (i.e. fractures running horizontally along a tooth) and gum lacerations that result from chewing on them. Not only are tooth fractures and gum lacerations extremely painful for your dog, but painful for your wallet as well.

RELATED: Best Dental Products for Dogs

Know Your Dog’s Chewing Style Before Giving Antler Chews

Before giving your dog an antler to chew on, it’s important to understand your dog’s chewing style. Don’t be fooled by your dog’s size because little dogs can chew through tough toys like termites too.

Moderate Chewers

A small percentage of dogs fall into the moderate chewer category, as most dogs will devour a high value chew within minutes. Moderate chewers are usually older dogs, or dogs that take their sweet time when chewing. When watching a moderate chewer, you’ll notice they’ll lightly gnaw and lick a chew, and then take frequent breaks. Some moderate chewers will hide chew toys for later, or just enjoy burying them in the yard or sofa cushions.

Antlers would be an appropriate chew option for this category. When choosing an antler size for your dog, choose one size bigger than recommended on the package. Choosing a larger antler prevents accidental swallowing, and will last much longer.

Strong Chewers

Most dogs fall into this category. Strong chewers will gnaw through chew toys like a termite. When given a chew toy, strong chewers will plop down on the floor and chew until the entire item has been consumed or broken into tiny pieces.

Unfortunately, antler chews aren’t recommended for strong chewing dogs. Antlers are rock hard, and strong chewing dogs will bite down on antlers with all their might. This is how teeth are broken or gums are lacerated. Plus, strong chewing dogs will whittle down antlers into sharp points that are painful to touch. Antlers splinter too, and splinters cause gastric upset, intestinal obstructions, fractured teeth and gum damage. Flexible, yet tough, rubber toys work best for strong chewing dogs.

Use caution when giving your dog an antler chew, and always supervise your dog with any chew toy.

Can Dogs Be Vegan?

by

A Look Into a Vegan Diet for Dogs

Vegan Diet for Dogs
Indigo-stock/iStock

Many animal lovers choose a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle because they refuse to harm any animals. As a fellow animal lover, I can completely understand this life choice, especially with news media frequently reporting on animal cruelty and overcrowding of livestock. Of course, animal lovers transfer their personal life choices to those they love most, and for some, it’s their dogs. Before grabbing vegan dog treats, it’s important to understand that dogs don’t thrive on a vegan diet.

Are Dogs Strictly Carnivores?

Just taking a peek into your dog’s mouth will give you a hint. Dogs’ teeth were made to chew and ingest meat. Dogs have canines, molars and incisors made to scissor, pull and saw meat off a bone. When comparing omnivore and carnivore teeth together, it’s pretty obvious that dog teeth look completely different than human teeth. Humans, who are omnivores, have flat molars perfect for grinding fruits, vegetables and grains while dogs have needle-sharp molars that can grind meat effectively.

Look at your dog’s entire body too. Dogs’ eyes are close together for hunting, ears turned like radars to locate sound and sense of smell is simply amazing. Plus, dogs share 98% of the same DNA as wolves, and we know wolves hunt and kill animals.

With that said, wolves and dogs will consume fruits, vegetables and grains from the stomach contents of a killed animal. But are dogs and wolves consuming stomach contents in need of grains or because organ meat is highly nutritious? No one knows for sure. Although there’s plenty of research supporting dogs as carnivores.

RELATED: Raw Dog Food: Not All Dogs Can Eat It

Cat in a Coal Mine?

About 15-20 years ago, pet food manufacturers increased grains in cat food to reduce costs. When grains were increased, whole meat and meat meal were reduced, limiting essential amino acid profiles. Cats consumed this new grain-based cat food, and pet food companies lined their pockets.

Something terrible happened over time—cats went blind. Extensive research showed that taurine was missing from grain-based cat foods. Taurine is an essential amino acid found in muscle and organ meat. Diets without taurine will cause blindness in cats.

Taking this horrible incident into consideration, it’s important to know you can put your dog on a vegan diet, but he won’t thrive on it. You should also keep in mind the sources from which your dog consumes vitamins, amino acids and minerals. Vegan dog foods contain synthetic versions, so whole foods are much better. Knowing that dogs are carnivores, we understand it’s impossible to provide a dog essential nutrients from a vegan or vegetarian diet.

Choosing a Dog Food

Health and humane treatment of animals intended for food is a major concern for animal lovers. Animal lovers find it easy to make decisions about their plates, clothing and households, but it’s difficult for their beloved dogs. Rather than put your dog on a vegan diet, choose dog foods made from animals that were humanely farmed. Check out Open Farm dog food. Their ingredients are certified cruelty-free, and they even list where each ingredient was farmed.

Living a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle is challenging, yet rewarding. However, for your dog, choose a meat-based diet from humanely treated livestock. Your dog requires animal protein.

Dog Breed Of The Week: Havanese

by

Havanese Dog Breed Information

Havanese Dog Breed
Dorottya_Mathe/iStock

The Havanese originates from Cuba, and is known as the national dog. While it’s difficult to determine when and how Havanese dogs were exported from Cuba, we do know “Queen Victoria and Charles Dickens” shared their home with this darling breed (Havanese Club of America, 2016). It’s uncertain when the Havanese arrived in the US, but the American Kennel Club (AKC) accepted this dog breed into their club in 1996. Another interesting fact about this breed is the Havanese name serves as both the singular and plural form. 🙂

General Characteristics

For the most part, Havanese are between 8½–11½ inches tall at the shoulder and their weight varies by height. This dog breed’s coat color can come in red brindle, sable brindle, white, gold or any variation in between. Havanese have a longer coat with a bit of texture. It’s believed that Havanese are related to Bichon Frises. This long coat protects Havanese from heat and sunrays because their coats are “extremely light and soft, and insulating against the tropical rays” in Cuba (Havanese Club Of America, 2016).

It’s easy to confuse Havanese with Shih Tzus and Maltese, but if you look closely, you can certainly tell the differences right away. Havanese have a longer muzzle than Shih Tzus and have wider bone structure than Maltese. While Havanese’s coat colors may resemble other breeds, look closely at the texture and you can easily distinguish between the dog breeds.

Health

Havanese are a healthy dog breed, but they’re prone to inherited diseases like most other dogs. Common health issues with this breed include:

  • Eye abnormalities
  • Heart abnormalities
  • Hip dysplasia
  • Patellar luxation (moving kneecap)
  • Elbow dysplasia
  • Legg-Calve-Perthes (abnormal femur head)

Reputable dog breeders will test all dogs for inherited diseases before breeding them. If health screenings and tests show an adult Havanese is afflicted with any of these inherited issues, they will be spayed and neutered immediately. If someone claims their dogs have no inherited health issues, they’re lying.

Grooming Havanese

As with all long-coated dogs, Havanese need daily brushings and weekly baths. If you choose to keep your Havanese coat’s clipped short, you should maintain it every 6-7 weeks. Of course, you should also keep your dog’s nails trimmed to an acceptable length (i.e. nails shouldn’t touch the floor) and brush his or her teeth daily.

Exercise & Dog Training Needs

Even though they’re small dogs, they do need daily exercise. Plan to walk your Havanese at least 30 minutes per day, and provide mental stimulation games and puzzles during mealtime. Havanese puppies should be enrolled in a Puppy group class between 10-16 weeks of age and a Basic Manners group class between 4-6 months of age. As with all dogs, Havanese do best with positive reinforcement dog training methods.

Where to Find Havanese

Of course, adopting a Havanese from a rescue is always best because you’re saving a life. If you decide to purchase a puppy or dog, please choose a reputable Havanese breeder. It’s important to note that reputable breeders charge the same amount or less for a puppy unlike unethical breeders. Plus, responsible breeders will guarantee your dog’s health for his or her entire life and will take your puppy or adult dog. To find out more about this dog breed, please visit the Havanese Club of America. This website is packed with invaluable information about this happy little breed.

Dog Training Nation is a dog training blog for pet owners and dog lovers. We cover a range of topics from puppy socialization tips to dog aggression to dog health. It is our hope you share our content to make the world a better place for dogs.

Dog Training Nation

Quick Links

Dog Training
Dog Behavior
Dog Training Videos
Become a Dog Trainer
About
Contact Us