Dog pee's when lifted up

paddylonglegs

Couple of issues....

First of all, have a 1 year old male westie.Anytime I would lift him with him facing me or away from me and my hands behind his front legs, he crouches to pee.This was also the case when putting his lead on but we rectified this by getting him to sit.

He knows from his training that if he pee's inside the house, he gets scolded and is ordered into bed. But because he pee's uncontrolably when being lifted,he runs into bed anyway, thinking he's done something wrong.However I don't feel he means to pee but that its some kind of anxiety thing.

Anyone come across this?Is there more training needed or is it an anxiety thing?Really am baffled.



Secondly, he seems to pee at the door or the skirting board when we close the door and don't let him into the room for a split second!Is this some kind of protest?One night he pee'd right infront of us indoors so we put him in the hall on his own as punishment.A few minutes later we opened the door and there was pee EVERYWHERE!

Is there a way of stopping this?

Thanks

Redjeep!

It's possibly some doggy submissive thing - most dog behaviour seems to be.

I used to have a puppy that would pee everytime she saw me, but she soon realised that it wasn't big and it wasn't clever and stopped on her own. ( I didn't punish her).

either that or just pure excitement.

paddylonglegs

Redjeep! wrote: »

It's possibly some doggy submissive thing - most dog behaviour seems to be.

I used to have a puppy that would pee everytime she saw me, but she soon realised that it wasn't big and it wasn't clever and stopped on her own. ( I didn't punish her).

either that or just pure excitement.

I thought it might be excitement but it seems like he cowers and crouches at the same time,and bingo

BRIAN1956

________________________________________
Couple of issues....

First of all, have a 1 year old male westie.Anytime I would lift him with him facing me or away from me and my hands behind his front legs, he crouches to pee.This was also the case when putting his lead on but we rectified this by getting him to sit.

He Knows he’s going out, is he nervous of other dogs?
It could as Redjeep pointed a submissive thing or he could be just excited. I have three Westies, two females and a male. When the male was younger he used to pee when the females growled at him.
He did grow out of it and is fine now.

Has he been neutered? The lifting could be putting pressure on his bladder, but it could also be a protest, Male Westies are very fussy and they will let you know when they disagree with what you are doing.

He knows from his training that if he pee's inside the house, he gets scolded and is ordered into bed. But because he pee's uncontrolably when being lifted,he runs into bed anyway, thinking he's done something wrong.However I don't feel he means to pee but that its some kind of anxiety thing.

Anyone come across this?Is there more training needed or is it an anxiety thing?Really am baffled.



Secondly, he seems to pee at the door or the skirting board when we close the door and don't let him into the room for a split second!Is this some kind of protest?One night he pee'd right infront of us indoors so we put him in the hall on his own as punishment.A few minutes later we opened the door and there was pee EVERYWHERE!

I wouldn’t send him to bed for peeing as he might think it’s OK to pee in certain places indoors. I would put him outside everytime for about fifteen mins and when he has calmed down, then I would let him in.


He will as Redjeep said grow out of it, Westies are very intelligent and will with the right direction behave well.

paddylonglegs

BRIAN1956 wrote: »

________________________________________
Couple of issues....

First of all, have a 1 year old male westie.Anytime I would lift him with him facing me or away from me and my hands behind his front legs, he crouches to pee.This was also the case when putting his lead on but we rectified this by getting him to sit.

He Knows he’s going out, is he nervous of other dogs?
It could as Redjeep pointed a submissive thing or he could be just excited. I have three Westies, two females and a male. When the male was younger he used to pee when the females growled at him.
He did grow out of it and is fine now.

Has he been neutered? The lifting could be putting pressure on his bladder, but it could also be a protest, Male Westies are very fussy and they will let you know when they disagree with what you are doing.

He knows from his training that if he pee's inside the house, he gets scolded and is ordered into bed. But because he pee's uncontrolably when being lifted,he runs into bed anyway, thinking he's done something wrong.However I don't feel he means to pee but that its some kind of anxiety thing.

Anyone come across this?Is there more training needed or is it an anxiety thing?Really am baffled.



Secondly, he seems to pee at the door or the skirting board when we close the door and don't let him into the room for a split second!Is this some kind of protest?One night he pee'd right infront of us indoors so we put him in the hall on his own as punishment.A few minutes later we opened the door and there was pee EVERYWHERE!

I wouldn’t send him to bed for peeing as he might think it’s OK to pee in certain places indoors. I would put him outside everytime for about fifteen mins and when he has calmed down, then I would let him in.


He will as Redjeep said grow out of it, Westies are very intelligent and will with the right direction behave well.

Yes he has been neutered,I take your point but feel its not a physical reaction (pressing against bladder etc).You could be right about excitement.This evening now when my girlfriend came in from work he jumped up on the bed,I had a gut feeling he may pee and he did (duvet cover in the wash you'll glad to hear).He didn't seem to be doing it out of malice, so its like he doesn't mean it.

I would agree with punishing by not sending him to bed,if my mother sent me to bed i would have no problem getting into a nice comfy bed!So we'll try the putting him outside trick,this hopefully will get through to him.

Thanks for the advice

BRIAN1956

Hi again Paddylonglegs m8ty,

Westies can have skin problems too, on advice from one of the top westie breeders in Ireland (Crufts winner )and the UK, I do the following.

I never use any type of soap or shampoo when washing them.
A good rinse followed by a towel dry will get any dirt off.
Whe they are dry I put a small bit of talc powder on them to get rid of that wet doggy smell and then brush it out.


I also put flea powder on them once a month, not because they have fleas.
It's a good way to prevent them getting bitten by a varity of different parasites.


I would as you say try putting him outside when he pees otherwise he won't get the message.
There is also a spray you can get, I think I seen it in Woodies.
You spray it where the dog pees and he won't pee there again.
You will probably get it in most pet shops.

I hope your little Westie improves, they are a very lovable dog and give us much pleasure.


I walk in St Annes most Sat and Sunday mornings.
If you see an ugly with 3 beautiful westies, thats me.


Best of luck my friend and your westie too.

BRIAN1956

Picture taken in Avondale house, Wicklow.
We bring the dogs on a self catering twice a year for a week, it's great to holiday with them.



The dogs from left: Sally 12yrs, Georgie 18 mths and Colleen 11 yrs.
Colleen's Grand mother won Crufts a few years ago, she is a thief who can open glove compartments in cars if she smells treats inside.
She has also unzipped bags where treats are stored and if I am in the shop too long getting my Sunday papers, she jumps into the driving seat and beeps the horn. Cheeky Girl.

Susannahmia

I had a westie before, he had very very anxious and timid personality. He would also pee with anxiety and excitement when he was a puppy but he grew out of it.

Toots

My little one does that too, vet said it is a doggy submissive thing. One thing he said would make it worse is say if he pees when you lift him up or when you come home from work etc DON'T SCOLD. I thought this was weird, but he explained that the puppy does this when nervous or excited etc, and if you draw attention to it, it will only exacerbate things ie: if you give out to the puppy cos he pees every time you lift him, it can get to the point that he pees when he sees you come near him, cos he knows it's going to happen and that he's going to get scolded, if you get me.

The vet said to me to ignore it and it should improve as the dog gets a bit older. Our puppy isn't so bad now, she still pees when I come in from work and pet her, but we have some of those puppy training pads which i bring her over to before I pet her, so when she wees it's not a problem and I can just ignore it and then throw the pad in the bin later. If it's really becoming an issue, talk to your vet and see if they have any advice, as I said, he should grow out of it tho.

echosound

Seems to be a common thing with westies, do many other breeds do this too?

Our little westie (she's just over a year old) is just about growing out of it now - before if you'd go to lift her she'd squat and pee a little, same if she gets excited, or if she got spooked (loud unexpected noise, which also means a streak of pee on the carpet as she runs for cover while peeing!). I know most other puppies pee in excitement too, just have never seen it to the extent that I have with Westies.
She also had a habit of following me upstairs to the bedroom, jumping onto the bed, getting a little hyper that she made the jump and having a pee on the bed as she waggled round all happy with herself. Not impressed but sure she was only (and still is really) just a pup. She's growing out of it now, so hopefully your little Westie will in time too.

As Toots said, if it's just a little dribble due to excitement or nervousness, try to ignore it or not draw attention to it and scold, as it will only mean further peeing as you scold.

paddylonglegs

Thanks for the advice lads,I'll take the "excitement" down to immaturity and hopefully something that he'll grow out of.

The other problem is when he "protest" pees.I think when he does this, the idea of scolding him and putting him out for 15 mins is a good idea.

Thanks again

Nice set of puppies Brian!

luckat

Don't scold.

This is submission urination. When a puppy is threatened, or feels threatened, by an older dog highter in the pecking order, it crouches and pees to show that it's merely a humble pup.

Your dog is obviously feeling intimidated, and is doing this natural signal, which you pick up wrong and scold it - making it feel even more intimidated.

May I suggest that you try to get on a more trusting basis with your dog - cut out the scolding, for a start. If the dog pees indoors, just clean it up straightaway, without any scolding.

If the dog doesn't have any urinary tract infections, and has been brought up for the first few weeks by its mother and properly socialised, it won't pee in the place where it lives - unless it's submission urination. So you're not actually going to improve anything by scolding.

What you might do is this: bring the dog out regularly and when he pees *outside*, praise him. Use the same phrase - it doesn't matter what it is - every time he pees, and soon you'll be able to tell him when you want him to pee. (My own dog pees when I say to her "Do your pee" - but you may want a more socially acceptable phrase that isn't so obvious.)

Whatever you do, don't intimidate your dog. He should think of you as his strong, wise, dependable, lovable, utterly trustworthy leader.

paddylonglegs

luckat wrote: »

Don't scold.

This is submission urination. When a puppy is threatened, or feels threatened, by an older dog highter in the pecking order, it crouches and pees to show that it's merely a humble pup.

Your dog is obviously feeling intimidated, and is doing this natural signal, which you pick up wrong and scold it - making it feel even more intimidated.

May I suggest that you try to get on a more trusting basis with your dog - cut out the scolding, for a start. If the dog pees indoors, just clean it up straightaway, without any scolding.

If the dog doesn't have any urinary tract infections, and has been brought up for the first few weeks by its mother and properly socialised, it won't pee in the place where it lives - unless it's submission urination. So you're not actually going to improve anything by scolding.

What you might do is this: bring the dog out regularly and when he pees *outside*, praise him. Use the same phrase - it doesn't matter what it is - every time he pees, and soon you'll be able to tell him when you want him to pee. (My own dog pees when I say to her "Do your pee" - but you may want a more socially acceptable phrase that isn't so obvious.)

Whatever you do, don't intimidate your dog. He should think of you as his strong, wise, dependable, lovable, utterly trustworthy leader.

Oops,ok hope you don't think I'm some sort of animal abuser,far from it!

Thanks for the advice luckcat

luckat

paddylonglegs wrote: »

Oops,ok hope you don't think I'm some sort of animal abuser,far from it!

Of course not! I just know that scolding that seems logical to humans often is counter-productive with dogs, and submission urination is a classic case.

Dogs, like teenagers, profit more from praise than scolding.