Help! My Dog Has Peed On People....

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

It may also help to train this GR on lead - how to greet people at the park. So when you get there, don't let him off lead, walk round and ask people if it's ok for them to say hello (warn them about the pee thing, ie not to let him out of their sight or yours). And get GR to sit for a pat, and you give him a treat for being good. And then take him away from the person and see how he reacts - ie does he still want to go back there. Only allow him to greet people with your permission eg "Go say hello". And then do a nice sit and wait for a pat.

My dog does a nice crawl and roll over (wait for belly rub).

[Zombie Bait]

My Brembo pee'd on someone once and I "think" it was purely by accident but after the telling off he has never done it again.

I took him and Sierra to a DOL meet, he was fairly happy sniffing around etc, but was doing the whole I pee on your pee thing as there was an entire male there. He went up to a tree and sniffed and the entire male had just pee'd on the tree so Brembo decided he too would pee on the tree. Unfortunately the entire males owner had just lent on said tree and had inadverdantly moved into Brembo's path of pee. Brembo has shocking aim when cocking his leg and unfortunately got the owner of the other dog. As soon as I saw it I yelled out a loud "OI Brembo, NOOOOOO" . Brembo stopped immediately, I apoligised profusely and he has never again pee'd on someone leg!

Just to add: Brembo is desexed, has been since he was 8 weeks old (RSPCA puppy), so not neccesarily an entire male issue only.

[Dogsfevr]

Also this isn't just a boy thing & getting a female doesn't mean it still doesn't happen.

Bad behaviour will happen male/female.females can lift there leg just as good.

[dandybrush]

My Brembo pee'd on someone once and I "think" it was purely by accident but after the telling off he has never done it again.

I took him and Sierra to a DOL meet, he was fairly happy sniffing around etc, but was doing the whole I pee on your pee thing as there was an entire male there. He went up to a tree and sniffed and the entire male had just pee'd on the tree so Brembo decided he too would pee on the tree. Unfortunately the entire males owner had just lent on said tree and had inadverdantly moved into Brembo's path of pee. Brembo has shocking aim when cocking his leg and unfortunately got the owner of the other dog. As soon as I saw it I yelled out a loud "OI Brembo, NOOOOOO" . Brembo stopped immediately, I apoligised profusely and he has never again pee'd on someone leg!

Just to add: Brembo is desexed, has been since he was 8 weeks old (RSPCA puppy), so not neccesarily an entire male issue only.

I have to say my boy raz was desexed at 4.5 months and he will cock his leg on anything, he has also accidentally peed on pple when cocking at something else and missing i have taught him pee pee and No pee, but when we are in the dog park, i feel like an idiot if i walk around calling no pee and tieing him up constantly for time outs when he does pee so its a slow work in progress, on our walks i dont just let him pee on everything, but soon as he is off leash he will run to every tree, and i have to call out no pee at everyone if i want him to stop its frustrating

I have been told by my behaviourlist that he is doing it as a sign of stress...im not too sure what he is stressed about

Edited June 19, 2011 by dandybrush

[monique.c]

I'm kind of glad to see that other people have had this problem too.

I like the idea of keeping him on lead and greeting people if we go to the dog park again.

Definitely going to buy a long-lead for when we play fetch in the park (our backyard isn't really big enough for a good game of fetch).

And definitely going to start with the toileting on command again, we don't do it much at the moment as he is only inside when we are home and he just takes himself out when he needs to go.

I probably am over reacting, I was just so embarassed when he did it...

With the de-sexing thing, I actually don't mind too much if we do or don't desex him, I just figure if he gets out if he is de-sexed then he won't contribute to the stray dog problem... we have pretty good fences but accidents can happen. Also would he be more of a kidnapping risk if he is left entire? Being a purebred dog?

[sas]

Thanks everyone for the great suggestions. I guess I was hesitant to physically reprimand him but I will definitely give him a kick up the butt if I see him do it again.

Corvus we have been taking him to the dog park since he was about 5 months old and he is now 10 months, he first peed on someone maybe 3 weeks ago. I get him to sit down before I take him off the leash but he is definitely really, really excited when we get to the park so this excitement probably has something to do with it.

It's a good idea to call him back with treats when he gets excited, I will definitely start doing that more.

I will call the Metro dog school on Monday to book him in for classes, we did about 10 weeks of classes when we first got him but he definitely needs more.

I guess I just need to learn to be tougher on him and not baby him as much

I wouldn't enter the park with an excited dog. Walk around and train and then enter the park with a calm dog.

Even baby puppies need rules, dogs are never too young or too old for rules and boundaries.

[persephone]

i have taught him pee pee and No pee, but when we are in the dog park, i feel like an idiot if i walk around calling no pee and tieing him up constantly for time outs when he does pee so its a slow work in progress, on our walks i dont just let him pee on everything, but soon as he is off leash he will run to every tree, and i have to call out no pee at everyone if i want him to stop its frustrating

I couldn't do that to a dog ... forbid peeing off leash at a dog park and correcting/disciplining all the time NO peeing on leash unless given permission , and no peeing indoors etc . is a sensible rule ... .. when free running and in the presence of other dog scents /other dogs, though, It's a doggy thing to do ,IMO

[corvus]

I have been told by my behaviourlist that he is doing it as a sign of stress...im not too sure what he is stressed about

Maybe you yelling "No pee!" at him all the time and then tieing him up so he can see all the fun but can't participate? If he pees anyway after you say "No pee", then he doesn't understand the cue. Time outs are a wishy washy punishment at the best of times. I don't know how a dog is supposed to gather from a time out that peeing is not on. If your dog doesn't know how to stop a punishment he will get stressed. Any animal will.

The general rule of thumb in behaviour is if a dead dog can do it then it's not a behaviour. Can a dead dog "no pee"? What is he supposed to do instead?

[jacqui835]

i have taught him pee pee and No pee, but when we are in the dog park, i feel like an idiot if i walk around calling no pee and tieing him up constantly for time outs when he does pee so its a slow work in progress, on our walks i dont just let him pee on everything, but soon as he is off leash he will run to every tree, and i have to call out no pee at everyone if i want him to stop its frustrating

I couldn't do that to a dog ... forbid peeing off leash at a dog park and correcting/disciplining all the time NO peeing on leash unless given permission , and no peeing indoors etc . is a sensible rule ... .. when free running and in the presence of other dog scents /other dogs, though, It's a doggy thing to do ,IMO

I do the same thing. I have an entire male dog who would love to be able to pee on everything, but that would be impractical for walks etc (because it would take forever to get anywhere). So we made a rule that there is no peeing whilst on a lead, unless given the command.

He has actually peed on people too a couple of times when off-lead, and it is terribly embarrassing. But I don't think it's intentional. Every time (and it's only been like 3 times), he has chosen people in daggy sorts of clothes, who always say it doesn't matter and they were those clothes especially for the dog park. My thoughts are that the clothes smell very doggy (worn several times without being washed and always at the dog park), and my dog doesn't pick up on the scent of human strongly or quickly enough - sometimes he will be peeing and mid-stream it's like he suddenly realises it's a human, so he stops immediately and makes a run for it. He never does it to people that have interacted with him in some way - so again, made it clear that they're a human. Of course, this doesn't make it an acceptable behaviour by any stretch, but he hasn't done it in a while now that he's older and I figured it was just a matter of him learning to be a bit more aware of himself and making a bit more effort.

I see plenty of dogs do it at the park, many who aren't desexed (and in fact my personal hate is for dogs that pee on your bags etc and there are a few repeat offenders - all desexed), so I'm not sure that desexing would fix the problem. I just started keeping my dog closer to me when he's off-lead - the closer you are, the more control you have and you can provide more input.

[Kavik]

While you cn certainly teach them to toilet on command (my command it 'toilet' though I admit I haven't kept up the training for the cue lately) I am pretty sure that they won't understand that you putting a "No" in front of the command means they are not supposed to do it. Dogs don't think that way. Eg we teach sit = bum on ground. simple. No sit? Really all you are saying is reprimand word followed by command so the dog should sit. I also don't understand when people say 'good sit' when the dog is in a sit - it is already there, sit is a cue for a behaviour, so you are recuing when the dog is already in a sit.

[poodlefan]

I have been told by my behaviourlist that he is doing it as a sign of stress...im not too sure what he is stressed about

Maybe you yelling "No pee!" at him all the time and then tieing him up so he can see all the fun but can't participate? If he pees anyway after you say "No pee", then he doesn't understand the cue. Time outs are a wishy washy punishment at the best of times. I don't know how a dog is supposed to gather from a time out that peeing is not on. If your dog doesn't know how to stop a punishment he will get stressed. Any animal will.

The general rule of thumb in behaviour is if a dead dog can do it then it's not a behaviour. Can a dead dog "no pee"? What is he supposed to do instead?

I'm with Corvus.. "NO" means nothing to a dog.

You'd be way better off to stop stressing about your dog peeing when out and about (its what dogs do) unless he's pulling on leash or doing it on people. Training will fix the first thing and a supervision and a good recall the second.

Tell him what you want him to do and reward him.. it can't be any less effective than what you're doing now.

Seriously, what's the issue with dogs peeing on a walk?? My dogs poo too. I pick up the poo and don't let them pee on folks lawns.. other than that, who cares?

Have you got any idea how uncomfortable it is to walk when you need to go?

[Kavik]

Also, when you are training, competing and visiting others with your dog, you will WANT your dog to toilet on walks and on lead. It is very stressful if your dog won't toilet on lead or away from home, and you know they need to go and want them to go when it is best for your day. So that they won't go in the ring during your performance when they are off lead etc.

[jacqui835]

I have been told by my behaviourlist that he is doing it as a sign of stress...im not too sure what he is stressed about

Maybe you yelling "No pee!" at him all the time and then tieing him up so he can see all the fun but can't participate? If he pees anyway after you say "No pee", then he doesn't understand the cue. Time outs are a wishy washy punishment at the best of times. I don't know how a dog is supposed to gather from a time out that peeing is not on. If your dog doesn't know how to stop a punishment he will get stressed. Any animal will.

The general rule of thumb in behaviour is if a dead dog can do it then it's not a behaviour. Can a dead dog "no pee"? What is he supposed to do instead?

I'm with Corvus.. "NO" means nothing to a dog.

You'd be way better off to stop stressing about your dog peeing when out and about (its what dogs do) unless he's pulling on leash or doing it on people. Training will fix the first thing and a supervision and a good recall the second.

Tell him what you want him to do and reward him.. it can't be any less effective than what you're doing now.

Seriously, what's the issue with dogs peeing on a walk?? My dogs poo too. I pick up the poo and don't let them pee on folks lawns.. other than that, who cares?

Have you got any idea how uncomfortable it is to walk when you need to go?

It's not about making him hold it in, it's about not letting him pee on every single obstacle. When off-lead, my dog will pee a little bit on almost every tree, bush, sign, fence - you name it he wants to pee on it. So when he's on lead, I take him to one tree early on in the walk, tell him to go toilet, and then until he's off-lead (and there's an off-lead component of every walk), I don't let him pee. He doesn't even try anymore, doesn't seem to be an issue. As for holding it in, he holds it in all day whilst I'm at work (even though he's outside, he's just weird), and all night from about 9:30pm till 8am. It's almost comical when he does go, because he will pee for minutes at a time - we call it peeing for Australia, unless he's on a walk, in which case he will pee for a couple of seconds every couple of seconds.

[poodlefan]

And how on earth do you toilet a dog on a long trip if it won't pee on lead?

My dogs are taken out of the car to a suitable spot. They pee, we get back in the car and off we go.

[persephone]

guess it was all my years of guide dog training... dogs were trained from pups to toilet on command .. were emptied out before walks/training .. and not allowed to sniff/toilet on walks (0pbviously if they HAD to go from illness they just did ;) )

Dogs were trained toileting ON lead , given the command word .. so if needed, they could be allowed to empty out in a suitable spot . Toilet on command is such a useful thing to keep your dog comfortable, whilst not having it toilet in inappropriate places It means toileting only takes a minute or two .. and is an absolute godsend when travelling/visiting

I always expected the same from my pet dogs - walks on lead are usually 'work' ... runs off lead in parks/paddocks are 'freetime' .. as are runs on longlines in parks - peeing on grass/trees etc is allowed .

Edited June 19, 2011 by persephone

[poodlefan]

I always expected the same from my pet dogs - walks on lead are usually 'work' ... runs off lead in parks/paddocks are 'freetime' .. as are runs on longlines in parks - peeing on grass/trees etc is allowed .

I don't let my dogs tow me from tree to tree but if they have to squat or cock a leg early on, I let them in a suitable space.

Once we're going we walk briskly.

[jacqui835]

And how on earth do you toilet a dog on a long trip if it won't pee on lead?

My dogs are taken out of the car to a suitable spot. They pee, we get back in the car and off we go.

Well we taught our dog that whilst on lead, he can pee, but only when asked to. His 'go toilet' command works whether he's on lead on not, only difference is that's the only way he can pee whilst on lead, whereas when off-lead, he can pee as he pleases.

ETA: he's a large dog. Before we introduced the no pee without command on lead rule, he could literally jerk you to a stop so he could pee on something - it just wasn't practical.

Edited June 19, 2011 by jacqui835

[Zombie Bait]

Also, when you are training, competing and visiting others with your dog, you will WANT your dog to toilet on walks and on lead. It is very stressful if your dog won't toilet on lead or away from home, and you know they need to go and want them to go when it is best for your day. So that they won't go in the ring during your performance when they are off lead etc.

Gotta agree with this. Both my 2 wont pee whilst on lead unless absolutely busting. My girl Sierra is the worst offender. I took her to a lure coursing day and she refused to pee whilst on lead but as soon as i let her off lead she quite happily pee'd. Both of mine will pee on command, except whilst on leash. Its frustrating when travelling and we stop for a toilet break as we need to find somewhere we can let them off leash.

[poodlefan]

ETA: he's a large dog. Before we introduced the no pee without command on lead rule, he could literally jerk you to a stop so he could pee on something - it just wasn't practical.

I'd call that a training issue. You solved it in one way but there are others.

[Greytmate]

With the de-sexing thing, I actually don't mind too much if we do or don't desex him, I just figure if he gets out if he is de-sexed then he won't contribute to the stray dog problem... we have pretty good fences but accidents can happen. Also would he be more of a kidnapping risk if he is left entire? Being a purebred dog?

Yes he would be more at risk of being stolen if entire.

In cats and rats and some other mammals, desexing completely stops that sort of marking behaviour. In dogs, desexing may make no difference at all, or it might help only slightly.

What it will do is make the urine a lot less smelly and sticky, and it can make a dog less distractible when you are trying to train it out of some undesirable habits.

I would go ahead with desexing and because of this problem would do it sooner rather than later, in the hope the lowering of hormones will help with this behaviour.