Some dogs will submissively urinate when they are approached by people. This is often seen in puppies, young females, insecure dogs, or dogs who have been repeatedly corrected. The cause of this behavior is that the urinary sphincter relaxes during stress.

If your puppy or dog urinates when you approach her try the following:

1. Keep all greetings and departures calm and brief.
2. During greetings your body posture should be non-threatening. Squat down and turn sideways.
3. Let the dog come to you instead of you approaching her.
4. Avoid prolonged eye contact when greeting (this is threatening to dog).
5. Do not pet the dog on her head or back during greeting. Pet her under her chin, behind her ears, or on her chest.
6. DO NOT PUNISH THE DOG UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE !
7. Eliminate odor where dog has urinated using an enzymatic cleaner.
8. Confidence Building – Use clicker training to teach the dog all the basic commands (sit, down, stay, come, watch me, etc.) and maybe even some tricks. Then have the dog perform a behavior to earn not only special treats, but also every resource that you provide to him (food, access to the outside, tossing a ball, belly rub, etc.). When dogs learn that performing a behavior ears what they need and want in this world it builds their confidence that they have control to get these things.
9. Train an alternative behavior – Training your dog to “sit” when they greet someone is very effective for this behavior because they can not squat and pee if they are concentrating on sitting.