# Please, oh please help us! 12 week old puppy leaking urine



## Califoregon (Jul 30, 2015)

My family and I have been discussing and planning to add a spoo to our family for over a year now. Last week we finally brought home our 11 week old puppy. We are working on and handling all the "normal" puppy stuff well with our two young kids but we are having a major problem with him leaking urine throughout the day. We took him to the vet and all she did was a stool test because she believed it to be a "normal puppy thing" and he will "most likely" grow out of it. Others say it's submissive/excitement urination. My husband is really questioning if this dog is going to work in our family environment and we could really use some suggestions, help, advice, opinions! **And yes, he is taken out every 40min-1 hour and given plenty of extra time to make sure he is getting it all out**

Here are just a few examples of when he pees: 

After going outside to potty and coming back in the house (he was on a leash) he dribbled pee all over. 

While eating his dinner (he had been at the bowl for some time now and then just started dribbling) and continued to while he moved into the next room

He has peed in his crate while my husband was petting him and saying hello

My husband took him outside to go potty for the evening and then carried him upstairs-- he was standing in the hallway holding him and he peed on him

He started peeing while I was saying good morning to him and petting him. 

He pees while we are just playing with him and his toys. 

I sternly told him "off" once while he was jumping up on my son and he peed everywhere. 

So obviously there are good examples of excited urination and submissive urination but then there are time that don't add up to us. Has anyone experienced this and had their puppy out grow it? Anybody have this and continue to struggle with it into adult hood? We are also thinking about getting a second onion if enough people agree that it isn't just excited/submissive urination. We have an appointment with a training to come to our house next week and offer her help and suggestions but we are really hoping for as many point of views as possible. 

Sorry for the lengthy post. We are desperate, heartbroken, frustrated and tired of cleaning up pee. Thank you in advance for your response.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

As you have already recognised, you could have a pup who is very submissive, or there could be a physical problem. I would ask your vet to check a pee sample just in case, and a pee wrap with a pad may be a good idea to manage your stress. Once anything physical is ruled out, you can consider whether you need to manage interactions - although in the meantime keeping everything calm, low key and happy may help. I hope you find a way through - this must be so upsetting when you should be enjoying your new pup.


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## shell (Jul 10, 2015)

I do have a maltese who did have problems when he was a puppy. He would pee in his sleep but it wasn't a submissive dribble. Our vet did the same-said he would grow out of it and he did. I don't remember how long it took, several months at least.

My in laws have a shih Tzu that does the submissive dribble. She has never grown out of it. 

What concerns me though, is it really a dribble? By the tone of your post I get the feeling it might be more than just a dribble... but maybe I'm wrong?

You can always try a second opinion at the vet too. In the mean time, maybe try a belly band? My boys mark when we visit other people's houses so they wear them if we visit someone else.


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## Sammy the spoo (Jul 7, 2016)

Hello - congratulations on welcoming your new puppy to your family. I don't have enough experiences with dogs and puppy to comment on this, but wanted to extend a virtual hug. It must be a difficult situation to go through - I'm not really sure if it is something physical (illness or just plain lack of bladder control) or psychological since he is new to your home. Puppies need time to adjust to the new home and it could be that, too. It's a hard spot to be in because you want to keep an eye on the situation and see how it goes, but you don't want to get too attached in case it is not quite working out for you. 

My Sammy piddled when he was excited probably between 3-6 months. He seems to be able to hold it better. He uses to piddle when he got to meet a new person or a dog. I had to warn everyone - "so sorry, he might piddle. Please watch out". 

I hope you'll get many advice here!


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## FireStorm (Nov 9, 2013)

Hans used to urinate when he was excited, but he did outgrow it. We made a point to make our coming and going as low key as possible. We would come home, not say anything at all to him and take him straight outside to potty. Same thing when we took him out of his crate - we didn't pet or talk to him until he had already been to the bathrooom. Puppies really don't have full control of their bladders until around 6 months of age (maybe longer depending on the puppy) so your puppy may not even realize he is urinating if he's distracted by something else.

I think having a trainer or behaviorist help you is a great idea since sometimes it's tough to figure out what's going on without an experienced set of eyes actually observing the behavior. I also think it wouldn't hurt to have the vet do a urinalysis just to rule out something like a bladder infection. Running the urinalysis is normally pretty quick and inexpensive especially if you can collect the sample yourself, so it would be worth it IMO, just to rule some things out.

In the mean time, I think a belly band would really help you guys. It will just cut down on the stress for everyone while you figure out what's going on. And I'm sure if it is submissive urination, having everyone upset over cleaning up pee isn't going to help. 

Have you contacted the breeder you got your puppy from to see if they have any suggestions or advice?


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## Califoregon (Jul 30, 2015)

Thanks for all your responses! To answer a few questions: 

----What concerns me though, is it really a dribble? --It's usually lots of drops. While eating he wasn't in motion so it accumulated to a little puddle but he's usually in motion so it's a lot of drop scattered around. While he peed on my husband is was 10 or so spots down his shirt. 

-----And I'm sure if it is submissive urination, having everyone upset over cleaning up pee isn't going to help. --Sorry, should have clarified. We completely ignore it when it happens and clean it up out of view. I'm more expressing my frustration on here as we try to not show any of that around or to him. 

------so your puppy may not even realize he is urinating if he's distracted by something else.-- No, I believe he has no idea he is doing it. There is no punishment or reaction towards it when it does happen


------Have you contacted the breeder you got your puppy from to see if they have any suggestions or advice? -- Yes, a few times. At first it was a normal puppy thing that he will outgrow, second time it was "hmmm, maybe talk to you vet again"


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## twyla (Apr 28, 2010)

First take a deep breath

Second if you haven't before please read http://www.poodleforum.com/5-poodle-talk/182666-puppy-reality.html

If it were me I would get a second opinion to see if the pup has any medical issues like a UTI
my brother's dog had excitement/submissive peeing issue as a pup, it took a while for him to get it under control but it did so hang in there


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## oshagcj914 (Jun 12, 2016)

I would go back to the vet and get an actual urine test just to be sure. Then try taking him out more often. 40-60 minutes may not be enough. I had to take my Dane puppy out every 20 minutes until he was close to 5 months.


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## Califoregon (Jul 30, 2015)

we ended up getting a second opinion vet. Now we have more questions than before. Will post a new thread with the results.


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## kayattalee43 (2 mo ago)

Califoregon said:


> we ended up getting a second opinion vet. Now we have more questions than before. Will post a new thread with the results.





Califoregon said:


> we ended up getting a second opinion vet. Now we have more questions than before. Will post a new thread with the results.


 What was the issue


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## Rose n Poos (Sep 22, 2017)

Hi and Welcome to PF!

You've landed in a nearly 6 year old dormant thread. The OP hasn't returned since just a couple of weeks after this thread ended.

If you have a pup with a similar issue (or to just say hi) please drop in at Member Intro or pop over to Poodle Health (let folks know you're new to PF) and tell us what's going on.

We can't diagnose of course but will do our best to offer suggestions, and provide out personal experiences.

Hope to see you there soon!


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