Scratchings-and-Sniffings

Posted: 29 Jul 2009 05:24 PM PDT

Nothing can spoil a homecoming greeting between human and canine more than a pool of pee. We vets call it by the clinical term excitation urination and most pet lovers just want it to stop.

Fortunately in most cases it's a puppy problem and as the pup matures the unwanted gift goes away. In some cases it can persist into adulthood and may indicate a genetic predisposition to a weaker than normal bladder control.

Most dogs and people are able to turn urination on and off by relaxing and closing the bladder sphincter. The bladder sphincter is a ring of muscle around the neck or narrow opening of the bladder that empties into the urethra. Bladder sphincters are very useful during interesting long movies or when your owner works a normal job. In some cases though things don't work out so well.

With some puppies they just get so excited to see you, they just let go. The muscle tone of the sphincter may just be weaker than other dogs. In any case, there are some things to do to help prevent the problem and hasten resolution.

The main goal is to remove any reinforcement for the unwanted behavior. First and foremost, that means no punishment. Punishment will only serve to confuse the pup and more often than not they won't associate the punishment with the behavior. Instead of thinking, "My people don't want me to pee," they will think, "My people don't like me at all." That's not what anybody wants.

The other important point is to not make a fuss when you get home. If you really want to open the flood gates, get all gushy and offer up all kinds of baby talk, petting and soothing. The pup will think, "Wow, she really likes my pee puddles."

If you have a peeing pup, try to greet them like they're the vacuum cleaner salesman at your front door. In fact, don't greet them at all until they have completely calmed down. This will help them control things until they grow up a bit more. Even if the problem persists into adulthood you can control it by controlling initial encounters.

With some puppies, they will let go during play too so try not to get too rambunctious until they are better able to handle it and don't punish or make a big deal out of it. Just ignore it as best you can.

Let friends and neighbors in on the plan, too. When they come over they are to ignore the pup at the initial meeting and not make a fuss or offer up a pat on the head until things have calmed down.

Like most things in life, with time and maturity, things will get better. At least for the pup, they will.

For many of us humans, me especially, time and maturity have brought a little patience and wisdom and a lot of baldness and arthritis.