Piddling problems: dealing with leakage
URINATION is never an appealing topic to discuss, but sometimes, it needs to be done. And today is one of those occasions.
A friend has two dogs, a six month old female, and a three year old male dog. Each animal has an issue with urination, but each has their own unique problem. He contacted me recently to ask for my advice.
The female dog passes small dribbles of urine when she gets excited, e.g. if a stranger visits the house, and this was causing serious problems with leakage around the home. Meanwhile, the male dog, when out on walks, had started to piddle in small amounts frequently, stopping every twenty yards to let out a small amount. My friend wanted to know first, how to stop the female dog from piddling indoors, and second, whether or not there was something wrong with the male dog that makes him want to piddle so often.
These are both common issues for dog owners, each with a different story attached.
The first problem is known as “submissive urination”: it’s a reflex release of a small amount of urine that some nervous animals do when they are anxious. It’s a behavioural problem rather than being caused by any sort of issue with the urinary tract. It’s most common in young dogs when they encounter situations that make them feel scared. Examples include meeting strangers or being shouted at by somebody. They also sometimes do it when they are excited e.g. when their owner gets home from work. The good news about this problem is that most dogs naturally grow out of this as they grow older; they become more confident, less anxious and at the same time their bladder control improves.
It can be difficult to live with dogs that are active “submissive piddlers”: the best answer is often to try to learn what situations provoke leaks, and to pre-empt them. For example, if a visitor is expected, take the dog into the back garden, and introduce the visitor to them outside, where a small piddle doesn’t matter. And ask people to approach them gently, with a quiet voice, and without eyeballing them. Submissive urination is always worse when dogs feel threatened in some way. For extreme cases, anti-anxiety medication can be prescribed by the vet, but it’s rarely needed.
Most dogs become more confident and less anxious as they grow older, and it’s rare for adult animals to have serious problems of this nature.
By the way, older female dogs also commonly suffer from mild urinary leakage; typically, they leave a small damp spot in their beds after they’ve been asleep. This is often caused by a leaky bladder sphincter, and it can be easily solved by giving special drops in the food every day. The drops act on the nerve supply to the bladder, causing the sphincter to tighten up. So if you have a leaky older female dog, do talk to your vet.
The male dog story is almost the opposite problem to the submissive female piddler: he’s a proud male animal who is confidently marking his territory by urinating. The male hormone – testosterone – makes dogs feel an urge to let other dogs know that they are in the neighbourhood. That’s why dogs cock their legs and squirt small jets of urine on vertical objects: they leave a scent that can be easily detected by all other passing animals.
Male dogs vary significantly in their level of piddling. When they visit a new area, when new dogs are visiting their own areas,or if there’s a female dog in season nearby, the frequency of urine marking tends to increase. Territory marking is not normally a problem for owners when it’s done outside, but occasionally male dogs start to do it indoors too. We often see this at our vet clinic, when visiting male dogs cock their legs in our waiting room: our receptionist always has a freshly changed cleaning mop ready to deal with this, because it’s so common.
There’s an easy answer when male dog urine marking is a problem: removal of the male hormone, testosterone, by neutering or castration. It’s highly effective at stopping urine marking. There are often other benefits too, such as reduced straying behaviour, and less aggression to other male dogs.
Apart from the problems described above, there are many other possible problems relating to dog urination. If any dog has a sudden change in their piddling habits, it’s worth taking a urine sample to your vet to be checked. Simple tests can be carried out to check for the most common diseases. From urinary tract infections to underlying hormonal diseases, there’s a long list of possibilities.
This topic reminds me of one of my favourite party pieces, a poem known as Piddlin’ Pete. A famous dog once came to town Known to his friends as Pete His pedigree was ten yards long His looks were hard to beat And as he trotted down the road ‘twas beautiful to see
His work at every corner Every post and every tree
The poem continues for over a dozen verses, extolling the prowess of this visiting dog at piddling everywhere. In the final verse, the famous Pete’s secret is revealed: The city dogs said farewell Pete Your piddling did defeat us But no one ever put them wise That Pete... had diabetes.