[RileysDad]

Hi all-

I am new here (first post and everything!) and I have a breed-specific question.

My family has a male fawn pup named Riley, and he is approximately 9 months old (and already 75lbs of lean muscle mass!).

The problem we are having with him is that he piddles quite a bit when he gets overly excited or scared, often even after having just been let out.  I realize that this isn't unique to Boxers as I've seen other dogs do this, but he does it with such annoying frequency and sometimes it's more urine than you would expect from an excited puppy.

Is bladder control at all an issue with male Boxer puppies?  He's crated at night and when we aren't home (due to chewing anything he can, but other than the piddling issue, he's pretty much house-broken, also thanks to the cage) but he's let out often and for long periods of time.

We have another dog and a half-acre yard that's invisibly fenced, so he gets plenty of running time outside.
He's also not fixed, so I'm not sure if that's related.

I suspect that this is some kind of a puppy phase that he's going through and that it will (hopefully) cease with time, but I was wondering if anyone else had any experiences similar to this.  He's been to the vet and is proclaimed healthy.

I find it particularly annoying (and frankly, kind of gross to folks like me that like to walk around barefooted on the carpet in my new home) and I was hoping that someone could share experiences/root causes/solutions to this, if any.

Thanks in advance.

Steve, Riley's Dad

 

[Barbs2Ks]

I am not an expert but it could be a UTI, has the vet ruled that out?

 

[RileysDad]

I am not an expert but it could be a UTI, has the vet ruled that out?

TBH I didn't take him to the vet, my wife did, but I don't think he was really doing it then.
Is it common for puppies to get a urinary tract infection?
I really think that he's just got excitability issues.  It's especially bad when he gets punished, which is usually for trying to snatch food off the kitchen table.

 

[mylittledeers]

Welcome to the forum I'd try to take a urine sample to the vet just to check, Donner had a UTI as a puppy. Our last boxer Sophie had excitability tinkles her whole life so I don't think it's a male thing, just a excitable thing 8O

 

[g00dgirl]

Riley is exhibiting submissive urination.  If you do a search you can find lots of info about it, but basically that is his way of showing you "I give!"  whatever you do, do NOT punish or "correct" this behavior, doing so will only make it worse.  The best thing to do is ignore it when it happens and clean it up.  To PREVENT it, have all visitors initially ignore him when they come in- this will be harder to train the people than the dog.  He piddles when he is excited and you need to keep his excitement to a minimum (indoors at least ).  Do not let visitors pet him unless he comes to them, don't let them reach for him.  They can hold out their hand while kneeling on the ground and look away from him (avoid eye contact).  If he comes over to them, they can gently pet him on his chest, not on top of his head or back.  These are all non-threatening behaviors for dogs.
Threatening behaviors which will make is piddling worse include petting on top of the head, eye contact, directly facing him head on, bending down over him, trying to make contact too fast.
Like I said, do a search and you will find a lot more info on how to act around him- basically its the people around him that need to adapt their behavior to his needs right now, then he can gain some confidence and hopefully stop piddling.
Good luck!

 

[sharonL]

I agree that this sounds like submission urination.....(excitment).....While UTI's will present themselves in other ways such as licking the penis, drinking alot of water, going to the bathroom and very little coming out, moving around to many spots to go.....I think goodgirl explained the other very well....

 

[Pacosmomie]

Paco does the same thing, we have just learned to greet him outside and watch out so he doesn't get it on our feet.    We leave him inside if we are gone and he always runs to the back door and says his hellos outside, I think he realizes he's going to do it and doesn't like pee all over either.He also will do it even if he just went out, I personally think they save a little bit of pee just in case they get to go on a walk and mark a tree. Paco can always find a little more pee even if he just went. Hang in there.

 

[RileysDad]

Thanks all. I suspected something like this "submissive urination", because he generally only does it with me, and to him I guess I'm "The Master Of The House".
He did it again today as I brought the garbage cans down the driveway and he and my Beagle mix macy were outside.  He came up to me and I extended my hand like "Here boy" and he was pretty tentative, allowed a head pet, and then pissed himself.

Another thing he does:  he seems very talkative.  He will often come up to me as I'm sitting or standing somewhere, and he will growl and bark at me while wagging his tail. To me it looks like an obvious overture for attention, and I usually give it in the form of petting and scratching, but sometimes even after he asks for the attention, he pees.
It's frustrating because we just moved into this house, got new carpet installed...and he keeps peeing on it.