Why Does My Dog Pee On Itself? [7 Reasons & 11 Tips To Solve]

Oh no, it’s so awful and annoying when your furry friend always pees on themselves. Are you curious to know the reasons behind this problem? If so, let’s dive into this topic and figure out what’s going on!

So, why might a dog pee on themselves?

There are several reasons, such as congenital defects, not knowing how to adjust their weight, orthopedic issues, urinary tract problems, submissive behavior, incontinence, and long hair. But fear not, there are solutions to this issue. Reinforcing lifting a leg, interacting with other dogs, modifying marksmanship, gaining confidence, and consulting a vet are all possible solutions.

It’s important to note that a dog may exhibit this behavior due to both normal and abnormal circumstances. Understanding the exact cause will greatly simplify the remedy process. So, let’s get to the bottom of this problem and find the best solution for your furry friend.

Reasons why a dog may pee on itself

I’ve seen this behavior in dogs of pretty much each age category, especially among puppies and young dogs who don’t know how to lift their legs when peeing.

Moreover, urinary incontinence and falling all over the body can lead to many problems, including skin issues.

Without further ado, let’s move to the reasons.

1. Congenital defects.

Dogs with congenital defects on the hip are more likely to pee on themselves without any intention behind that.

Sometimes the dog needs practice because of poor aiming.

However, when a dog urinates on itself, it’s not necessarily due to cognitive defects. We have 6 more to go.

By the way, here is why do some dogs pee and poop at the same time.

2. Don’t know how to adjust weight.

Some dogs are unable to adjust their weight when urinating, and, more often, the stream hits the paws due to imbalance.

This behavior can be expected from puppies and young dogs.

Moreover, I’ve seen some occasions where some puppies don’t even stop to pee due to a lack of experience and awareness of how to pee properly.

They just wade into the backyard, tall grasses, or bush and start urinating while walking. It’s so awful to see.

If this is your situation, you gotta train him to balance his weight while peeing. (Don’t worry, we gonna discuss that later in this article)

Suggested Reading: Why do some dogs step in their pee?

3. Orthopedic issues.

Check if the urine stream always hits on its forelegs. If so, the dog appears to be suffering from orthopedic issues on the back end.

When a dog has orthopedic problems in the back, that issue will prevent him from lifting its hind legs due to inhibiting the range of motion while lifting the leg.

The best thing you can do is see your veterinarian or physiotherapist, check the dog's lower back tense muscles and further check the limitations in movements of the hind legs.

4. Urinary tract infection (UTI)

If a dog has Urinary tract infections or is often referred to as “UTI,” The dog is more likely to urinate on itself without intention.

Usually, UOT is quite a common issue among dogs, especially dogs prone to diabetes or older females.

5. Submissive behaviour

Observe if the dog pees on its stomach while lying on its back. If so, your innocent, loving pooch needs help because that’s precisely a sign of submissive behavior.

Gaining confidence is the best thing you can do, which we will discuss later in this article.

In fact, this is a behavior that has existed since ancient times among canines. Roll on their back and peeing on themselves is how they would accept the role of their pack leader.

This submissive behavior can often be seen in puppies. However, some percentage of them remain timid into adulthood and exhibit signs of submissiveness.

6. Urinary incontinence

When a dog is prone to urinary incontinence, it loses voluntary control of its bladder, resulting in it often peeking on itself.

The incontinence or simply loss of bladder often begins when a dog enters its middle age, especially the dogs more than 7 years old.

Here is why do some dogs only pee once/twice a day with 7 reasons.

7. The dog has long hair.

Most long-haired dogs tend to pee on themselves as they find it challenging to aim through the heavy and thick coat.

Moreover, always hitting urine in the same place on its body could lead to even severe skin rash problems. This can be prevented up to some extend by grooming on time and shaving the areas where the pee usually hits.

What to do if your dog always pee on himself?

It seems that you now have a better understanding of the possible reasons for this. So, let’s observe what we can do about that.

Here, I’m gonna lay out 11 tips that are worth considering.

1. Try reinforcing his leg lifting and moving

When a dog always pees on itself, it’s pretty much challenging to fix the issue as he is doing that without any intention behind that.

It’s worth trying to reinforce to lift its leg by giving a little bit of help with your hand and rewarding saying “what a good boy,” and offering tasty treats to encourage him to do so.

Keep in mind to lift its hind leg again whenever it drops it while peeing, and go with the rewarding process.

When you stay consistent with this, the dog will get that pretty much straightforwardly. Eventually, all you have to do is tap on his hind leg and say, “Move the leg.”

I am pretty sure he will learn to take the leg out of the stream in accordance with your command.

2. Let the dog interact with other dogs.

Some dogs pee on themselves due to a lack of knowledge or awareness to lift up their legs while peeing, and these dogs must be socialized with other masculine male dogs who are really good at their cognitive tasks.

Maybe attempting to have a pack walk with other dogs is something worth considering at this stage. In that way, your dog can spend time with other dogs and learn from them some of the creature-specific activities.

Moreover, allowing them to hang around and become socialize with off-leash inside a fenced area would be a nice thing to think of.

Note

There is something to watch out. Dogs usually picking up bad behaiors from other dogs as the way the extract good things out of them. So, your responsibility is to nip in the bud prior to those bad traits take over your loving pooch,

Suppose you arrange a play date or pack walk with other dogs. Keep your eyes if he exhibiting any positive signs of at least a tiny tempted to lift a its hind leg, and click that and reward that.

3. Hold its hip/mid sections when it pees.

Guys, this is something I’ve personally tried, and it’s working like a charm. So, give it a shot!

It feels so awful when your dog pees on himself and observing yellow stains on its legs.

This method can be tried with dogs that aren’t confident in controlling their weight as they lift their hind legs.

Here is what you need to do.

1. Wait until your dog needs to urinate and go to the area where he normally pees.
2. Hold its mid/hip-section as he started to pee.
3. Stay consistent till he finishes urinating and support him to stay in a stationary position.
4. Repeat this.
5. After about a week or so he will learn to control its weight.

This is pretty much straighforeward and powerful. Being consistent with this will stop your dog from peeing on himself.

4. Keep a soapy and wet towel outside.

Carry a soapy wet towel with you when you take the dog outside, and whenever he started to pee on himself, just show him the towel and wipe whatever area the stream hits.

You gotta clean him right way as soon as he peed on himself.

Most dogs hate leg baths, so the dog will get this within several days if you do this consistently. However, you shouldn’t forget to reinforce to lift your leg while trying this method.

5. Modify the markenship.

Try to make your dog’s outdoor urinating experience similar to the experience he gets peeing while walking sessions. So, modifying your backyard that gives the best experience and environment that leads to better marksmanship is something worth trying.

Identify areas where the dog naturally lifts its leg and urinates without peeing on itself. Always try to direct the dog that way. Once he is utterly positive with that areas, consider gradually introducing new areas.

6. Try gently pulling on the front of its leash.

When your dog tries to urinate, and he doesn’t know how to lift his leg (common among young puppies), gently pull on the front of its leash and out your hands in front of him just to encourage the dog to put its forelegs a step ahead.

Frankly, this won’t interrupt his urinating. It will take a few days for your dog and eventually to grasp it.

However, this isn’t a long-term solution. While practicing this tactic, we should try the other tips covered in this section.

7. Help to build up the confidence to avoid submissiveness.

If your dog pees on itself due to submissiveness, the best thing you can do is build up its confidence.

Here are seveal things that will help your dog to build his confidence.

♦ The best way to teach commands is using positive rainforcement methods.
♦ Stick with a routine. You know what, dogs do love to work on a routine. 
♦ Gradually socilize the dog, and it's better to ensure the new people and situations are completely positve.
♦ Click the positive behaviors and reward. 
♦ Verbal praising also one of the great ways increase its confidence. 
♦ Train the dog to show its submissiveness in terms of sitting, wagging tail, instead of just peeing on himself.  Again, don't forget the praising part. 
♦ Don't scold or punish.

8. Try waling him to trees.

Dogs would love to urinate nearby trees and among bushes. So, it’s worth trying waling him to among bushes and encourage him to pee while lifting his leg.

Again, don’t forget to apply the other tactics that we’ve converted in this section.

9. Get pee shields.

This isn’t a long-term solution. However, investing in a pee shield is something worth trying.

A pee shield can protect the front legs from hitting the urine stream.

10. Interrupt him.

Interrupt him whenever he pees on him or starts to urinate while walking without stopping, and then reinforce him to lift a leg.

Of course, the methods discussed earlier will definitely help you.

11. Consult a vet.

As we discussed earlier, a handful of health issues could influence this unusual behavior.

So, it’s better to consult a veterinarian just to make sure your dog is completely healthy in terms of physically and mentally.

Suggested Reading: Why Do Dogs Pee Before Going Outside?

Things to be aware of.

You now seem to know the reasons and solutions for your dog to urinate on itself. However, there are several other things you need to be aware of.

Most dogs hate peeing on themselves. It appears they correct that by themselves as time goes. But, the correction speed can be accelerated with your help.
A dog is more likely to prone to skin vulnerabilities if his skin always hit by urinate stream.
You should be extremely patience during this process.
You gotta control yourself when it has accidents.
Be careful whenever it hang around other dogs. Monitor them to avoid any conflicts.
Don’t skip regular vet checkups.
Check if the dog poop multiple times in a row. Because it can happen due to both normal and abnormal reasons.

Conclusion.

Many dog owners are curious to know why do dogs pee on themselves. Well, this behavior can be influenced by many different reasons. So, we’ve converted 7 possible reasons with 11 helpful solutions through this comprehensive guide. Hope you found this helpful.

Cheers.