Why does my dog urinate when excited?

This is a common problem with young dogs, especially puppies. The pet urinates when excited due to 3 main reasons:

1. First, the dog's excitement causes him to not monitor his urinary sphincter control properly, and urine can leak when that sphincter relaxes.  Remember, young dogs, like young children, still need to consciously monitor their urinary control.  Most puppies and young dogs outgrow this problem.

2. Second, the act of urination is, to a dog, an act of submission: the "leaky" dog is telling us how glad he is to see us, his team leaders, and that he's our loyal supporter.  A good way to reduce the "leaking" problem is to avoid getting the family dog all worked up and excited--don't make a huge fuss when you get home from work, for example.  With time and maturity, most pets outgrow this problem.

3. Third, urinary leakage can also be due to urinary infection.  If your pet's urine has a strong odor, a funny color, or blood in it, your pet needs to be seen by one of our Doctors immediately.  Also, if your pet's urinary leakage seems to come and go, he may have a low-grade chronic urinary infection, and needs to be examined.