The fact that your dog urinates on you, wetting your shoes or pants, is a very unpleasant experience that, without a doubt, worsens when the person affected by your furry's behavior is a stranger to him. that you should apologize Dogs do not usually urinate on people, but when they do, some aspects must be assessed, such as the context in which the dog is found, the state of he alth of the animal or the presence of other behavioral problems in order to find a coherent explanation and be able to successfully modify that habit that we find so undesirable.
If you have ever found yourself in this situation with your four-legged friend, you can't miss this article on our site, because in it we explain the most causes reasons why a dog urinates on people and we tell you what you can do to change this behavior. If your dog pees on you or someone else, he reads on and finds out what's going on
Why do dogs pee on people?
It is possible that at some time, during a walk or while enjoying with your furry friend in a dog park, you have observed how a dog, perhaps yours, approaches a stranger, sniffs his leg and, then urinates on him. Even if you have been affected at some time, you should know that this behavior has an explanation and does not mean that the dog is rude, it is about marking Now then, why do dogs mark people?
Urine marking is a natural and completely normal behavior among dogs Through pee and feces, dogs leave in the environment a pheromone signal that provides a lot of relevant information to other animals, such as sex, he alth status or body size. For humans, canine pheromones are completely imperceptible, but dogs can detect them without any problem thanks to their excellent sense of smell.
Therefore, if a dog, after sniffing a person, discovers an odor that catches its attention, it can mark it with his urine to leave its own informationin the environment. This can happen, for example, when the person in question has previously been in contact with some other dog, if they had previously urinated on him or even if he has stepped on some pee or poop of another dog and, therefore, carries the smell on the shoes.
In short, marking of this type is a rare behavior that can be prevented in specific cases, but should never be punished, since it is part of the normal behavioral repertoire of dogs, although, we insist, it is rare that it occurs on people. Of course, when a dog urinates on someone's legs or feet, it is important to know if what he is doing is a simple marking or if his behavior may be due to some physical or emotional problem, as we will see in the next section.
In this sense, urine markings are characterized in that the animal only usually evacuates a few drops or a short stream of pee, always after sniffing the area for a few moments and, generally, they move away from the person after urinating on them. In addition, the behavior is more frequent in males, especially those that have not been neutered, which tend to raise their legs a lot to mark.
Why does my dog pee on me when he sees me?
In addition to marking, there are other more frequent reasons why a dog can urinate on a person when it sees it, whether it is its own guardian or a stranger. Next, we explain what they are and how you can differentiate between them:
- Hyperexcitement and joy: When a dog experiences very positive emotions and gets too excited, it often urinates on itself. This usually happens when the dog is reunited with her tutor or with some other known person after being away for a while. You can tell if your dog urinates with joy by observing his body language, since, in general, the animal will quickly approach the person in question, there will be no tension in his body or in his facial expression, he will keep his tail at a medium height and it will move it energetically, especially to the right. In the case of some dogs, it is also common for them to jump or bark while they urinate on the person.
- Fear: Dogs can also urinate on a person's feet if they are frightened or afraid of that individual. This usually happens if the animal has been educated through punishment, has not had the opportunity to socialize properly with its environment or has experienced some traumatic experience. If your furry friend approaches you with body and facial tension, tilting his head, licking his lips, shrinking his body, bristling or keeping his tail low and moving it quickly (especially to the left), it is likely that he is scared and that, when he reaches where you are, lie down and urinate on your feet. So, if you're wondering what it means when a dog pees on your foot and the marking has been ruled out, here's the answer.
- Other behavioral problems: the presence of some other problem that could explain why your dog urinates on people should always be assessed. For example, a very high state of anxiety such as that which occurs during separation anxiety crises can make your furry urinate as soon as he sees you arrive home.
- Incontinence: There is a possibility that your dog occasionally urinates on people because he is suffering from an incontinence problem. Incontinence can be caused by some medical or surgical treatments or as a consequence of some urinary pathology or neurological syndrome, especially in older dogs.
What to do if my dog urinates on me?
If your dog has started to urinate on people and did not do so before, it is important that you carefully analyze the context in which the animal is found when it performs this behavior, as well as its emotional state and body language, with the aim of finding the cause of the behavior. This is not always easy and, on occasions, there are several factors involved and not just one, which is why from our site we always recommend contacting a veterinarian to carry out a physical examination of the animal and an ethologist to assess your case and advise you throughout the behavioral modification process.
If the dog's behavior is mainly related to a marking behavior, you should know that the castration in the case of males tends to significantly reduce the frequency of such markings. However, before submitting the animal to a sterilization procedure, the pros and cons should be discussed with the veterinarian and the ethologist.
On the other hand, a correct socialization of the puppy especially during the sensitive period (from 3 weeks to 3 months) and a Positive reinforcement education and guided by a behavioral he alth professional will go a long way in preventing you from developing phobias and other behavior problems that can lead to your dog pees on you or urinates on other people.
If in addition to noticing that your dog marks people with urine, or carries out this behavior for another reason, you notice that he pees in certain areas of the house or on the bed, do not miss these other articles:
- Why does my dog pee on the bed?
- Why does my dog mark territory indoors?
