Week 1

It was exactly one week ago that I picked up Luna from the breeder. It seems like so long ago! I'll admit, there have been days when I've felt like I've done the wrong thing. Last night was one of them.

Luna gets extremely excited when I come home, be it from work or just a couple of hours away from the house. The past couple of times I've come home, she's had an accident - the first time on the carpet, but the second (and techincally third) on the couch. Not pleased at all.

The first time, I let it go. After all, I didn't actually catch her in the act of peeing, so I couldn't scold her. But the second time, she was sitting there on the couch. When I lifted her up, there was a spot of urine where she had been sitting. I was angry. I scolded her right away, and took her to the litter box. She didn't pee.

I put the leash on her and started to take her outside, then I realized I would be rewarding her for peeing on the couch, so I promptly went back inside. I locked her in the bathroom and cleaned up the mess. When she came out again, she ran out and jumped on the couch, where she peed again. I was beyond mad. Since I caught her doing again, I scolded her and put her nose in the stain.

I then decided to take her outside, but not praise her for anything she did out there, nor would I cuddle with her when we came back inside. She went promptly into the kennel and into the bedroom.

I was curious about this behaviour. She seems housetrained. Why is she starting to have these accidents?

I decided to (what else?) Google it, and came up with an answer that left me with my tail between my legs.

What she is likely doing is called "submissive urination". It happens when you have a dog that is shy or timid or young (she's not young, but definitely timid still). The dog's instincts when they know they are with a dog or human they consider superior is to urinate. It tells the dog (at least) that the submissive dog knows they are submissive. Apparently, when this is done with owners that don't understand what is going on and scold the dog (read: me), the dog tries to please the owner/master further by urinating more, to emphasize their submission. You can see how the vicious circle starts.

There were tips on how to lessen the instances (for example, when I come home, ignoring her for awhile until she calms down, taking her outside without talking to her, letting her do her thing and then afterwards, giving her praise but at eye level), but you can imagine how terrible I felt. Poor thing.

I'll have another opportunity tonight to test out this theory. Hopefully if she has to pee in submission again, she doesn't do it on the couch.