Why Do Some Dogs Urinate On People?
Having a pet isn’t always easy. Changing behavior is not a one-day thing and it is very common to have a dog, especially if he is male, which marks territory throughout the house. There are even dogs that urinate on people.
Maybe not most owners, but at least some of them have ever found themselves in the uncomfortable situation of having to apologize to a stranger because their dog used it like any other tree to pee.
Marking is a way of communication
Smell is very important to dogs. He is the main sense with which they guide themselves around the world. Each scent provides a lot of information for a dog: which animal has been there, its size, what state it is in… Therefore, marking represents a very useful communication tool for dogs.
Dogs adopt this strategy from their wild ancestor, the wolf, who uses olfactory marking – by urine or feces – and visual – by scraping the ground or trees – to identify or define a territory, since in nature the A pack’s space can include miles away.
It’s not just the wolf and the dog that mark territory with small doses of urine. Many other animals do this, especially mammals, for which smell is a fundamental sense in their survival.
Where do dogs prefer to mark territory?
Dogs, during walks, prefer to mark surfaces such as poles, trees, corners of walls… that is, places that favor communication with another possible dog that approaches to sniff.
Furthermore, the time at which the message is “recorded” is also important. The greater the angle at which the dog lifts its paw, the greater the height that the stream of urine reaches. The height at which the mark is located gives information about the size of the animal.
Knowing this, it is curious to know the strategy followed by the smaller dogs to mark territory. These dogs try harder to lift their paw to mask their size and thus appear much larger in front of other dogs.
In this way, small dogs “lie” about their size, since, to the other dog’s nose, it will look like a larger animal passed through that location.
Inappropriate marking: dogs that urinate on people
Many dogs pee when they are too excited because of their excitement. An example of this is dogs with separation anxiety problems when their owner comes home.
It is common for very young puppies, who have not yet learned to take care of their needs outside the home, to urinate or defecate indoors or in strange places, including people. This can also happen to much older dogs, mainly due to urine leakage.
However, when a dog is in the habit of urinating in places he shouldn’t, or on people standing on the street, sitting in a park, or strangers coming home… then there is a problem with behavior.
What to do about dogs that urinate on people?
A punishment after having peed, especially if it’s been a while, is useless. The dog will not understand why he is being punished, and this will only create fear in the animal.
In such cases, it is convenient to treat the situation as a behavioral problem. So, if you come across your dog just as he is urinating, cut the action with a «NO» and offer rewards only when he pees where he should.
You can consult a canine behavior professional to start training and thus discover the root of the problem, especially by observing the behavior of the animal (when it started the behavior, what kind of people it usually marks, where it repeats this action…)
You might also consider neutering your pet. Males tend to have a deep-rooted instinct to mark territory, but with castration this behavior is largely reduced, especially if surgery is performed at an early age.
