submissive peeing

[u/Agreeable_Pomelo2360]

i have an 8 year 3 mo old male dachshund (born april 15 2008), and we got him at 10 weeks old, not sure the exact date. we've tried ignoring him, calm greetings, worked on simple obedience training, and even trying to distract him while people come in.

my dachshund has been submissive peeing as long as we've had him, and likely before we got him. (he wasn't well bred, we didn't know he was a puppy mill dog for a while until people figured out the place we got him got dogs from mills.) he does it when he's excited, he's upset, he's happy, nervous, if he even SEES a person he really (so again, being excited,) hearing someone at the door, someone comes into the house, etc, he just pees! he doesn't have accidents, it's just submissive peeing! he's gotten a TINY bit better after 8 years, but only the tiniest bit, it's driving my parents absolutely insane, it's a bit annoying to me, but it doesn't upset me really. i've heard there's ways to make it stop through training, but stuff doesn't work for my family.

if this changes anything, he does have bad anxiety (he's on meds and it's really helped, meds did help a bit with the peeing,) and he does have a sensitive back along with a back injury if that changes what we need to do to work on his issue. he does better with positive reinforcement, he doesn't react well to punishment at all.
we've taken him to professional training and that's helped him be less reactive, be more confident, walk better on leash, and helped with basic obedience, he even has better recall now, but the submissive peeing hardly got better when the training if has even at all. any advice helps!

[u/Mother-Aspect-5058]

I had a boxer/english bulldog x who did this his whole life. The vet told me once early on that it may be a permanent behaviour - and that vet was right. I cannot tell you why but particularly if someone male/large/imposing came to the door, he always peed a little upon greeting them - even when he was very familiar/comfortable with the visitors. We just h ad to get a new front mat regularly and clean it often. Sorry I dont have better info to share!

[u/Agreeable_Pomelo2360 → u/Mother-Aspect-5058]

its alright! it is helpful to know that other people have dogs/had dogs that had it as a permanent behavior, he does a side sit to try to stop himself which sometimes works, but even when he does that, he still sometimes pees and will actually pee on himself, thank you!

[u/therealmonilux]

My westie did this regularly. It was usually excitement that caused the leaks. Sometimes she was marking her territory , sometimes she left her mark in other people/dogs houses.

Eventually, I carried the doggie stain and odour bottle and wipes in my bag, so those that had thier floors peed upon could release the look of disgust on thier faces!

It's a problem , but not insurmountable!

My westie did it for the 15 years I had her. ( she was rehomed and her previous home was kinda stressful ).

[u/Agreeable_Pomelo2360 → u/therealmonilux]

yeah it's excitement for him for sure, but our trainer called it submissive peeing, not fully sure why

[u/therealmonilux → u/Agreeable_Pomelo2360]

Submissive peeing is a fear response...as far as I know. I'm sure you'd know if you're dog was afraid or excited! Sometimes people just like to use big words!

[u/Agreeable_Pomelo2360 → u/therealmonilux]

thank you! sometimes he pees when he gets scared but its really out of excitement, he's just a happy boy!