The question “My dog peed on me on the couch. What do I do?” has no straightforward answer. No doubt it is challenging to understand what’s going on in your little pooch’s mind! Despite being fully capable of communication, we sometimes cannot even understand humans.
Dogs pee in inappropriate places for plenty of underlying reasons. It can be a lack of training, a health issue, a behavioral problem driven by separation anxiety or traumatic experience, or simply an accident. You might need to be extra attentive to your dog’s behavior to figure out the ‘whys.’
In this post, we will dive deep into understanding why your dog pees on you on your couch, how common it is, and what action you should take. Later on, we’ll also discuss what’s the best approach to stop your dog from peeing indoors in inappropriate places.
Why Would My Dog Pee on Me While on The Couch?
The most notorious reason why your pooch might pee on you while on the couch is scent marking. There can also be an underlying illness that might be causing your well-trained dog to behave this way. In some cases, the behavior might also be emotionally-driven such as too much excitement or nervousness.
Scent marking or territorial marking is when the dog pees on something or someone to assert dominance. While male pups have made quite a name in scent marking, female pups can also often engage in such behavior. Territorial peeing can be generally credited to jealousy or lack of attention, and, in most cases, neutering your dog as soon as possible can keep this behavior in check.
Likewise, whenever your doggo is full of excitement or extremely nervous and scared, they’re more likely to pee on you. In order to figure out what your pooch is feeling, be observant about their body posture and movement. They will either pant and wag their tails, indicating excitement or look gloomy with spiritless tails and ears in case of nervousness or fear, which leads to submissive urination.
How Common Is This Behavior?
While dogs peeing on their owners on the couch is not extremely common, we assure you your pooch is not the only one doing so either. To be precise, it depends upon your dog – if they aren’t or are properly trained, their history with their past owner, and their health. Moreover, this behavior is more common in young pups, and you might witness them often dribbling indoors.
That being said, peeing on the couch is not a rare behavior among adult dogs either. Especially if they haven’t been neutered yet or they’ve had a traumatic relationship with their past owner, they’re at a higher chance of submissive peeing on you on the couch. Likewise, if your dog hasn’t been trained properly, they’ll probably pee on you on the couch at a relatively higher frequency.
It is also important to remind ourselves that peeing accidents can happen to any dog at any rate, especially if they’re in their training phase. With training and age, they’re likely to grow out of it. Nevertheless, you might also notice an increase in such accidents in your well-trained dog if your dog has undiagnosed health issues.
What Should I Do If My Dog Pees on Me on The Couch?
Whenever your dog pees indoors, especially on you on the couch, it is only humanly for our first instincts to be to panic and scold the dog. However, the first thing you should do is to keep calm and observe your dog’s behavior. Once you figure out the underlying issue, only then should you be able to adopt the right strategy to stop your dog from repeating the same mistake.
While it might be hard not to be angry when your pooch pees on you, please refrain from scolding your dog at that very moment, as doing so will only confuse them further. If you notice excited or anxious body posture, try to make them feel comfortable and calm. Nevertheless, do not treat them or talk to them in a high-pitched tone, as that can send the wrong message to your dog that you’re condoning or praising their behavior.
Once your dog feels fine, clean the wet area thoroughly with an enzyme cleaner to ensure that your cloth and the couch don’t stink later. You might also want to take a nice, clean shower afterward. Finally, it’s time you think about what steps you need to take next to stop this behavior in your dog.
How Do I Stop This Behavior?
As you know by now, you need to take action against the underlying problem to stop your dog from peeing on you on your couch. If the frequency of this accident has increased recently, you might need to consult a vet. Else, hiring a behaviorist or a trainer to solve mannerism issues should do the job.
Keep your doggo’s environment as constant as possible, and try your best not to startle, overly excite, or scare them. If your pup suffers from submissive urination, tell your family members and guests not to communicate in loud noises and approach the dog only once there has been enough acquaintance. If your pup is young, chances are they’ll probably outgrow this behavior.
In case you notice any other accompanying symptoms, consult with your dog’s vet regarding the most suitable course of treatment. Once you rule out any health issues, contact a behaviorist to discuss why your dog might be peeing on you on the couch. Finally, neutering your dog if they haven’t been neutered yet might also solve this issue.
Conclusion
Now that you know the possible reasons behind why your dog peed on you on the couch, we hope you will be able to understand why your dog has been acting up. Remember that you need to deal with the issue with compassion and understanding, as scolding will further worsen the problem. If all this seems overwhelming to figure out and the situation keeps deteriorating, getting in touch with an expert would be the best way forward.
