Understanding Submissive vs. Excitement Urination: A Breeder’s Guide

As responsible breeders, it's not enough to simply raise healthy, physically sound puppies. Our job is also to prepare families — and future generations — for success by building emotional resilience early.

One area that often trips up new owners (and even breeders evaluating their own prospects) is urination related to emotional triggers — especially excitement urination and submissive urination.

Handled correctly, most cases of excitement urination fade naturally with time and training. Handled poorly, they can become lifelong issues.

And for breeders evaluating their own stock, understanding the subtle differences between excitement and submissive urination is critical for making responsible breeding decisions.

Defining the Difference: Excitement vs. Submissive Urination

Both excitement and submissive urination happen because of emotional overload, not because the puppy "isn't potty trained."

But they are two very different things — and how you handle them matters.

Excitement Urination:

• Happens during high-energy moments — greetings, play, stimulation.

• Puppy is happy but overwhelmed and loses control.

• Handled properly, excitement urination usually fades by 5–6 months.

• Requires impulse control training — for both the puppy and the humans around them!

• Excitement urination can be heritable if it stems from poor arousal regulation or nervous system immaturity.

• Careful breeding decisions must be made if excitement urination persists past puppyhood.

Submissive Urination:

• Happens when the puppy feels unsure, intimidated, or deferential.

• Puppy is worried or trying to appease — "Please don't hurt me, I'm no threat."

• Submissive urination often improves some with confidence building but rarely disappears completely.

• Even well-managed dogs may show occasional submissive urination under stress throughout their lives.

• Submissive urination also has a heritable component — dogs with weak nerve, poor recovery, or low resilience can pass these traits to offspring.

Handling both types of urination correctly starts with recognizing which one you're dealing with.It’s not just about training the puppy — it’s about training the humans too.

Evaluating & Managing Puppies in your Breeding Program

When breeders notice excitement or submissive urination in young dogs they are evaluating as breeding prospects, it deserves careful attention.

While early emotional urination can be normal in puppies, persistent patterns can signal underlying issues that should not be overlooked in a breeding program.

Understand the Heritability Factor

Both excitement urination and submissive urination can have heritable components.

• Dogs with weak nerves, poor recovery, low arousal control, or overall emotional instability can pass these traits to their offspring.

• While early signs of excitement urination can be developmental, persistent patterns beyond adolescence suggest a genetic influence worth serious consideration.

Evaluating Excitement Urination in Prospects

Mild excitement urination in young, immature puppies is not unusual and not necessarily a disqualifier if it improves steadily with proper handling and training.

However, breeders must watch closely:

• Does the urination decrease reliably as the dog matures and gains self-control?

• Is it limited to extreme excitement situations, or is it triggered too easily by moderate stimulation?

• Is it resolving as the puppy’s nervous system matures?

If excitement urination persists significantly past the six-to-eight month range despite training, it may suggest poor arousal regulation or immature nerve strength, which can be passed on to future generations.

If you choose to breed a dog with a history of excitement urination:

• Pair them carefully with a mate who shows no history of excitement or submissive urination.

• Focus early on puppy development to teach impulse control and emotional self-regulation before the puppies leave for their new homes.

Evaluating Submissive Urination in Prospects

Persistent submissive urination is a stronger caution flag in breeding decisions.

Signs to watch:

• Does the puppy freeze, crumple, or immediately roll over and urinate when approached, corrected, or placed in a new environment?

• Does the puppy have difficulty recovering quickly and moving forward with confidence after being startled or stressed?

• Are there consistent patterns of deferential urination across different situations, handlers, and settings?

Even if managed well through training, a puppy that struggles with these recovery patterns is likely carrying weak nerve traits that should not be passed forward.

Managing Prospects During Development

During a young dog's evaluation period, breeders can and should actively manage emotional urination:

• Teach an incompatible behavior early — such as down for greetings — to help the puppy physically and emotionally control their reactions.

  An incompatible behavior is a behavior that physically prevents the dog from performing the unwanted behavior at the same time.
  

  In this case, teaching a puppy to lie down during greetings is considered an incompatible behavior because most dogs will not urinate while lying down.
  

  • A dog cannot jump up and lie down at the same time.

  • A dog cannot easily lose bladder control in a deep, relaxed posture.

  • A dog who is calmly lying down is also emotionally more grounded, making excitement or submissive urination less likely.

  By teaching and reinforcing the down position early, you are not just stopping the symptom (urination); you are helping the puppy practice staying physically calm and emotionally controlled in situations that would otherwise overwhelm them.
  

  The goal isn’t to punish accidents — it’s to give the puppy a successful alternative that replaces the problem before it happens.
  

• Build confidence systematically with positive, low-pressure exposures to new people, surfaces, environments, and experiences. Structured, low-stress socialization during the critical periods of development (and beyond) can sometimes help differentiate between a puppy that simply needed maturity versus one that is fundamentally less resilient.
  

• Handle greetings and training calmly and intentionally to support impulse control development. Puppies who struggle with excitement urination (EU) or submissive urination (SU) need to be raised in carefully controlled environments to set them up for success.Their daily experiences must be intentional, consistent, and low-pressure.

Carefully Managing the Puppy’s Environment

Both types of urination issues are deeply tied to emotional regulation.

• If the puppy is regularly exposed to situations that are too overwhelming, even briefly, it can set back their progress significantly.

• Even one poorly managed greeting, where a visitor squeals, rushes the puppy, or leans over them too quickly, can undo days or weeks of careful work.

Puppies with emotional urination issues benefit from:

• Predictable, calm routines

• Controlled introductions to people and new experiences

• Structured greetings with low arousal

• Constant reinforcement of incompatible behaviors like down to prevent overstimulation

The goal is to avoid triggering overwhelming emotional surges — not by sheltering the puppy completely, but by carefully building resilience in small, manageable steps.

Breeders and owners must remember that every early interaction matters.

Consistency during this critical developmental window can make the difference between a puppy who gains confidence and outgrows early urination tendencies — and one who carries emotional vulnerabilities into adulthood.

Breeder Decision Guidelines

• A dog that shows early excitement urination but reliably improves with age and proper handling may still be a good candidate for breeding.

• A dog that consistently shows submissive urination, freezes under mild stress, or struggles to recover emotionally is not a strong prospect for breeding.

• Even if the dog is otherwise physically outstanding, temperament and nerve strength must take priority when making breeding decisions.

If emotional urination is present beyond the very early stages of development, or if a puppy shows repeated difficulty managing stress, it is a warning sign that should not be dismissed.

The long-term health and stability of the breed depends on strong, confident, emotionally resilient dogs.

Helping Puppies Going Home to Families

When you send puppies home, it's important to set families up for success — especially when it comes to behaviors that are normal but confusing, like emotional urination.

Clear guidance early on can prevent small issues from becoming long-term frustrations.

What Families Need to Know

First and most important: This is not bad behavior. This is not housetraining failure. It’s an emotional response.

Whether it's excitement or submissive urination, it’s coming from the puppy’s emotional state, not from a misunderstanding about where to potty.

Punishing it or getting upset will only make it worse and can create bigger problems.

How Families Should Handle It

Stay Calm and Low-Key During Greetings

• Avoid squealing, rushing, or bending over the puppy.

• Greet the puppy outside if possible for easier cleanup and less pressure.

Approach Correctly

• Crouch sideways instead of looming overhead.

• Allow the puppy to approach you first.

Avoid Pressure

• Minimize direct eye contact at first.

• Use soft voices and gentle touches on the side of the body instead of reaching over the head.

Ignore Accidents

• If urination happens, quietly clean it up without drawing attention to it.

Celebrate Calmness, Not Hyper Behavior

• Reward calm approaches and relaxed greetings instead of over-the-top excitement.

Teach an Incompatible Behavior: "Down" for Greetings

One of the most effective ways to help both excitement and submissive urinators is to teach a behavior that is physically incompatible with urinating.

Teaching a puppy to lie down for greetings is particularly effective.

• Most dogs will not urinate while lying down.

• Down is often more reliable than sit for puppies struggling with excitement or submissive urination.

• Lying down also promotes a calmer emotional state, helping the puppy regulate themselves better.

Training Tip:

• Pair greetings with a quiet cue for "down" and reward the puppy for calm, low-key behavior.

• Practice down in quiet settings first before expecting it during high-excitement moments like guests arriving.

What Families Can Expect Over Time

For excitement urinators: With consistent calm greetings and proper impulse control work, most puppies outgrow excitement urination between five and six months of age.

For submissive urinators: With confidence-building and appropriate handling, most dogs show significant improvement, although some degree of sensitivity may remain throughout life.

Sample Script for New Puppy Families

"How to Greet Your New Puppy Without Triggering an Accident"

Some puppies get so excited (or a little unsure) during greetings that they might leak urine.

This is not bad behavior — it’s a normal part of emotional development.

Here’s how to help your puppy succeed:

• Take the puppy outside right away when you get home.

• Greet calmly without squealing, clapping, or rushing toward the puppy.

• Crouch sideways and let the puppy come to you.

• Pet gently under the chin or on the side, not on top of the head.

• Encourage the puppy to lie down if they know how.

• If an accident happens, simply ignore it and clean up quietly.

• Praise and reward calm greetings.

Staying calm yourself is one of the best ways to help your puppy build confidence and self-control.

The Role of the Responsible Breeder

Breeding is not just about physical soundness, pedigree, or appearance.

It is also about producing puppies with the emotional stability to succeed in real-world homes.

Recognizing and correctly handling excitement and submissive urination is part of responsible puppy raising — but it is also part of responsible breeding evaluation.

• Emotional urination is a normal stage for many puppies.

• Submissive urination often signals deeper temperament traits that must be considered seriously in breeding programs.

• Excitement urination can sometimes be outgrown, but persistent patterns may reflect poor arousal control and should not be overlooked.

When breeders choose to act thoughtfully — guiding families carefully and making honest evaluations of their own prospects — they protect both their program’s reputation and the future of the breed.

Being honest about emotional resilience is not easy, but it is one of the highest marks of true professionalism and integrity in a breeder.