# Help! Why does my dog pee on the furniture!?



## cmo22 (Dec 17, 2011)

Hello, my name is Carrie and I am the owner of a 2 year old pit bull mix, Nesta. My husband and four year old son live in the house as well as our other dog, Ruca, who is a four year old staffordshire terrier. I am writing because I think that my dog may be extremely insecure and I would like some expert advice on how to correct her behavior. 
We got Nesta from a family when she was about 4 months old because the family who originally bought her thought that she would grow up to be a vicious pit bull like they had learned about. Anyhow she took to potty training fairly well and eventually grew out of chewing on household things. However one thing she has always done that I don't understand is pee on all of the furniture. She has peed in our bed several times as well as our couch so many times that I have recently had to replace it. But now she goes in the basement and pees on that couch. I understand dogs pee sometimes when they are excited, but she gets awkward sometimes and will pee just from someone petting her. We don't hit our dogs, and as far as I know she was not abused by the previous family. She is otherwise an extremely happy and playful dog. Another odd thing about her is that she is extremely vocal. Any noise at all and she will sit and growl loudly until she can see what the noise is. Sometimes she will continue growling at people even after she sees who they are. Is she just insecure? And how do I help her with this? I think she has the potential to be a very good dog, but perhaps she needs a little more confidence? Any advice is great, I am incredibly tired of my furniture and carpet being ruined by dog urine. If I can not fix this problem I am afraid I might have to find her a new home


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

Keep in mind, very few "new homes" want a dog with issues. There's really only one option if you choose not to keep her .

When she pees on the furniture, how does it happen? Does she squat, does she dribble when someone comes near her/pets her, or does it just seem to leak out of her? Is she spayed?


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## trainingjunkie (Feb 10, 2010)

If you blocked her access to furniture, would she pee somewhere else? If not, why not train her to stay off of the furniture and block her access to it while you are training?


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## cmo22 (Dec 17, 2011)

Most of the time I don't see her actually urinating on the couch, so I don't know the position she is in. Recently she heard a loud noise, jumped on the couch, squatted and peed right next to me. We have replaced our couch and are training her to stay off of it. She is not spayed, and it used to kind of leak out of her when she was excited, but recently she will just squat and keep peeing even when I'm saying "Outside! Outside!" Just yesterday my husband was playing catch with the two dogs, she grabbed the toy and ran in the other room with it. My son got the toy from her to continue playing the game and when she came back to play she seemed timid. My husband began petting her and saying "Good girl" to reassure it was ok that she stole the toy and she started peeing all over the floor. 

Also, she has been blocked from the upstairs couch that we just bought, but a few days ago she peed on the couch in the basement and also squatted right in front of me on the carpet. She is usually very good at telling me she needs to go outside though. 

I'm thinking she was probably not exposed to much as a puppy, and the people kept her in a very small crate. It's odd to me though that she exhibits insecure behaviors when we have always given her love and attention. It is often when we are giving her the attention that she pees out of nowhere.


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## cmo22 (Dec 17, 2011)

I would also like to add....just before I wrote this thread she came into the living room and peed right in front of me. About two hours later she did the exact same thing. While she seems to be a nervous pee-er for some reason this kind of behavior in front of me for no apparent reason is new.


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

I suggest a vet check for any physical issues such as a chronic UTI or incontinence. If it is physical (or a physical issue making it worse in conjunction with anxiety) then you would want to treat that first thing.
Meanwhile, back to potty training 101 which frequent scheduled outside trips and treats for peeing outside. If she's just peed outside, she will at least have less in her bladder if she gets nervous inside.


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## doxiemommy (Dec 18, 2009)

I agree with the vet check. Also, make sure you clean her accidents with an enzymatic cleaner.


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