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It’s a tough pill to swallow sometimes. Every pet owner has been through this scenario. You come home after a long day at work and you see that your pet has had a urine accident inside your home. You clean it up because as humans we accept that accidents happen and after all these are our fur babies, but that does not mean accidents are not avoidable.  Here are some tips to avoiding unwanted urination within your home from your pets.

It all begins with house training your puppy. Puppies need to be house trained in order to understand that urine accidents in the house are not okay. It must be reinforced that it’s more than not okay. If they were allowed every pet owner’s house would be a zoo, but that’s not the case. Take charge of your personal space for both you and your pet and train them appropriately. House training is an easy process that must be carried out in a positive and consistent manner. House training follows two guidelines: 1) to prevent indoor accidents such as urine trouble and 2) take your pet outside on a frequent and regular schedule and rewarding him when he does his business where you want him too. Puppies, especially those under 12 weeks of age will have accidents because they do not have complete control over their bladder, but it is no exception for when the dog becomes older. Be sure to make an extra effort to recognize when your dog needs to go. If it’s whining near the door, panting really hard, or even waking you up in the morning, these are all signs that your dog needs to go outside to do its business. These are also signs that your pet is showing respect for your rules, your home, and you as the owner.

A few other reasons why your dog may have urine trouble other than incomplete house training are urine marking, separation anxiety, and excitement. Urine marking is a way for a dog to scent mark using small amounts of urine on vertical surfaces. It is often triggered when in the presence of other dogs or in heat. This is a normal form of communication of dogs but should not occur in the home. The easiest way to solve this is to neuter or spay your dog so that it doesn’t mark its spot on your furniture. Urination from separation anxiety requires counter-conditioning and maybe professional help whereas dogs usually grow out of excitement urination after they have become adults.

Avoiding urine accidents essentially comes down to preparation of the owner to completely house train his pet. Take your puppy out on a consistent basis, crate it when you’re gone, and reward it when it does something right. Keep in mind to clean accidents with an enzymatic cleanser to minimize odors that may re-attract your puppy to that spot. Never punish your dog for the accidents because rather than learning accidents are wrong, it will only learn that people are unsafe and unpredictable. House training does require some time and effort, but it can be done and accidents can be avoided.