Why Your German Shepherd Pees Inside (And How To Stop It)

If your German Shepherd has been peeing inside then it can be a frustrating experience and one that you’ll want to put an end to quickly. This post will try to help you to figure out why it is happening and how to stop it.

So, why does your German Shepherd pee in the house? There are a number of reasons that it might be doing it. Possible reasons include your German Shepherd’s age, stress a change in its schedule, health problems, excitement, a lack of training and separation anxiety. 

And what can you do to stop it? The best method will depend on why it is doing it. Possible solutions include training it not to by rewarding it when it pees outside, letting it go outside regularly, taking it to the vet, limiting where it can go in the house and crate training. 

It can actually help a lot to take the time to consider why your German Shepherd might be peeing inside. By figuring out the cause it will help you a lot in treating it.

Possible reasons why your German Shepherd pees inside

There are a number of possible reasons that your German Shepherd might be peeing inside and I will mention a number of them below.

Age

If your German Shepherd is still young then the peeing is likely to be temporary since it will get better at controlling its bladder as it gets older. With that being said, there are still a number of things that you can do to reduce how much it does it. It’s also important to take the time to train it outside so that it can learn that it’s what you want it to do and to avoid bad habits. You can read the section below to see how.

Stress/anxiety

It could be that something is causing your German Shepherd to become stressed or anxious. Perhaps due to an abusive family member, a new living environment or it may have recently lost a friend. When it is stressed or anxious then it can cause it to lose control of its bladder and you should take measures to deal with the problem to prevent this. If you are unsure of how to treat it then consider getting help from a dog behaviorist.

Related post: Why is my German Shepherd so anxious?

A change in its schedule

If the times that it normally gets let outside to pee has changed then this could cause it to need to pee when you’re not around to let it out. When it gets used to being able to pee at certain times then it will naturally wait to pee at those times if it can’t go outside then it will likely still need to pee when it normally does.

Health problems

It could be that your German Shepherd is ill or injured. If you think that it might be the case then you should take it to the vets.

Excitement

When German Shepherds get excited it can cause them to lose control of their bladder which can cause them to pee. This is normal when they are young but if your German Shepherd isn’t a puppy and it pees when it’s excited then you should take it to the vet.

Related post: How to tell if your German Shepherd loves you

A lack of training

It could just be that it hasn’t learned that it’s not ok to pee inside. That is why it is important to take the time to teach your German Shepherd to pee outside.

If you want more tips on how to train your GSD, take a look at The Dunbar Academy Training Program. you can get the first month free using this link.

Separation anxiety

Another possible cause of your German Shepherd peeing inside could be separation anxiety. This occurs when your German Shepherd doesn’t like being left alone and it causes it to become anxious. If your German Shepherd only seems to pee inside when you’re not around then this could be the cause.

Things to consider when trying to figure out why it pees inside

When you’re trying to figure out why your German Shepherd is peeing inside there are some things that you should consider that will help you to figure out the cause.

Other events

One way to figure out what is causing your German Shepherd to pee inside is to consider other events that happened when it started to do it. Perhaps you moved home, maybe you got your home renovated or maybe your daily schedule changed.

What time does it happen?

You should also consider the time that it happens. If it normally happens in the morning then maybe it’s because it can’t make it through the whole night without peeing. To limit this it would be necessary to let it out before going to bed and to let it out as soon as you get up.

What other things are different when it pees?

You should also consider what other events take place when your German Shepherd pees inside. Maybe it happens when you’re away, or if you’re in a different room or it could be when you change the smell in your house.

How to get your German Shepherd to stop peeing inside

There are a number of things that you can do to get your German Shepherd to stop peeing inside that I will mention below. Be aware that the best method for your German Shepherd will depend on what is causing it to pee inside.

Train it not to

To train it to pee outside you’ll want to take your dog outside on an hourly basis and to wait for it to pee or poop. When it does you’ll then reward it with a treat and with attention. When you’re outside be boring so that you don’t prevent it from peeing naturally. This method works by teaching your German Shepherd that peeing outside gets it what it wants and it encourages it to do it outside.

You can watch the video below to see how it’s done.

Keep it in a certain area

Another thing that you can do is to keep your German Shepherd in a certain section of the house. Dogs don’t like to pee where they live so if they live in a smaller section of the house then it will discourage them from peeing there. It can also help you to monitor it more easily.

Crate training

Another effective method is to crate train your German Shepherd. When done properly it will give your German Shepherd an area that it can go to that it considers as its own home. When it’s in there it will be much less likely to pee there and it will encourage it to wait until it can go outside. Many crates have removable trays which can help you to clean it up much more easily if it does have an accident.

Let it go outside regularly

A very important thing for you to do is to let it go outside to pee regularly. If you currently make it wait for long time periods before it can go outside then it will be much more likely to feel the need to pee inside.

Don’t punish it

It might be tempting to punish it when it pees inside. However, if you do, then it might not know what you are punishing it for and it can lead to other behavioral issues like anxiety, destruction and stress. Instead, pick it up and take it outside when it does it and reward it when it does go outside to do it.

Take it to the vet

If you can’t figure out what is causing your German Shepherd to pee inside then your best option is to take it to the vet.

Things to keep in mind

When you’re training your German Shepherd to pee outside there are a few things that you should keep in mind.

Be patient

Getting your German Shepherd to change its habits is not something that you’ll easily be able to do overnight. Instead, it will probably take you a number of weeks or months to teach it to go outside when it needs to be. With that being the case, it is important that you take a long-term approach to training your dog.

It’s a common occurrence

It’s important not to get frustrated when your dog pees inside it’s something that almost all dog owners will have to deal with at some point and it’s especially the case when they’re young. The good news is that many people have been able to teach their dogs not to pee inside and there is no reason that you can’t either.

Now is a good time to start training it

If your German Shepherd is still young then it is likely that it will learn not to pee inside as it gets older. However, without training, it might not. Now would actually be the right time to start training it. It’s habits won’t be set yet meaning that it will be easier for you to change them and it will help you to make sure that it has good habits when it gets older.

Related Questions

Why does my German Shepherd keep peeing? There are a number of reasons that your German Shepherd might have a habit of peeing a lot. It might be that you have been giving it lots of water which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If this is the case, then you might want to change the timing of when you give it water (not right before bed) and you can let it go outside more regularly. It might also be that your German Shepherd has developed a medical problem in which case you should take it to the vet.

Why does my German Shepherd pee on everything? This is known as urine marking where your German Shepherd is spreading its scent by peeing on lots of different things (generally verticle surfaces like trees). It could be caused by a number of things such as anxiety, marking its territory, new dogs in their environments, medical problems, separation anxiety or a lack of house training. To stop it you can apply the training techniques above and to take it to the vet to rule out medical problems.