I thought it was just a fluke the first time she did it. I brought Hershey outside to pee and neighbors happened to be walking by. Of course they had to meet Hershey, and she charged over to the sidewalk while they oohed and ahhed over her. She rolled over on her belly and wiggled in excitement waiting for them to pet her—and then she peed. All over herself. And kind of on them.
Nervous laughter ensued and the newly christened neighbors quickly scampered off. Huh, I thought. How did that happen? But I figured she just really had to go, and the timing of our visit was bad.
But then my brother came over a few days later to see her for the first time, and Hershey rolled over again waiting for a belly rub, and peed on him and the rug. And to make things fair, she had the same greeting for my other brother when he came over a week or so later. Apparently, the idea of being so excited you could pee your pants isn’t reserved for humans.
I guess they should be flattered. She’s so happy to meet someone new she loses bladder control?! That’s some first impression they’re making. It’s like Hershey’s a screaming teeny-bopper at a rock concert or something and just loses control.
Now, this is all easy to laugh off when it’s one of your brothers. It’s funny, actually, when it’s one of your brothers getting peed on by your puppy. Really, really funny. And we gave up on the rug a long time ago, so no harm done there.
But it’s not funny when it’s a stranger at your garage sale. Yep, we had a garage sale recently and I brought Hershey out to do her business. Of course our customers gushed over our little Hershey—and then she gushed on them. Right on one woman’s open-toe-sandaled foot.
Oh, Hershey.
Luckily, the woman was a dog lover and wasn’t upset. I ran inside and got her a wipe to clean up. I felt like my child had just thrown up in someone’s car or something. I was mortified. And that’s when I realized, there’s really not anything I can do about it, is there? How can you stop a dog from getting that excited? (I don’t remember ever feeling that excited about anything, not even the first night Hershey slept till dawn without a yip or a yelp.)
Am I going to have to keep her far away from new friends? Will I have to warn strangers, “Don’t get too close to the dog.”
“Why, does she bite people?” they’ll ask.
“No, she pees on them.” Maybe peeing on burglars would be even more effective than barking.
Is a doggy diaper in order? Why is she suddenly doing this now? She didn’t pee on new friends when she was an itty-bitty puppy.
I’m hoping she’s going to grow out of this, and it will just be one more funny Hershey story we’ll tell when she’s all grown up. “Remember when Hershey used to pee on strangers? Good times. Good times.”
I’m just glad she doesn’t get that excited to see me.
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Have you missed any of the articles in this series?
If so, you can find them at:
The Bringing Up Puppy Series page.
Related posts:
- Bringing Up Puppy Series – The Worst Lab
- Bringing Up Puppy Series – Holding Tight
- Bringing Up Puppy Series – Who is the Boss?
- Bringing Up Puppy Series – Fairy Dog Mother – Part 2
- Bringing Up Puppy Series – Hello Stranger
