What is the dog pee rule?

Dogs can't tell us when they have to go, and so they have to rely on us to know when to let them out to do their business to avoid accidents in the house. As a very rough rule of thumb, adult dogs generally need to go three to five times a day – although smaller dogs may need to go more frequently. For example, overweight or obese dogs may need to pee more. You should also never make your dog wait too long, not only is this very uncomfortable for them, but it can also increase the risk of them developing some bladder or kidney problems and urinary tract infections – as well as causing stress. Dogs should never be made to hold their bladder for too long, as this can cause health issues and ultimately, it’s not fair for them as holding their pee for long periods can be extremely uncomfortable as well as highly stressful. It’s a good idea to let your dog out regularly, and keep an eye on the signs that your dog needs to pee, such as circling, sniffing, whining, going to the door etc.

Dog mess can be a particularly difficult problem to tackle as, with eight million dogs in the UK, 1,000 tonnes of the stinky stuff hits our streets every day. Though urine is less offensive than faeces it still has chemicals in it that can burn grass and potentially discolour brickwork. Craig Underwood, a member of the Law Society’s civil justice committee, said: “Dog fouling is covered by local authority bye laws, but interestingly, most if not all are drafted from the perspective of dog poo not urine. “Having said that, I’m sure anyone could take a stand and report consistent dog fouling issues which involved urination to the local authority and they, in turn, might use the dog fouling bye laws to enforce the issue with a fine usually given to people who don’t clean up after their dog poo. Back in 2018, a High Court judge ruled that it was not against the law for dogs to urinate on trees or lamp posts, after Public Space Protection Orders have led to dog walking bans in hundreds of parks and open spaces. So the short answer is, there might not be much you can do legally unless the urination is happening very regularly. Property owners should simply place notices up or report it to the authority if they think it’s a big enough issue for them, but be prepared to be disappointed by the inevitable lack of interest a local authority might show.