How to stop your dog from causing embarrassing scenes in public
Public spaces like vet offices and crowded rooms often trigger unexpected disasters like massive indoor accidents, loud bodily noises, or dogs bolting and invading personal space. These mortifying moments leave owners stranded in stunned waiting rooms, unable to control their pets' sudden panic, excitement, or biological urges.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- Most of it landed at once — the busiest month was September 2025, with 7 people.
- This comes up 51.3× more often in r/dogs than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Walking a mile and a half to the vet so the dog's tank is emptyDid this help you?
- 2Leaving early for the vet to handle nervous bathroom tripsDid this help you?
- 3Using multiple trips into town for water to bathe a dog after a messDid this help you?
- 4licking the areaDid this help you?
- 5wiping dailyDid this help you?
- 6undergoing a vulvoplasty procedureDid this help you?
- 7Contacting the SPCA or veterinarian for evaluationDid this help you?
- 8Waiting for the cat to acclimate and adjust after the operationDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“At the vet’s office, my dog decided to let out the loudest fart possible while everyone was silent.”source ↗
“She’s also the only one who sometimes has glands that stank.”source ↗
“Every time - without fail ‐ upon walking into the vet's office, our lab takes a giant dump.”source ↗
“every time he barks at another dog his anal glands release (disgusting) and he immediately has to shamefully lick his butthole after.”source ↗
“My baby girl peed at the vet last week, but it was because she's so excited”source ↗
“He peed, and peed, and peed, and peed. There was a lake on the floor. OES are big dogs, and they have big bladders. We all just stood around the widening Great Lake of Pee and sighed. The rest of the waiting room stared.”source ↗
“Wait until the time she barks so hard that her anal glands assplode all over you.”source ↗
“My timid girl decided that the safest place to go was directly underneath a man who was boxed into his seat and holding his own pet.”source ↗
“My boxer peed on a girl's wheelchair that I was crushing on 15 years ago.”source ↗
“My dog was 110 lbs and broke away from me, jumped over the ground floor balcony, smashed through this guys screen door and jumped up on the couch next to him.”source ↗
“My dogs anal glands assplode every single time he barks so hard at another dog.”source ↗
“I rescued my cat Snacks, 3m, a few months ago. During that time I noticed he has some extra….jewels.”source ↗
“After Snacks procedure do you think the behavior will stop of him hitting my dog?”source ↗
“I’ve always had neutered cats before, but I’ve never had one for enough time to adjust to them before getting neutered. What other changes should I expect from Snacks?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 11Why does my cat destroy everything including my hands?
- 5Why does my dog express their anal glands when stretching?
- 11Why are there always aggressive dogs or bad owners at the dog park?
- 19Why does my puppy keep peeing on the sofa and bed?
- 6Why is my pet aggressive after running away?
- 6Why does my dog carry water in their mouth and spill it everywhere?