submisive urinating - Page 1

Hi ...I have a 10 month old female who insists on jumping eveyone who comes in the door then pees on them when they pet her. Is this a phase I hope she will grow out of??? Also does anyone know of good trainers in upstate NY area?

First suggestion is to have your guests ignore her until she calms down then pet her.She may be associating the pats as a reward for her urinating.I think she will eventually grow out of it anyways.I'm sure you will soon see more comments and educated answers shortly.

Assuming that you dog is a GSD then 10 months is quite old to still be doing this. That being said, I have seen dogs older who still sub-wet. I would have her checked out by the Vet to rule out a UTI or other underlying cause. Having guests ignore her at first is a very good suggestion, and one that I would impliment immedately. I would also start to do some obedience training with postitive methods, she sounds like a soft dog and using harsh corrections would be counter-productive. Teach her an off command and practice with everyone after she is 'getting it' with more familiar people. Until she learns some commands you can just instruct your guests to not give any eye contact, petting or talking to her until she is calm. Keep her on leash while the guests are getting seated so she can't get all over them.

shes 10 months what have you done to socialize her? I suggest starting her in a basic obedience course teaching her to be around people as well as other dogs.

I have completed basic obedience with her and am ready to start tracking training. She has the basic down pat. We have tried to ignore her when we come in but she is extremely persistent. She's been socialized in public since she was 8 weeks old and am still working with her as she gets so excited around people.(Barking and getting crazy) She loves people and the attention but can't seem to get her to understand how to behave calmly. She is not a soft dog at all. She can be very pushy at times.

this doesn't sound like "submissive urination" but "excited urination". I personally think there's a difference. Usually with submissive urination you see a more submissive attitude. Dog may go on his/her side, avoid eye contact etc etc. With excited urination the dog seems to be more excited, jumping on people, etc. Also I think with submissive urination it is the dogs attempt to appear like a puppy. With excited urination it is a temporary loss of bladder control because of the excitement. Any attempts to correct this behavior are counterproductive. Generally I think the dog does not know he/she is doing it. I have seen much older dogs still do it though it is usually puppies. Most of them grow out of it. I personally (Though yes it looked very silly, I don't care, my carpet is clean:-)) used a male wrap on my boy when he was young and really bad about this. It tended to make me less neurotic about worrying about it. And that in turn kept the stress level down. Instruct people to greet calmly with no eye contact, do lots of socialization. Or take the dog outside to greet incomers. With a female you could use a sanitary diaper. Though I said they look very silly, it worked great to keep me calm about it, and eventually it just went away on its own. IF I had stressed about it I can almost assure you it would have continued. hope this helps!

My 6-month-old pup stills does it at times when she sees other dogs. She used to do it with strangers but that has gone away. I believe it is just excitement, as she is well-socialized and dosn't have a submissive temperment. The suggestions on people greeting her are good - the less excited they are the less excited she should feel (same goes for you). Where are you in upstate NY? There is a trainer near Bennington VT that puts on training seminars a few times a year. Her guest trainer is Kathy Jo Magan from Grauen Wolf Kennels - she's competed at the international level in Schutzhund. I'm assuming that you are looking for a Schutzhund trainer? She trains without compulsion - it's fun for the dog and owner. If that is not too far from you, leave your e-mail and I will reply with contact info.