Advice please

[roxie_09]

My dog is 15months old b!tch, she's fully house trained, however, if someone strokes her or she gets scared when she knows shes done something wrong, she wees everywhere. We punish her by either putting her outside, or between the 2 front doors. But nothing seems to work, can anyone give me any advice please? Many thanks xx

[carmalee]

was she a stray or have you had her from a pup?

[roxie_09]

i've had her from 5 weeks x

[carmalee]

seems very odd that she does this when she is being stroked - she hasn't perhaps been accidently hurt or frightened has she - roxie dogs don't know what we perceive as 'doing wrong; so when she reacts like that it isn't associating it what you are chastising her for. You know why you are doing it but she doesn't. Best thing to do is to completely ignore it, stay very quiet and calm and make sure she goes out very regularly.

[roxie_09]

I've never hurt her and I don't think anyone else would. It's when she's being stroked and gets excited, but she looks at me then and starts cowering :( makes me feel bad then, I've never done anything to make her react like it, and she runs straight to the back door then (as this is where she goes to use the toilet) x

[carmalee]

ah, then just stop getting her so excited in the house!

[woofgang]

roxie if you are punishing her for it, you are making her worse. This is called "submissive urination" Pups often do it but mostly grow out of it. What you are doing is that she wees submissively which is saying "you are the boss please dont hurt me" and you PUNISH her for it!!!!!
What can you do? well first a vet check to ensure that nothing is physically wrong. Then stop stroking her and praise her in another way. You say she does wrong things, what? she doesn't know "wrong" she knows " I displeased the boss and when I am submissive that's I get punished and i don't know why"
poor little love she cant win....
so what does she do that is wrong in your eyes?

[roxie_09]

Hi woofgang, she sometimes wee's when she is stroked (not necessarily exciting her) and then she will wee again after she knows that it was naughty, I didn't realise that this was a form of submission, as this is my first puppy. I have taken her to the vets and given a urine sample and it came back normal. What should I do when she has wee'd then? or other things such as chewing things, if she wee's in a submissive manner, do I ignore what she has done? xx

[woofgang]

What does she chew? If it is anything that can be put away, books, shoes tv remote etc then it is your fault that she chewed it as you left it where she could reach it (yes I am totally on the dog's side. :-)) Does she have toys and chews that she can chew on? How long do you leave her for? what does she get in the way of exercise?
AGAIN I say SHE DOES NOT KNOW THAT IT WAS NAUGHTY THIS IS NOT A DOG CONCEPT, ITS A HUMAN CONCEPT, ALL SHE KNOWS IS THAT HER BOSS IS NOT PLEASED yes I mean to shout.
First thing is to ensure that most of the time her bladder is empty. Loads of visits to the garden, ask her to wee, quiet praise, a nice treat, tasty but small and no stroking when she does. Now treat her very quietly and calmly,lots of calm praise and no stroking at all. If you can afford to get a dog behaviourist (not trainer) to assess your girl and advise, that would be useful. When she submission wees, think about what caused it and work out a strategy to avoid this. Clicker training can boost her confidence in you which is what you need to do. Again a local class can help or take a look at rhe Karen Prior website. Loads of help and useful info on the Dogpages forum too.

[roxie_09]

I agree woofgang. I didn't know what caused her to wee, now I know why, I can use the advice given to try and resolve it. Yes she has toys that she chews, she has chewed through the phone cable and an internet cable (i think she likes them). She is walked everyday for at least 45 minutes. She is house trained, it's only occasionally that she wee's any other time. Thanks for all your help x

[Purple_Popple]

5 weeks is far too young to have a puppy - why was she removed from her mother at such a young age, did you not do your research prior to getting her ?? This little hiccup is going to take patience and perseverance on your part. You have messed the poor lil pup up by making her scared of you. As Woofgang has already explained, simple praise and lots of treats when she goes toilet outside, you are going to have to start from the beginning again to get her house trained....and reel in the punishment from now on...all pups chew, remove all items you dont want destroying, why do you let her chew dangerous cables etc. ????? Each time you catch her in the act of chewing something you dont want her to chew, replace with a chewable raw hide or rubber dog chew, like a filled Kong.....and again patience and perseverance.

[roxie_09]

I checked with the vets about her age, and they assured me that as long as she was eating solid foods properly then there was no problem. I do not LET her chew dangerous cables, she does this when I am out, and there are too many to eliminate all from her reach, as my house is an old one, a lot of cables are attached to the wall along the bottom skirting boards. I wouldn't say she was scared of me either, as I've never hurt her. She is house trained, if she needs to go to the toilet she goes to the back door, this is more as though she gets a bit excited (even if she has just gone to the toilet) and when she does something wrong, I can walk into a room completely unaware whether or not she's done something wrong and she's Cowering and weeing, before I have even seen what she's done wrong, I stress again that I or anyone else have NEVER hit her. I am guilty however, of punishing her when she does wee in asubmissive way, as I was not aware that this is what it was. Now I do know this, I can change the way I deal with it

[woofgang]

good start Roxie let us know how you get on.

[roxie_09]

Thanks woofgang :D x

[lilacben]

We used to have a collie x lab and when she was young she would wee if someone stroked her or she got excited. One friend she never got out of it with. And then we would let her go outside the front door to say hello to him, so weeing there was no worry. Your puppy will grow out of it I am sure.But please dont make any fuss about it to her for now. xx

[welshlibranr]

my little dog used to do this every time was excited to see someone, or got a big fuss!.............he grew out of it, and your's will too roxie!...don't worry!...........

[pastafreak]

I've had several dogs that have done this-all female. I think it depends on the temperament of the dog,and also females may not always have the best bladder control. Give her time...take her out as soon as she does this,and don't make a fuss. She'll get there in the end.

[roxie_09]

Thanks everyone :D xx