submissive peeing

[tootsie]

Schnitzel is now a 6 month old female. We have pretty much gotten through the potty trainning (occasional surprise under the bed) but now the submissive peeing. Ugh! Only with me and all guests. She tinkles all over their feet. It's dreadful to say the least and I hope that she will out grow it. Please fill me in on this daunting subject.

[WOTANSMUTTI]

Hi Tootsie,

I can't remember where, but we've just had a posting or two about this same subject.
I guess my two cents are to decrease the anxiety and tension as much as possible in the dog during pee-ing times! Ignore.

Submissive urination treated with negitivity just causes more anxiety- then more peeing!

Good luck...

[lilpaws]

During excitement, young doxies often spontaneously urinate. They have no control over this and sometimes do not even realize it has occurred. Other doxies may urinate as a sign of submission in the presence of another animal (or person) that they consider dominant. These problems seem to be caused by either a lack of neuromuscular control over the bladder or by previous treatment that frightened or intimidated the puppy.

Training procedures and even medications have been used on these puppies. The training can work in some cases when done by experienced individuals but most people only make the problem worse. Medications that have been tried are sedatives but they only seem to be useful while the animals were on them, with the problem reoccurring after discontinuation.

Most owners will get little benefit out of trying to determine why their doxie urinates in an involuntary fashion. They would be better off trying to determine what actions or events cause it to occur. For some this will be easy. Excitement or sudden movement toward the puppy may cause it to urinate. For others it might be something as simple as direct eye contact. Many puppies urinate when you bend over them, so instead, kneel down to their level. Whatever the cause, do your best to eliminate these situations or actions. Most doxies will out grow this behavior by eighteen months of age, especially if you let them mature through this stage of their life in a gentle and calm environment. Be patient. When an accident occurs, don’t make a fuss. Clean it up and go on, I've found scatter rugs in the areas where behavior occurs are wonderful because after an episode you just toss them in the washer - much easier than cleaning the carpet.

Hope this helps. http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/smile.gif

[Penny's Aunt]

If this is a new condition, it may be just temporary. Pups go through several shy stages, & this may be one of them. All the advice below is good. Esp, you must not spank or chastise, as this will just increase the problem.

[Wienergal]

Hi, Tootsie! Good advice from lilpaws for what is a not-uncommon problem. They DO outgrow it...for the most part. You can help the process along by keeping the excitement level low in those situations that usually produce the submissive drippies--coming home, new people entering the house, etc. Speak in a low, calm, quiet voice; avoid eye contact; avoid the "swoop-down" action. For now, I would keep her away from guests.

If you want to read more, go to the "Housebreaking" topic and choose to view topics for the last 100 days. Some of those also address this issue.

And while I know it's frustrating, just be happy you aren't my old friend Polly. She had a very large female Doberman who greeted the people she loved by wagging her entire back end, grinning like a total fool, and--you guessed it!--peeing. A very large Doberman.

Imagine! http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/eek.gif

<font color="#00FFFF" font size="1">[This message has been edited by Wienergal (edited July 19, 2000).]</font>