Great White western terrier (westie) problem?

Question

Hello,
I have a male westie approx 5 months old. I do not know his exact age since the pet shop owner seemed to lie to me when telling me about westin(my dog's name) age. The pet shop owner said that he is 1 month and a half when i adopted him. His fur hasnt fully covered his whole body but i can see he is already able to run..and 2 months after that, his teeth is falling off. So from my past experience i guess westin is 5 months old by now instead of 3 months and a half.
But the problem is, Westin always peed when i tried to pick him up, when i scold him, when my friends come over and touch him, and when i want to get him out of the crate. I put him in a crate when i go out to class. But everytime i come back, i will find that not only he peed when i touched him, but there are poo remains that looks greenish and soft as if he is having a weird diarrhea.
I had a husky before, i adopt him since he was 3 months old but never face a peeing problem. What is happening to westin ?

And i have to add here, the greenish poo on the crate, only happens when i put him in a crate. But never when i am at home and he went to poo in the bathroom. I started to feel really bad. Is it possible like you all said, he must be separated from the mother in a very young age.
And another thing, currently i am in china, and there is no dog society whatsoever that might help my baby out. Is there anything i can do to help him gain his confidence by myself ?

Answer 1

Your dog has submissive urination. Here are some ways that will help.

Many dog owners mistakenly believe that this type of urination is a housetraining problem, and try to correct it with discipline. To their dismay and frustration, rather than improving, the dog's problem gets worse! Because the message he's sending is misunderstood by the owner, the dog is caught in a vicious cycle - his instincts tell him to urinate to please his superior by showing submission. But when he does, he is punished. He then tries harder to please by urinating even more. This results in more punishment, and still more urination. After a time, the dog may become so confused and insecure that he urinates at the mere sight of a human being or another dog.

If discipline won't solve the problem, what will? Your task is to take the excitement and stress out of the periods that previously triggered submissive urination. Get cooperation from all members of the family. When you first get home, you can anticipate that the dog will get excited and urinate so you need to minimize the excitement. Instead of an enthusiastic greeting to your dog, quietly walk in the door and go about your business. Let him outside to pee as usual, but without any fanfare. If you talk to him at all, just say "Hi Rover" in a calm, casual tone of voice. Don't make eye contact with him or pet him. After he settles down, very gently crouch down to his level presenting to him sideways (this makes you very non-threatening), then calmly and quietly praise him and tell him he's good. Be sure to tell your family and visitors to do the same.

Do everything you can to boost your dog's confidence. As he becomes more confident, he may feel less of a need to display extreme submissive behavior

For more info and tips go to the website below.
Also, call your vet about the greenish soft stool.

Also, CF's answer above is true as well. Pet stores are the worst places to get a pet.

Answer 2

Gotta get this out of the way...your first mistake was getting a pup from a pet store. No matter the spiel they throw you, the pups came from a puppy mill, where the parents have little to no real interaction with humans. (No reputable breeder will send pups to a pet store, period, the end.) Puppy mills are facilitys where the pups lived in small cages and HAD to live in their own feces/urine. They never learned that they shouldn't pee/poo in small areas or they would have to step in it. Pups from reputable breeders pee/poo in their pens, but these pens are 6'x6' or so, so the pups can 'go' in one area and play/sleep in another, until the breeder makes one of the 3 to 4 a day cleanings of the pen. Another big factor in not getting a pup from a pet store is honesty...as you have learned.

OK, the urinating. This is called Submissive Urination. It is very common in dogs, especially pups. The dribblings of urine signal to other dogs that the pup recognizes another dog as superior, that they are submissive to them. The problem will most likely recede as your dog matures...but it may last for the dog's lifetime. My mom has a 'pet and wet' small dog, who, at 7 years old, still routinely urinates in submission to being petted at greetings. Good news, bad news, those are the facts.

The best thing to do is to keep greetings calm. Let the pup come to you, don't bend over him if possible. Bending over him is a supreme dominance move and will certainly trigger urination. Instead, see if you can call him up on you, into a standing position, before you pick him up. Inform your friends of this new policy.

Keep a roll of paper towels handy. Instead of scolding the pup, simply wipe up the mess. Scolding him will only having him squirting out more urine to show you he is REALLY submissive. Endless circle.

He shouldn't be pooing in his cage, but, as I mentioned above, pet store pups don't understand the concept of 'clean area, potty area'. So they go in crates. These pups are much harder to housebreak, as a result of early learning.

The poo should be taken to the vet for analysis. He might have some medical condition.

Answer 3

He is peeing because he is scared, probably not been well socialized. Train him gently and work on building his confidence.

Pet shop puppies are notorious for having bacterial infections which will result in diarrhea, have you had him to a Vet yet?

The name of this breed is West Highland White Terrier


http://www.netpets.com/dogs/dogclub/dognkct.html
http://www.cnkc.org/en/
I was going to suggest agility when he gets closer to a year, to help confidence. Being in China you are going to have a hard time finding a class like that. You can make your own equipment and do it yourself (find plans at the yahoo group agility equipment).

I would take him out as much as possible, but don't push him to hard. Quietly reassure him but act as though it is not a big deal, make sure you are not praising him for being scared.

Answer 4

You can't scold a toy puppy on peeing or pooping. This will create loads of problems later in life. Try contacting your local westie group and asking for more breed specific advice. They will also probably have an e-mail address for easier correspondance.

Good luck to you.

Answer 5

honestly the problem is you got him from a pet store...
pet stores sell the lowest quality pups for the highest prices.. they lie and tell you anything to get a sale..they are in the business of exploiting pets for profit...

he probably was born in a puppy mill.. never had correct socializtion... probably mal nurished as a pup and neglected until the day you bought him... he needs a vet check to rule out any medical problems and you need to take him to Obedience lessons to help him gain self esteem and be properly socialized..
really I think he needs a vet -and in future NEVER buy from a pet store.. and spread the word why not...

Answer 6

I just wanted to say the breed of dog that you have is a West Highland Terrier(westie) for short.

Answer 7

Wow,that's very strange.I have no clue what can be causing it.I'll definitely post on an answer ASAP.

Answer 8

He is nervous. He needs very gentle handling and no scolding.