Leaky Puppy?

Question

My german shepard puppy 'leaks' pee. she pees outside, then inside she will 'leak' (pee in a line, tiny bit here and there) whenever she is talked to or touched. my vet said it is a submissive behavior and for us to let her approach us... but she JUMPS on us (which we are trying to work on) and she STILL does pees! has this happened to anyone else? if so, how did you handle it?

she's 5 months old, ~35 lbs, we are starting obedience school soon, i'm afraid she'll pee all over the place there! we walk her daily, take her to the dog park on weekends, try to socialize her as much as possible... she just won't stop peeing (leaking)!!!!! HELP!

Answer 1

THIS IS NOT NECESSARILY SUBMISSIVE PEEING!

If she is jumping on you she is being dominant, not submissive. It is excitement leaking.

I have a german shepherd puppy also (3 months old). He also leaks but it is not submissive it is when he is really excited.

Even if he has just peed he will leak if we give him a special treat or he is excited to see us when we come home or go to the forest (where he loves to walk).

Likely she is like my puppy who is so excited he does not even know he leaked.

I was told he would grow out of it. It is another quirky puppy trait.

What I find helpful is to distract him (this also helps with jumping)

German Shepherds are smart dogs, so this should be easy to implement.

Before you talk to her or touch/pet her give her a command to sit or lie down. That way she is less likely to be so excited she leaks and she will learn to listen and obey.

Answer 2

The vet was right about the submissive behavior. It could be just a part of it, though. I had a male yorkie do that and a female
pekingese as well. The vet said the same thing. That it was basicly normal. My grandfather was an old time country vet.
He used to visit farms and treats cattle, horse, goats, and dogs
sometimes. He said the vet should of put the dog on antibiotics and treated it for a urinary tract infection because sometimes they don't show up in tests. Grandad told me to go to www.petmeds.com . He told me to order some pennicillin.
Give the dog 1 tablet twice a day for a week.
I did. Never had anymore problems with leaking urine.
Also, is the dog spayed. If not, get it done ASAP. Grandad
said sometimes thats the problem and its a marking their terriory thing.

Answer 3

It does sound like submissive behavior. On the other hand, have you had her checked for urinary tract infections? I once had a dog that our trainer said was submissive peeing, but we found out the he really had an infection and wasn't able to hold his pee.

If you have had him checked for infection, try these techniques to help solve the submissive behavior:



Why does it happen?
It is a submissive gesture (sometimes it is a fearful thing that they just can not control.) You can not punish them because it is something that they are not doing on purpose and they can not help it. If your dog is young she will most likely outgrow it.



How do I work on stopping it?

Move slowly, and build her confidence. Walking sideways or backward, with your hand held out with a treat, and stopping when you see her start to squat and let her come to you. Keep the praise to a minimum. You can talk sweetly, but do not bend down toward her, or look at her in the eyes. When you walk into the house and she runs to you, do not stop and reach down to pet her. Go to the bathroom or do something besides greeting her immediately. Have a treat, one that will last awhile, in your pocket and when you walk in just toss it (not at her) on the floor. Or even better, if she will take it from your hand while you are standing, so she can't sit down. Then go do something until she calms down. Do not get on the ground with her and do not lean over her. Try not to face your dog head on.

A little later, let your dog come to you and just stroke her slowly and speak to her in a calm voice. It may take awhile, but it can be done.

You can gradually adjust your motions as you see her confidence building. We have rescued many dogs with that problem and we have been able to adjust the behavior in most cases. I had a little Pomeranian that we were fostering and nothing was working. Finally I taught her to jump into my arms when I walked in the door. So, when we placed her with her new home they were tickled to have her jump in there arms every night. That is not the answer for some, especially if you have a big dog. But in the Pomeranians case it was the best thing to do so she could go to a loving and permanent home.

Do not do that if you think it will irritate you. Think of the long run when you come in tired, but you know you have to catch that little rascal and love on her before you can do anything else. But, it does save the Carpet and your patience.

Answer 4

I think your vet is right if it only happens when she is talked to/touched. Were it incontinence it would happen most often right after she's been sleeping and gotten up or while she's sleeping.The obedience training will help boost her confidence. Jumping up doesn't necessarily mean she's a super confident dog, sometimes they will do this because they want attention but are still nervous. Don't reward or coddle her when she urinates. Instead, step back immediately and ignore her like your totally grossed out by it. I actually taught a puppy not to do this within 3 tries. But alas, the last one I tried it on still does it! Sometimes they catch on, sometimes not. Just make certain that you try this in an area where it's both easy to see her do it, and easy to CLEAN!!! Best of luck.

Answer 5

My friend's dog had this behavior. They completely ignored it. They didn't scold the dog or gush reassurances. They just cleaned it up and ignored it. After a while, the dog stopped doing it. They also went to obedience classes, and now the dog is like a completely different one.

And don't worry about the dog peeing at obedience school. It happens all the time, I'm sure.

Answer 6

My beagle is 6 months old and she does this, not as much now. When she was younger as soon as we walked in the door she would come over jump up wag her tail and all the time dripping. She only does it now if we're gone for long periods of time. Our vet told us, it takes time for puppies to control there bladders that s why it takes a while to house train them. And she would outgrow it. Which she is. Don't worry if she pees in obedience school, yours is not the only one that does this. Just enjoy her, I look at it as alley is just really happy to see us and loves us,she's showing it. Don't worry and enjoy the puppy.

Answer 7

how about a hernia? did your vet say anything about this? our shi tzu had this exact problem and we took her to the vet he said it's nothing just a submissive thing too. then when she had puppies, and we almost lost her and the pups, we found out that she had a mild hernia. there were no visible signs of this. they fixed her (having even a mild hernia they should'nt be having pups) and the hernia and she stopped peeing, case closed. ask your vet and good luck!

Answer 8

HI
This is submissive peeing and just ignore it because the more you make a fuss the more she will do it to prove she is submissive. Just wipe it up don't scold her and in a couple of months she should stop it. Don't baby her either when she does it any attention and she will keep doing it.
Lammy

Answer 9

My husbands dog does that and it is excitement leaking. She gets so excited he dribbles everywhere. not sure what you can do about it but keep cleaning it up.

Answer 10

when will my 4 month puppy stop leaking