# Submissive Peeing?



## jewels1273 (Apr 24, 2010)

Our GSD is about a year and 3 months old. We have a fenced in backyard that he goes out into to use the bathroom, etc. In the mornings or when it is raining, he comes in from being outside and his paws are wet and dirty. So we have to wipe his paws off or he brings in mud, etc all over the carpet. However, when we go to wipes his paws off, he pees all over the place. I don't get it. We have tried everything from talking to him, not talking to him, petting him first, not petting him, everything and he still does it. We have started noticing that even before he comes in the door he is in the "oh crap now I'm going to get in trouble" look. 

After he pees on the porch carpet (after we have wiped his paws), we don't yell at him, we don't act like anything is wrong, nothing, just grap the towel and floor cleaner and clean it up. 

What are we doing wrong. He will even pee in the house when he gets too excited.

I am at a loss. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Jewels


----------



## debbiebrown (Apr 13, 2002)

are you sure he's actually going pee when he's outside? do you watch him? maybe you should start all over again, go out with him, when he pees outside make a big deal over it, give him a yummie treat etc............somewhere along the lines he got a different idea about going pee.....i
would also take him back outside if he starts peeing in the house after he's come inside, then when he finishes peeing outside reward him........i think you need to address it and do something, doing nothing, or saying nothing isn't going to stop it......

either that or he may have a unrinary tract issue, or some kind of issue.....

if he is a real submissive dog it could be just him, but unless that temperment was severe i wouldn't think it would be that way.....


----------



## jewels1273 (Apr 24, 2010)

I do watch him when he goes out and he does pee and poo. If I catch him peeing when I wipe his paws off, he goes right back out for a while and usually he will just sit at the steps leading up to the door. He truly acts like a beat dog. We do everything that we have been told to do - daily walks, outdoor play time, etc. He was bad when he was a puppy doing this but then he got older and he didn't do it for a while and now he is going back to doing it.


----------



## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

It really sounds like your dog is a submissive and excited peer. If this is the case, it doesn't matter how much your dog has just peed if your dog feels the need to be submissive or excited, he will pee again. He's getting the "oh no" look coming in because you are punishing him for it by sending him back out. It's NOT his fault; he can't help it. You may not be beating him for this, but he knows he's in trouble.

All you can do, at this point, is more exercise and just ignore the peeing. If you can wipe his feet outside where it doesn't matter, then you won't react and he will start to calm down.

These dogs are tough to live with and the more you can manage not getting him too excited or making him feel uncomfortable in places where you don't want him to pee, the better.


----------



## kittrellbj (Apr 24, 2010)

Have you owned the dog since he was a brand new puppy? If he has ever been in a situation of being abused or harshly punished in regards to peeing, it can be very difficult to untrain the fear.

If it is becoming a major problem, you could get the large doggy pee pads and start teaching him to use those if he still pees when coming inside. Our GSD has pee pads inside the house in case he needs to go to the bathroom and no one is around or we can't get to him fast enough. Ours started using the pads with very little direction, as if he knew that's what they were there for. It may not be the optimal solution, but it may be better for you to pick up a wet pad as opposed to cleaning the carpets constantly.


----------



## jewels1273 (Apr 24, 2010)

Unfortunately we have to wipe his feet when he enters the back porch. If we wiped them outside by the steps, then they would just get wet again. It isn't even when we are wiping his feet. We can be putting the leash on outside and and he still pees. It isn't the excited peeing either but the same "oh no" crouch. If anything it should be excited peeing because we are all going for a walk down to the lake.

We have owned him since he is a puppy and there were no signs of abuse at the location that we bought him from.


----------



## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

For this type of dog, they don't have to have any sort of abuse history; this is just the way they are. Any time you reach for the dog, be it putting on the leash or wiping paws, your dog is being too submissive and that's why he pees. He can get too excited once the leash is on, but the act of reaching for him makes him feel submissive. It does suck. Being as non-confrontational as possible, such as not looking at your dog when you do this and being as casual as possible, is the best you can do.

If you have to wipe the paws indoors, maybe you can either put down plastic that's easily cleaned or keep a mop and bucket handy?


----------



## EchoGSD (Mar 12, 2010)

My 4 year old female also is a submissive pee-er. We have had her from 9 weeks, no abuse history to deal with. We've known from the very beginning that she is EXTREMELY sensitive to loud voices, to the point of cringing and urinating or bolting out of the room if voices are raised for any reason (including cheering at a birthday party, rooting for the home team on TV, etc). Oddly, obedience trials, camping, soccer games, picnics, and training classes don't bother her at all. Her latest trauma surrounds our cat: we go to bed, Echo is on the floor beside our bed. Cat is outside the bedroom with door closed. Cat wants in to snuggle, so he scratches at the door. Husband doesn't want cat in the room OR near the door, he flies out of bed in a rage, yelling at the cat to get away from the door. More than once he's tripped over the dog on the floor in the process, which adds to the 3am festivities. Now, all the dog has to hear is the cat anywhere near the hallway or door and she freaks out: panting, whining, climbing on our bed, urinating the whole time. I finally convinced my husband that if we kept the bedroom door open, the cat would come in and visit, then leave again, and the dog is fine. It's not the CAT she's panicked over, it's the wild reaction from hubby that sets her off. Either that or I find a new room to sleep in with the animals. He chose the former option, and we've had no further middle-of-the night animal control issues, but the submissive sensitive temperament is built-in to this dog; we are learning daily how to live with it.


----------



## debbiebrown (Apr 13, 2002)

you know i read all these posts about some of the behaviors of these gsd's and it really makes me sick...........what is happening to this breed?????? fear issues, overly-submissive, aggression issues, etc, etc..............the breed standard or rin tin tin, strong, stable, well adjusted gsds............and alot of these dogs are not from byb's, which is really SAD.................it does suck for owners who were seeking a stable family companion............and end up with far less........and truely, most of these issues are genetics............

it does put a crimp in your lifestyle and it shouldn't be like this..........having a dog is supposed to be enjoyable....sure there might be some minor things, but these issues are usually something that needs to be managed for the life of the dog.......

i am sorry your dealing with this, i hope there are some things you can do that will help........


----------



## AbbyK9 (Oct 11, 2005)

When I first pulled my Abby from the shelter in 2005, she would submissively urinate as well, and at first, it seemed to me like there was no rhyme or reason to when she did it. It seemed like I would go to put on her leash, just talking nicely to her, and she'd pee. 

After a while, I realized that it was my body posture that was causing the issue. If I bent over her to put the leash on, or if I bent over her to wipe her paws, or to reach down and pet or brush her, that's when she would pee. It was the action of me leaning over the top of her that frightened her. 

Now, being a shelter dog, it's perfectly possible that this was a learned response to abuse - but it may just as well have been part of her temperament, too. And if she'd previously been punished for it, that would have ingrained it even more.

So when I realized how I was causing the behavior, I set about changing it. I would squat down, lean away from her rather than toward her, and then reach out to wipe her paws or clip on her leash. Then I would praise her and pet and we'd go about our day.

She's not peed in several years now. Well, not submissively, anyway.  And I can now lean over, grab paws, trim nails, etc. without issues.


----------



## jewels1273 (Apr 24, 2010)

Elaine said:


> For this type of dog, they don't have to have any sort of abuse history; this is just the way they are. Any time you reach for the dog, be it putting on the leash or wiping paws, your dog is being too submissive and that's why he pees. He can get too excited once the leash is on, but the act of reaching for him makes him feel submissive. It does suck. Being as non-confrontational as possible, such as not looking at your dog when you do this and being as casual as possible, is the best you can do.
> 
> If you have to wipe the paws indoors, maybe you can either put down plastic that's easily cleaned or keep a mop and bucket handy?


I don't even have to look at him - I actually will turn away, not pay attention, etc and he pees. Unfortunately our back porch has the outdoor carpet so we are having to put down old towels, which are washed all the time since when he pees, the it really sticks.


----------



## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

Plastic shower curtains work really well. They are flexible enough to be walked on and are smooth enough to be easy to clean up. Better than towels.


----------

