Pet Information > ASK Experts > Dogs > Canine Behavior > Submissive urination

Submissive urination

18 16:17:56

Question
I have a 1 1/2 yrs old male rat terrier. He was a rescue as a puppy from a hoarding situation.  When I adopted him at 12 weeks old(I have a 10 yr old some and a pit bull 6 yrs old) my husband was deployed.  During my husbands absence my son and I took the dog to obedience training and had no problem.  Once my husband returned the dog started submissively urinatiing.  My husband did get angry with the dog and, as expected, it only made the situation worse.  After telling my husband that the best course of action was to ignore the submissive urinating and to reinforce acceptable behavior (like sitting on command or executing tricks) the submissive urination seemed to improve, but never fully cease.  It has been a full year since my husband has been home and we have since moved to another state AND have a newborn.  The problem now that while the dog seems to be more comfortable around my husband, there are still several daily times when all of a sudden he submissively urinates around him.  Or the dog will be happy to go to my husband, but when he give him a command to "come" he gets nervous and submissively urinates.  Just the other day, when my husband got up in the morning and stepped out the room, the dog ran up to him and peed.  I'm beginning to worry that he is starting to generalize the submissive urination.  If I don't find a way to improve this, my husband is going to force us to get rid of him and I really don't want that to happen.  He is a sweet, sweet dog and so badly wants to please is family, but I also don't want him to fear members of the family.

Answer
Try a belly band.  These can be purchased online:
http://www.gwlittle.com/cat/Product-Types_357.aspx

This is not a "fix" but it makes urination extremely difficult (so therefore must be removed when taking the dog out on a fair schedule, at least four times daily).

Your husband must avoid "calling" the dog or in any way demonstrating any behavior the dog can construe as "dominant":  direct eye contact, bending over the dog, petting the dog's head or withers, picking the dog up, etc.  Submissive urination is a reaction to one moment of body language from your husband that is NOT INTENDED but that the dog misconstrues (misinterprets).  A consistently NON "dominant" posture from your husband should, over months, extinguish the submissive urination.  Have your husband feed the dog twice daily: put the food down with a happy manner and WALK AWAY.  If he's willing, he can even sit on the floor once a day at random hours and roll a large ball (a solid rubber ball available cheaply at Toys R Us) to the dog and to YOU (this doesn't need to take more than five minutes, tops) in a playful manner while having a "party" (smiling, enjoying the encounter).  

Your husband should not be in a position to "force" you to do anything: this is a partnership between two adults.  It's not the dog's fault that he is so submissive, it is the result of an early life of neglect and/or abuse.  Your husband is most likely a very "masculine" man and can't help being who he is but he is also an adult and must understand that this is an innocent animal.  Children can, AND WILL, do things to drive you nuts.  His reactions to situations he can't control and doesn't appreciate needs to mature and this is the place to start.