English Mastiff and shi-tzu

Question
Hello, I actually have 2 questions, one for each dog. We
have a 10 month old english mastiff who continually pees
when we interact with him. I think it has something to do
with showing his submisiveness and it seems to be less
frequent but still a problem. We already had our shi-tzu who
is no longer confined to her crate at night because she is
fully house broken. Argos (the mastiff) is close to being
fully trained and we are going to allow him to no longer be
confined to his crate at night as soon as we are confident
he wont have any accidents. Argos is confined at night and
allowed to roam in the day. When we wake up and let him out
the first thing he does when he sees us is pee. When we come
to him and pet him, he pees. Its only a quick spurt and then
as long as our interaction is prolonged it doesn't happen
again. But if we engage in another activity and come back to
him he pees. He interacts a little with our shi-tzu but she
mostly runs from him and hides. He doesn't pee more with
either me or my husband he seems to pee the same for either
of us. He does the same when meeting new people. From
reading I think he is just trying to say that he is not a
threat but it gets a little awkward when we take him out and
pees in stores or other peoples houses, is there any way to
help him realize that he doesn't have to pee, that we know
he isnt a threat? We try very hard to not overly react to
his peeing but it gets a little aggrivating when I have to
re-clean out hardwoods every day.

our 2year and 9month old shi-tzu, kaylee, has randomly begun
barking in her sleep. She doesn't bark much at all when she
is awake, and only reacts to argos' barking or someone
actually knocking on the door. Recently though she has
started to bark at night. I thought maybe something outside
had startled her at first when she woke me, and when I went
to check on her she was laying in her crate (with the door
open) alert but there was nothing, that I could see, amiss.
Then last night when she woke me it was with a very long
stream of barking. when I stopped and listened I realized
that it was rather rhythmic. when I came to check on her I
came very softly and found her actually asleep in her crate.
I spoke softly to wake her without startling her in case she
woke scared. Is there any way to find out the cause of her
sudden night/sleep barking? Is there a way to help her cease
this behavior? It would be nice to get a solid nights rest
again! =)

Answer
Argos is apparently quite soft in temperament.  His urination is a reaction to what he perceives as not THREAT, per se, but (hard to use language to translate dog communication, but here goes...) "authority".  His urination upon awakening might be simply a very full bladder; try NOT greeting him (no eye contact, no use of his name) when you open the crate door.  Wait until he's returned indoors and then greet and praise him.  There are definite triggers to his display; these triggers might be the attitude/position of the approaching human (strangers reaching out, bending over, making direct eye contact), even yourselves.  Argos might mature out of this behavior but it's a problem for me only because of his breed/size.  I think a group class for the purpose of socialization and training (positive reinforcement ONLY, this dog can't tolerate coercion, punishment, etc.) might help him to gain more confidence around "strangers" and will also give him behaviors he can offer for reward/praise.  Teaching him a "meet/greet" behavior ("sit" for reward) for all comers (dogs and people) will associate cognition and reward in situation(s) that appears to be presently associated with trepidation.  What you don't want in this breed is any display of fear or social avoidance.

At home, re-think whatever of your own behavior(s) seem to result in his urination.  "Working" a dog for reward/praise (randomly asking for "sit") and teaching him other "tricks" (a "find it" game, for instance) will increase his confidence.  If bending over on approach, or making direct approach to him with eye contact, sets him off, change that behavior.  Dogs don't normally approach one another head on (it's actually a signal of trouble).  You can learn about dog communication by reading Turid Rugaas' "On Talking Terms with Dogs: Calming Signals", found here:
http://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=DTB527

and on her web site:
http://www.canis.no/rugaas/index.php

Dogs communicate their emotional state(s) constantly; by observing him, you will see that he is offering signals prior to urinating.  If you begin to respect the signal(s) and change what you do NEXT, he will gain confidence.  Further, playing short, simple "tug" games (something I don't usually recommend) with him and letting HIM keep the tug toy will help boost his confidence also.  Be careful how you allow other people to interact with Argos.  He needs a solid platform of positive experience with "strangers", including those who come to your home.

Kaylee sounds very socially inhibited also (since you state she doesn't bark at all when awake).  We can't address her dream state but she's obviously inhibited further (when awake) by Argos' presence, since you report that she "runs away and hides".  She's uncomfortable in her own home, not a good thing.  Also, Argos' social inhibitions are most likely the tip of his iceberg, there may be other fearful, timid or hesitant behaviors he has that you're not noticing but that Kaylee does see (since dogs observe those in their environments quite closely).  I suggest you watch her over the next few days and make notes of her behaviors and report back using the followup feature.  She most likely needs some remedial work.  Using the same training method you do with Argos, you can help build her confidence as well but the main objective here is to help her be more comfortable in his presence.