Dog peeing

Question
QUESTION:
"Hi ~~  My boss's family recently added a 4 year old male Irish Water Spaniel(Diver) to their family.  This is Diver's 3rd home....he was with a family in Seattle, then in a foster home for a few months and now with my bosses family in Maryland.  They also have have a 12 year old male dalmation (Remy) and 2 young children (both boys). Since Diver arrived about 2 weeks ago he has peed on the sofa once and a chair once. These were not little wet spots but complete soakings!   Also, when it's time for Diver to go outside for his morning pee, Diver lays on the floor,  rolls on his back and exposes his belly.  Can you help identify the problem and give a possible solution to the unacceptable behavior of peeing in the house?   Thank you for your time and expertise,  :)  Patti"



ANSWER: Diver appears to be fearful of the leash and being led outdoors.  This is most likely the result of an inappropriate mishandling of his urinating problem.  Turning on his back is an overt sign of submission; the dog is desperately trying to avoid the punishment (physical and/or emotional or both) that he received in his former home (hopefully not the foster home, but who knows) OR (and more likely) reacting with TERROR to the anger of his present owner(s) and unwilling to be leashed where he is not free to run.  Dragging a dog away from an offending behavior and dragging it outdoors, while angry and possibly jerking the dog, is WRONG and is most likely what has happened to this poor dog. He has suffered enormous emotional and psychological stress in his very young life.

Why isn't YOUR BOSS looking for help with this situation???? The fact that he is not personally involved tells me this dog is in THE WRONG HOME.  Answering your question on his behalf is like paying for a lottery ticket someone else discarded because it didn't have the winning numbers.  This is a dog that requires loving, patient, CARING owners, not someone who instructs his employee to find a cure because he's too lazy or uncaring to bother.

Since Diver had a foster home, I assume he came from a rescue agency.  NO experienced, bona fide rescue organization would allow a dog that is demonstrating these behaviors (urinating on furniture, fear at being led) into ANY home without addressing them.  SO...your boss may have created this problem with the leash; the dog may be marking furniture because he is terrified and frozen on the furniture and is not being allowed outside adequately so he can choose appropriate elimination.  This smacks of neglect, abuse, arrogance and outright uncaring.  RETURN THE DOG TO THE ADOPTING AGENCY.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi again.....I must not have communicated to you that my boss and his wife are wonderful loving people and very gentle with animals and children.  He was telling us about the problem so i took it upon myself to research it and go on allexperts.com.  Actually Diver has only been there one week, not 2.  He flew from Seattle, so some of the problem could be so many changes in such a short time.  My boss is one of the kindest people you would ever meet and so his his wife.  We have all vacationed together with our dogs and believe me there is no inappropriate behavior.  We are all dog people.   Diver is in the RIGHT house and a very lucky dog now.  If I were a dog, I would like to be adopted by this family.  thank you for your opinion.  Patti

Answer
It takes an adult dog up to three months (and sometimes beyond, in this case perhaps many more months) to adjust to a new home.  The dog must not be coerced into going outdoors.  your boss needs to read about emotionally challenged dogs and learn about positive reinforcement training.  Suggest to him that he purchase a book or two written by patricia McConnell, Ph.D., available on Amazon.