Potty training help.

Question
My husband and I bought a German Shepherd puppy and he is 13 weeks old and neutered. We have had him for about 3 weeks now and when we brought him home he was very good about going to to the bathroom outside. Recently he has been going inside his cage whenever we take him out now, as soon as he sees the leash or just randomly sees one of us walking towards him, he starts peeing even when he is laying down. We take him out right after and he will finish peeing and we have been rewarding him with treats everytime he goes outside. But he still pees inside and we tell him to stop, a couple times he did but now he doesn't listen anymore and this happens everytime we go to take him out or if we even look at him. Are there any methods to get him to go outside again?  Thank you.

Answer
It could be submissive wetting.  Many dogs eventually outgrow it, but you can reduce it by building the dog's confidence up. Start with obedience training. The key to most behavior problems is approaching things using the dog's natural instincts. Dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog. Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones. You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with a treat. As you praise the dog for following your commands, it will build its confidence.

Play tug of war with the dog and lose. However at the end of the game, take the rope or toy and put it up, less the dog becomes confused about who is top dog. Ropes from the pets' store quickly turn to hazardous shreds. Ones I made lasted much better. Go to a hardware or home center that sells rope by the foot. Buy 2' of 3/4" poly rope. Melt the ends, and tie knots in it. Get them as tight as possible, put it in a vise and pound it with a hammer. Watch carefully, and be ready to discard when it comes apart.

Taking a puppy out when it hasn't signaled it needs to go out can confuse it.  You may need to do so to keep its bladder from getting too full until it has better control.  You may have to walk it around to get it to go.  Don't forget the praise when it does.