Behavioral Problem

Question
Hello. I have a plott hound/beagle mix that I've owned for a little over a year that was a rescue dog. My first problem: She has a horrible problem with submissive urination. I make sure to not do any kind of dominance around her, but if she is getting into something that she's not suppose to I tell her "no" she rolls over and pees all over herself then just lays in it, or crouches down and pees all over the floor. I don't shout I just say it sternly but calmly. I can't ever correct her because she will pee all over. But we don't get onto her for it and I thought it would stop, but it's been over a year and it's just as bad as ever. Also, when I leave the house, i.e. to check the mail, I crate her because she will pee by the door because I went without her. But lately when I crate her and then leave, she pees in her crate and then will just lays in it with no problem. It makes her stink and it's just unsanitary. What can I do to correct these problems? I would appreciate any help. Thank you so much!!

Answer
Greetings, and thank you for contacting All Experts!
First of all thank you whole heartedly for rescuing this girl, we need more people like you! Sounds like you are dealing with a very sweet girl but pretty much on the soft side. Who knows what she may have gone through in her life before being fortunate of being welcomed in to your home. But since no assumptions can be made, and since dogs live in the present, we will try to forget about the past and focus on the present by trying to raise this gal's confidence a bit.

You are doing right by limiting your assertiveness. As you may already know staring directly in the eyes, bending down, patting on the head, raising the voice, or moving quickly, are things that normally would not bother a dog, but that can intimidate those specimens on the more submissive spectrum.

Now, it sounds like you are having difficulty in correcting her for unwanted behaviors. Again, it is tempting to think that her previous owner may have resorted to some harsh corrections for her to resort to such submissive postures and urinate submissively in a plea to calm down. As you may know already, her rolling over and urinating is her way to say ''Ok, I surrender, please do not hurt me'' Staying belly up for dogs is a very vulnerable position, and by doing so they mean that they bear no arms and seek a peaceful resolution. But again, let's focus on the present.

Of course, as low key as one may want to be with such submissive specimens, a dog still needs to be told which behaviors are not acceptable, so we need to figure out a mediation so that you can tell her that her behavior is not wanted, but without causing her to resort to such drastic displays.

Knowing that dogs get a bit stuck behind in behaviors that may have brought results to them in the past, I want to show you a bit the dynamics of what may have happened. Most likely, initially you were not fully aware of her softness. Therefore, you may have delivered her a normal ''no'' -not a yelling no-, just a firm ''no'' as most people use with their dogs. Intimidated, she may have gone belly up and urinated. You may have realized how soft she was at this point, and may have stopped correcting her or softened up. She therefore has learned that when she goes belly up and urinates, the issue stops there and she is not harmed. This is a learned behavior. Even if you tell her ''no'' calmly, she still will continue to do so, because she knows that by submitting, she does not get harmed. We want to break this cycle though and teach her she does not need to resort to such drastic measures...

First of all, I would take away the word ''no'' and cancel it totally from her vocabulary. Do not use it anymore, just replace it with another word, a word she is not aware of and that she has not learned to associate with your displeasure causing the whole flipping over response. By urinating when you say''no'' she has learned that if she urinates, you will likely stop your disappointed display. She may have used this strategy in the past with her previous owner and now is perpetuating it with you. She is basically using the urination to her advantage, being manipulative is not really the right word, but it may be a little close, since you mention she uses urination to manifest her displeasure when you head outdoors without her...

So let's find an alternative word to use when she makes a mistake, and let's use it to our advantage. How about, ''stop it'' ''ah-ha'' or ''wrong!'' said in a calm voice? Now, instead of just scolding for a bad behavior, let's try to put her up for success by giving her an alternate behavior and praising her for it. This is called positive reinforcement training, that is rewarding wanted behaviors.

You will need to invest in some tasty treats and do a little bit of classical conditioning. Start by making a noise with your mouth,  anything..a whistle, a smacking sound, simply a noise, no words. As you make the noise keep a treat at eye level. Right when she hears the noise, she should look up at you and see the treat. Give the treat immediately when she does this. Repeat over and over. This is the sequence: noise/treat at eye level/ dog makes eye contact/ dog gets treat/ Do it at least ten times.

At some point, something wonderful will happen. Right when you make the noise she will automatically look up at you. When this happens, congratulations! you have classically conditioned your dog! In other words you have taught her to turn a neutral stimulus (the noise) into something meaningful (anticipation of a treat). You can now use it to your advantage for many training purposes while having taught her that eye contact is a great thing! (It is helpful to practice also from a distance, have her sit, step a few steps away, make the noise with your mouth and she should come from across the room to get her treat).

Now, back to the problem..let's say she is chewing your favorite pair of slippers. Say the new word, in this case let's say ''wrong''. As soon as you notice she is looking at you, (act very, very fast!) make the noise with your mouth and she should come to you for the treat.  The word ''wrong'' now has a new meaning: instead of meaning ''I am mad at you, now flip over and pee or I will escalate'' you are simply saying ''stop doing what you are doing and come here for a treat!''. You will basically  therefore put her up for success since you are asking her to stop but also offering her something alternate to do such as coming to you. If you are a fan of operant conditioning, -that is having her work for you- can also add a sit before getting the treat. The end result would therefore look like this:  dog chews on shoes/you say 'wrong'/ make noise with your mouth with treat at eye level/ dog comes to you/you ask sit/dog complies/dog gets treat. Give it a try, you may be surprised!

Now about peeing when you go out, this is another thing you need to change by changing a bit her state of mind about you leaving. I love to use stuffed Kongs for resolving behavioral problems. So let's say she knows you are about to head out. Most dogs know when you are about to.. they can sense the smallest cues signifying you are about to leave. But let's practice on this a bit to our advantage. Crating her evidently does not help because she has learned to pee when you go out, and she will do regardless if she is in your living room, in the crate, or in the kitchen. It is the fact you are going out that upsets her no matter where she is kept.

So practice a bit on teaching her that you are not predictable as she thinks you are. She may know that before going out you get the keys, put on your shoes, or wear your jacket. Now, do these specific things, grab the keys, wear your shoes or put the jacket on, and you will likely notice her pacing and getting ready to get anxious. Now, instead of going out, play with her mind, and just sit on the couch. Repeat these fake departures over and over, until she no longer responds to your cues.

Then upgrade and go out the door and come right back, just close the door and reopen it. Repeat this for a few weeks. As she stops responding to your cues, start filling a stuffed Kong and giving it every time you go out the door (or you can take advantage of her marvelous nose by tossing treats on the floor and having her look for them). If she is no longer anxious about you going out the door, very likely she will feel comfortable in eating the goodies from the Kong or the treats scattered on the floor. Continue this exercise over and over and for longer and longer times. She needs to change her emotional state from being worried about you leaving to being happy in anticipation of the Kong (which I recommend for longer absences). Give the Kong only when you are doing this exercise and stuff it with goodies hard to resist. Hopefully, you should be able to get your mail and come back to her still working on the Kong.

To boost up her confidence, I recommend trying clicker training in a class or reading Karen Pryor's book  ''Click for Joy''. Agility classes may also boost her confidence. Since she is half beagle half hound, you can also engage her in tracking, she may love it! While you need to be extra low key in correcting her, your dog still needs a good level of leadership. You can keep her mind occupied and kick her obedience up a notch by using the ''nothing in life is free'' training method. Dogs love routines, and love working for you. Giving her structure and lots of exercise will make a better dog. You can read more about this training program here:

http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/dogs/tips/training_nothing_in_life_is_free....

I hope this has helped, please realize that it takes some time to eradicate behavioral problems that have put roots for a while, be consistent, practice, and owrk on changing her emotional state, you may be on your way to a happier dog and a happier owner! my very best wishes!