A peeing from may end this adorable dogs life !

Question
My neighbors have this dog who is a boxer/mastiff mix, male, about two years old. i believe he is fixed but I'm not sure. They got him around May and has been in three previous homes in the past year. He is very well house trained except that he pees when he's scared or excited. When he has to pee normally he waits at the door to be let out. However when the father of the house is around or when someone new comes up to greet him he pees.

The family has gotten so frustrated with this that he doesn't live with them in the house anymore. During the say he is caged up outside and at night he's in a kennel in the garage. it would seem to me that by cutting him off from being with the family this would increase his peeing problem because he's sees people so rarely that its that much more exciting when hes let pout to play.

The family says that he is 'broken' and that they are thinking of putting him down. I know that he's not broken and i assume that there is a way to fix his problem, I'm just not sure how to do that.

he's really a sweet dog who just wants attention and love and isn't getting that right now because he can't control his bladder!

Please help me to help him !  

Answer
It is called 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. Start at http://www.dogsbestfriend.com/ 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.

Finally, make sure it has a den to live in. If you are not using a crate, buy one. The dog may be happier in its den than loose in the house. It relaxes, it feels safe in its den. It rests, the body slows down reducing the need for water and relieving its self. Dogs that have been crated all along do very well. Many of them will rest in their crates even when the door is open. I think the plastic ones give the dog more of a safe, enclosed den feeling. Metal ones can be put in a corner or covered with something the dog can't pull in and chew. Select a crate just big enough for the full grown dog to stretch out in.

A dog that has not been crated since it was little, may take some work. Start out just putting its toys and treats in the crate. Praise it for going in. Feed it in the crate. This is also an easy way to maintain order at feeding time for more than one dog.

It is only natural that a puppy resists its crate at first. What the puppy wants more than anything else is to be with others, you, anyone else in the household, and any other pets. In our modern society, even if we are home, other things distract us from the attention an uncrated puppy must have. The only real solution is to crate the dog when you aren't around. Leave it some toys. Perhaps a Kong filled with peanut butter. Don't leave anything in the crate the dog might chew up.