# 7 month old trouble with bladder control (seeking advice)



## laloftus09 (Sep 3, 2011)

Hi so Reed is seven months old now and we're still having trouble with what we call "happy pees". Whenever someone comes home or he gets too excited, or scared of a noise, he subconsciously pees. We have asked his trainer and tried researching and everyone says that it is just poor bladder control and that he should grow out of it. (So no we do not punish him for it because it is obvious that he is not conscious of peeing at the time) But this has been occurring for months now, has anyone had the same problem or does anyone have any suggestions? I plan on taking him to the vet next week but was just very curious in the meantime.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I would have him checked by the vet just to be on the safe side but its most likely submissive peeing. You can try to change the way he greets people. Let them be their a few minutes be for they greet him. Once he has calmed down, have them kneel to greet him at his level. Have him come to them instead of them approaching him.
It couldn't hurt to take him on a little run before company comes over and give him a chance to take care of business.


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## threefsh (Apr 25, 2011)

My sister's chihuahua pees if you greet her when you first come over to their house. I found the best way to deal with it is to completely ignore her for about 30 seconds. Then, when I do pet her, I don't squeal with joy and keep my voice at a monotone with slow movements and no direct eye contact. It works 99% of the time.


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

Just what threefsh said is the best approach for now. Based on my own experience with other dogs (and earlier in my life), I can assure you that Reed will grow out of it.


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## anne_wilcrest (Oct 20, 2011)

in Barbra Woodhouse's book "No Bad Dogs" she suggests having the dog to sit anytime you think they might be about to excited pee (obviously the formal term) - and that they wouldn't ...
i don't know if this works, but i could see how it might - pups hating to get themselves wet and all

_funny story about that..._
when i was in per-kindergarten my father was reading that book for our GSPs and brought it up in the open house, with all the caretakers and other parents present he said something to the affect of "Yeah, regarding that... I'm reading this really great book right now... it's called 'No Bad Dogs' ..."
my mom nearly disowned him.

so! i was raised according to that book and generally don't pee when excited or scared! so who knows!


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

Are you quite expressive personalities yourselves? Do you greet your pup with almost as much excitement as they do? I found that my ex wife causes a lot of pups to pee with excitement, as she herself gets really into the greeting. I found that by relaxing her greetings to the dogs, the dogs became much more chilled out when greeting her and others. 

I'm really laid back and when I get home I don't make a fuss about the dogs. Almost half ignore them apart from acknowledging them. I found this over time has turned them into happy, but way more relaxed greeters. It also settles the tendency to jump up on people.


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## Suliko (Sep 17, 2011)

I agree with ignoring method. Sophie was an extreme case of an "emotional pee-er" - rolling over, peeing on herself and such. So, we literally ignored her for at least two minutes when we came home: sit the purse, take the shoes off, coat off, check the mailbox, pour a glass of water, etc. (all while Sophie is watching through the crate). Then went up to the crate without any sound, not a word, let Sophie out without touching, rubbing her back, and took her out to do her business. We did it every day since she was 4 mos old! Now we come home she just wags her tail and is happy to see us - no jumping, no crying, no peeing. HOWEVER, she does get overly excited about guests, so Reed might still do the peeing when greeting others. I hope this helps!


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## Gator (Feb 9, 2012)

There is something call "submissive peeing." Dogs will most often do this when people come to the house, (especially with new people and people who are more dominate in their demeanor). It happens with all breeds but i've seen it most with small lap dogs and goldens. It's a natural response from dogs that are more submissive in nature or see themselves as lower in the pack order. Wolves in the wild do it too show submission to the pack leader. 

Here are some ways to determine if you dog is more submissive in nature, (1) will roll over and greet a person or dog on their back, (2) approached people or dogs in an ark (meaning they do not directly walk up to the person or dog but comes in from the side) while they hold their head down or low, and (3) tries to lick the lips or inside the mouth of the person or dog they are greeting.

Off the top of my head I don't recall what techniques work stop the peeing but I whole heatedly agree that ignoring it is the best course of action until you can work out away to address it with a trainer. Harshly correcting the dog would be confusing for it and could make the situation even worse, more peeing.


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## laloftus09 (Sep 3, 2011)

Thanks everone! We've been trying to work on the greeting calmly thing but I was just seeing what everyone thought. Just wanted to make sure it isn't a health problem.

And also, he is pretty submissve in some ways, is there any way to break this or say give him some more confidence? 
Recently, he started this new thing where he doesn't like many strangers, he either barks or tries to hide from them. But this is pretty surprising to me because I've always taken him everywhere with me, so he's been exposed to many people ever since I got him and loved people until about a month ago he started being choosing of people. (he absolutely loves all dogs though)


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## anne_wilcrest (Oct 20, 2011)

give strangers treats to give to him, at first he can get the treat just for approaching them, (no petting) - if really hesitant just have strangers come up and toss a treat half the distance {in puppy math: strangers = treats! _therefore_ strangers = good!} and then later you can do greeting politely AND petting, or a sit command, etc.

one thing i noticed is the only time my pup gets _*really*_ upset when i leave her is when i hesitate or am fretting over it... 
make sure you're calm and prepared for, but not expecting, his negative reaction - for me, just anticipating her being upset will lead to my dog being upset...

good luck! it's a roller coaster!


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## RustyBear (Jul 25, 2011)

I'm sure it's nothing to worry about, but might want to check it out....
Our neighbor's pup is pretty bad with submissive pees.... it got really bad lately, they called the vet and brought in a sample, she had a UTI. She still has the occasional submissive pee.... but it's much better now.
Just a thought!


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Along with doing what others have suggested I would try to make him a happier puppy. The trick is to find out what he loves most. Meaning what makes him prance with a confident air.

I own three Vs and each one is different.
Cash my oldest loves to leap off small ledges into the creek. He acts like he owns the world when he gets to do this and it appears to make the rest of his day brighter.
My middle V loves to find and bring me what she considers prizes. With her I hide things in a field. It can be toys or old socks. I have even hid frozen dove from one of our hunts. She is so proud and happy that her whole body wags.
My youngest V is the softest and most submissive one in the house. Ive rarely seen her just play outside, she is always hunting. Her great love is birds. With her its easy just plant a few birds in a field and she is in heaven.

Doing these small thing for a pup can make a world of difference for them on a stressful day. Just find what makes your puppy glow with pride.


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## Gator (Feb 9, 2012)

My first V started showing signs of fear aggression around people and dogs within a month or so of your V's age. I didn't recognise it at first and did the worse possible thing an owner could do. . . I bent over, pet her and told her she was O.K. To another adult person this would be reassuring however in training school I learned I was actually reinforcing the fearful behavior, rewarding the behavior. I was telling my V "your are right this is something to be afraid of, good dog for pointing it out to me." By a year 4 months I was in a training class because she started growling at people and snapping at dogs we met out walking.

The key for us was socialize, socialize socialize in "new" situations. What I had done up to that point wasn't enough. She had approx. 6-7 dog friends and she went everywhere with me meeting people but there were the same dogs and the same places for a year. I had to do it outside of my usual routine with new dogs, people and places.

I also had new people give her a treat but encouraged her to approach them by walking over and standing next to them. Like other said you need to build confidence and your V needs to learn it is safe, no one is going to attach him.

So in rereading this I realize it could sound pretty scary and grim. So let me share how things ended up  We attended dog training for 9 months as a student, then my V and I assisted teaching dog training for another 6 years and competed in Rally. Within 1 session of training she was no longer growling or snapping at anyone. By the end of the 3rd session she was happily greeting everyone familiar and unfamiliar. She was a happy, confident dog. People were drawn to her as well. My V loved teaching class, we were partners. She would wake me up Sat. morning to go. She would always walk over on her own and appropriately greet the new dogs & people entering the room to start a new training session no matter what. If there was a fearful or oversubmissive dog she would immediately start socializing them. When they became overwhelmed during class she would walk over wag and lie down next to them. It was an amazing transformation to be a part of. I was blessed. I think I know why she became fear aggressive, especially with men. Let me know if you want to know more about fear stages.


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