[nicole29]

My children had found a 6 month old german shepherd a few days ago. We have taken her to the vet, groomed her, so now she is part of our family! She really is a wonderful dog, we have no idea who abadoned her or what kind of environment she was in. ONly concern is her peeing when anyone but myself or my children try to put her leash on or come in the house and pet her. She goes up to my husband (sometimes) and when he tries to pet her will pee. Sometimes she will roll onto her back and urinate. I am at a loss for how to correct this. At first I thought it was from excitement but the more I watch I think that it's from submission. My husband thinks that she was abused in the past. Will it get better as she gets used to our family?? I want her to feel that SHE IS a IMORTANT part of our family!!

Any suggestions??

Thanks

[RubyPitbull]

Thank you so much for bringing a stray into your home and taking responsibility for her. I wish there were more people like you and your family. Since you do not know her breeding background, the best thing you can do for her is to get her spayed as soon as possible. You have no idea what genetic disorders she might pass on to puppies and the urination may be a disorder she was born with. Spaying also may resolve the urination problem.

You have analyzed the problem with your dog correctly. It does sound like submissive urination. Since you do not know what she has been through, it is hard to say whether she was abused or not by a man.

Here are some things that should help you. Please understand that this is not a housebreaking problem. She is recognizing that your husband is the alpha in the household, so her dominant/aggressive behavior is turned off whenever he approaches and her urination is an involuntary reflex response. Totally out of her control at the moment. He needs to adjust his behavior when dealing with her.

When he greets the pup he should not make eye contact or bend down at first. It would be beneficial if he can just keep walking and take her straight outside without stopping, while speaking in a calm even voice, nothing too exciting. Once she has relieved her bladder outside, a calm greeting is appropriate. You want to teach her to greet people calmly anyway, since that will avoid any separation anxiety that might occur when she becomes completely attached to your family and considers herself part of your pack. Doing this will also make her a more polite dog in general with others outside of your family and will allow you to bring her with you out in public without creating problems.

Your husband can also squat down or sit down to greet her, but he needs to gently discourage her from jumping up on him in anyway, if he chooses to do this approach. You don't want to create the problem of an adult GS who jumps up on everyone she meets. Another thing he can do is to redirect the greeting very quickly into a game of fetch (ball or toy). That will immediately switch her mind out of "pack" mode which is what is the most likely cause of the submissive urination issue, and will place her mind into prey/play mode.

Please let us know how she is coming along.

[labman]

RubyPitbull made some good suggestions.
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 Raising Your Dog with the Monks of New Skete 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 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.

[nicole29]

Thans guts, I will try what you have suggested. But I have another question. We bought her a metal crae but she has figured out how to open up the bottom and slide out. We left her alone for a few hours today( to run some errands, had left toys in the crate for her) when we returned, a couch cushion was chewed up, basically there was a mess. But the couch was the only thing she chewed up. I had put her back in her crate to see how she was getting out, needless to say I was very surprised.! She is definitely smarter than I thought! I need to know how to get her out of her destructive behavior..

[RubyPitbull]

A six month pup is still a pup. They will chew on things and damage our belongings if we aren't careful. I am not sure what type of metal crate you used that she was able to completely open up the bottom. Are you sure it was put together properly and secured all the way around? If she is that smart to totally take the crate apart and get out, when you leave the house, it is best to put the crate into one room that does not have anything she can get a hold of if she manages to get out. Remove any items that may be within her reach. Close off doors to other areas.

Leave her with a nylabone or a kong stuffed with a little peanut butter and dog treats. You can find those in any pet store. Get the ones specifically made for large breed dogs that are strong chewers. Those should keep her from getting bored when left alone and are the safest chew toys to leave her with.

[labman]

I think the plastic
Ones give the dog more of a safe, enclosed den feeling. They are harder for
Dogs to open too. 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. I often see metal crates with a snap supplementing the latch. If you don't have one from an old leash, look around at the hardware store for a doodad that will work. The crate is the only solution to such destruction. Dogs can choke on stuff they shred or require expensive surgery.

The "shut the puppy in a safe room" is a fallacy. Very few houses even have a
Safe room. How many of us have a room with a hard surfaced floor and nothing
Else? Most rooms have electrical cords to chew if nothing else. In addition
To destroying anything a bored puppy finds to chew, it may choke or have
Intestinal blockage from the pieces. I had a friend that left her dog in a
"safe" room. It ate a hole in the floor covering. The safe rooms fail to
Give the dog the comfort of the enclosed space their instinct requires. Nor
Do they restrict activity extending the time the dog can go without relieving
Itself.

[sGt HarDKorE]

If you want the dog to like the crate, you need to treat it like a good thing to be in there.

Practice with the dog daily by putting her in the crate and then praising her and giving her treats.

If you put the dog in the crate only when you leave her, she will not want to go in it.

The dog needs to make the crate it's den.


Also about the chewing, try giving her bones and some squeeky toys. My dog use to chew on things all the time, so we gave it things that made noise, and then noise kept the dog distracted so it the chewing on household items stopped.

[RubyPitbull]

labman, I am sorry if I wasn't clear. I meant for nicole to leave the pup inside the crate, in a closed off room that doesn't have items that the dog can get a hold of. I do forget that most people aren't set up the way my home is now. I have a room that is used specifically for training and housing the dogs that I take in for foster. The new area is dog proofed and I crate them in there. Prior to having that, I used a smaller room and just temporarily relocated the items in that room into the basement. Nicole, please follow labman's instructions.


P.S. The bones & squeaky toy suggestion isn't a good idea for a larger breed dog that is a chewer. The toys are easily shredded and can be swallowed causing choking or blockage. Please use the items I suggested and labman also has those listed within his "sticky" advice at the top of the dog forum.

[labman]

No, I am the one that wasn't clear. I only meant don't give up on the crate. Backing up the crate with the safest possible room is a good practice. Squeaky toys are not for many dogs. I should have mentioned the sticky starting at https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/dogs/i...tml#post251802 before this.

I see no need to crate a dog when you are around and can watch it. All my puppies have quickly learned to love their crate. I do have it available anytime they want to go in it.