Dog problems...

Uncle Sick

One of Freddy's beloved
Joined
Dec 23, 2003
Messages
792
We have a 10 month old Lab/Pitbull mix - she's smart, protective, great with the kids but she has a bit of an anxiety problem.

ie. whenever she gets excited/happy, she piddles. More or less.

The vet tells me the usual 'she's a puppy and will get over it' story on a monthly basis now and having had dogs ever since I can remember, I know she should have gotten rid off that behaviour awhile ago now.

Now the interesting part is, that she does it mainly when she interacts with me (lets say I come home from work, put the leash on her to go for a walk etc.).
She hardly ever does it when my kids or my wife deal with her.

And no, she has never been beaten. :p

I guess it must be an alpha animal thing (guess she sees me as the pack leader... little does she know *looks at wife*) - now my question to you guys is, since I know there is a fair amount of dog owners here, have you ever dealt with a problem like that? Any ideas what to do? (No, I will not shoot, strangle or kill the dog in any other interesting ways...)
 

Tom

I am a FH squatter
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
17,179
Best way to train a dog NOT to do something is to ignore it when its being naughty.

So, I suggest turning your back on it, until eventually it realises that piddling doesn't get it any treats.

Or, if you have the money, take it to a dog trainer. These people work wonders.
 

Paradroid

Fledgling Freddie
Joined
Jan 2, 2004
Messages
645
Uncle Sick said:
We have a 10 month old Lab/Pitbull mix - she's smart, protective, great with the kids but she has a bit of an anxiety problem.

ie. whenever she gets excited/happy, she piddles. More or less.

The vet tells me the usual 'she's a puppy and will get over it' story on a monthly basis now and having had dogs ever since I can remember, I know she should have gotten rid off that behaviour awhile ago now.

Now the interesting part is, that she does it mainly when she interacts with me (lets say I come home from work, put the leash on her to go for a walk etc.).
She hardly ever does it when my kids or my wife deal with her.

And no, she has never been beaten. :p

I guess it must be an alpha animal thing (guess she sees me as the pack leader... little does she know *looks at wife*) - now my question to you guys is, since I know there is a fair amount of dog owners here, have you ever dealt with a problem like that? Any ideas what to do? (No, I will not shoot, strangle or kill the dog in any other interesting ways...)


If she's excited & pissing when you come home, that's quite common. I've had dogs all my life (fnarr) and my sis currently has 2 German Shepherds - she needed to sort this same problem out quickly, they're both male and each one stands about 6" tall (strolling around at night with human clothes). It wasn't their pissing though, it was their sheer size that was the problem.

The answer was to simply ignore them when you come home. Don't greet them, don't try to calm them down, don't make any kind of fuss, don't even look at them. Wait until you're completely settled in the house before you even acknowledge their presence. This should eventually break the routine they're in, and, they learn that all their excited behaviour amounts to getting ignored.

Having said that though, 10 months is still quite young. My second dog was 2 years old and still running around acting like a puppy! ... then it was run over by a mini ... that seemed to knock some sense into it. :eek7:

Given it's still a young dog, I'd suggest ignoring it (to force the behaviour change), and keep scolding it when it pisses in inappropriate places: "BAD DOG!!!" ...


:D
 

haarewin

Fledgling Freddie
Joined
Jan 19, 2004
Messages
2,756
my grandad's dog used to do that when my dad was near her.
she did it all her life from when she was a puppy to when she died.
in short, i dunno.
 

old.Tohtori

FH is my second home
Joined
Jan 23, 2004
Messages
45,210
Uncle Sick said:
Now the interesting part is, that she does it mainly when she interacts with me

Can't blame it! It's you! I'd piddle myself too :D

Now that i got that out of the way, ahem, i had a pup a few years back that did the same. Yes, the alpha male thing is valid. Since all dogs(no matter what some evolutionist wankers say) are essencially wolves. It sees you as the packleader and in some wolf packs it's known to be a "greeting" manner.

I don't know if the same thing does the trick for your dog, but worked for mine. When i got home, i never entered the house befoe taking the pup outside. In other words i stood outside the frontdoor, called for the dog(never really needed to as it was right there), let it come outside, grab the leash from the doorway(keep it close) and then take it out for a piddles.

Now about peeing all over the place whenever she's exited, i can't say as i didn't have that kind of a problem. Usually the "welcome pee trip" was enough to stop it.
 

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