Re: submissiveness

In Reply to: submissiveness
Category:   Behavior Problems
Posted by:  Bill Reincheld
Posted on:  April 29, 2003 at 09:04:13

: My female, one year old JRT is too submissive, even though we try to do the recommended things to help her. This includes occassional submissive wetting, but mostly the role-over and show my tummy stuff all the time. Is there any hope that she will grow out of this as she gets older? Thanks!

Response:

Hi Bill,

Many young dogs have this type of problem and it usually subsides as they mature. The best thing to do is mostly ignore the situation, I know that sounds counter-productive, but in cases of excitement/submissive urinating its actually the best thing you can do. If she pees, don't say anything and just calmly wipe it up. If you scold her, or your body language says something to her, that only makes the situation worse.

You might also want to consider taking her through obedience classes, this is an excellent way of boosting confidence in a dog. It really helped my one terrier, who was also a submissive urinator, while he still on occasion will do it, it's not nearly as often as before.