I have had this new puppy for 4 weeks now and when any one speaks to her, or if we talk to her in the process of letting her out she sits at half mast and starts to dribble. At first I thought it was just excitement or being a bit timid but she does not seem to be coming out of this at all. I have always had the small type of this breed and they have absoutely no bother to train. This one is the large type and of course there is so much more of it!!
She is in a cage overnight and there is never a mess at all. In the morning I let her out without speaking to her, I open the front door, then the cage door and I lead the way and she makes it. Later in the day especially if any of the family are there and make a fuss of her  she dribbles like crazy. My daughter jokingly said I am not going to talk to her if this is what it does. She was 12 weeks old when we got her. Has anyone else had this problem? Is it quite normal in some breeds and she will outgrow it or could there be an underlying problem.

she may well have a water infection dribbling is the first indication .

Some dogs piddle with excitement if this is the case I would let her out for a pee if I know someone is visiting or know something is going to excite her ie preparing for a walk. She may grow out of it.
Are you letting her out frequently other than after meals or bed time ? puppies of this age need to pee reguarily.

There are medical problems which also cause puppies to pee themselves (ectopic uriters) but usually they wet themselves whilst sleeping which doesnt sound like the case if she is dry at night  but to be fair to your pup I would have a check up with the vet and if you can take a little sample it would rule out infection.

Roni

Agree with Roni that it's best to get any infection ruled out first.  Apart from excitement, there is always the chance that it is submissive urination.  If she was 12 weeks when you got her, and didn't have proper socialisation prior to that, it's worth a thought.

The best treatment is to ignore the act and to generally build up a dog's self confidence. Whilst you do not want to lose the status of 'top dog' the dog needs to realise that it doesn't have to resort to such measures to please you. Teach her alternative ways of seeking your praise. Perhaps she could fetch and give her ball or sit and give a paw.

mine was terrible for that as a puppy.  any excitment and peeeee.  thankfully its reduced to rare occassions now (14 months) .
agree with others-get anything medical ruled out then try your best to ignore accidents. any attention or annoyance brought over it will just make it worse.  mine is very submissive bitch and I think thats the cause-as shes grown in confidence its declined.  I do however try and make sure any super exciting visiters are met outside--you know the type? the ones who really wind up a dog without meaning too!

Sorry, just for clarification, when you say dribble do you mean mouth or bottom? My GSD bitch dribbled (mouth) when we travelled home in the car (nerves) and occasionally when exposed to new situations but outgrew it with gentle exposure to her fears.  Only lasted a very short time but if you are referring to bottom dribbles then i would assume this is submissive urination or fear and young puppies have weak bladders too.

Hi
I do mean bottom dribbling. I have never heard of submissive urination before and I have looked it up. I think that may be the case as she is showing some of the other signs. I have had her to the vets a couple of times already for check ups as with her being different to what I am used to I think I was a bit paranoid in case she had something more serious wrong. I did mention the dribbling to them and they said it was probably excitement and she would settle down.I will get her checked out again though in case she does have an infection. Thanks for your replies.

My daughter's collie was always wetting herself when she was young, part submissive and part excitement.  She outgrew it eventually, but not until after she wee'd on the feet of a couple of local policemen!  (Talk about embarrassing!!).

My dane puppy used to do this a lot when she was about the same age and like you say with large breed dogs it's not just a sprinkle! We got her over it by not letting visitors greet her until she had settled right down - usually about 15 mins after they arrived. That way she knew there was little point in getting excited because they were only going to ignore her anyway! It seemed to work and she waas either trained or outgrew it in a month or so.