Hi, I'm looking for more help after an incident involving my staffy.  She has always been a submissive wee'er but never with myself, but now after an incident where I shouted at her she is weeing on the floor whenever I come home from work.  I came home from work last week to find she had chewed through a phone cable which is something she hasn't done since she was a pup.  She was really pleased to see me that day (which always happens when she has done something wrong) and when i noticed she had chewed through the wire I shouted at her - mainly out of relief that she was alive and hadn't chewed a live cable.  she ran to another room and peed on the floor which is normal for her when she has been up to no good and then ran to the kitchen and cowered in the corner.
Ever since this everytime i come home from work she pees on the floor and runs down the stairs to the front of the block of flats.  she has never had a row for peeing on the floor since this incident and if she doesn't get out the front door she cowers in the kitchen like she is expecting to get a row.  This doesn't happen if I go out at weekends, only during the week when I come home from work.
Before anybody has a go at me for frightening the dog and telling me its all my own fault, I already know this and am looking for some constructive advice about how to uncondition this fearful response in her.  so far I have tried making a fuss of her and giving her a treat when I come in and ignoring her but am still getting the shaking and the weeing.  Any advice will be gratefully received

hmm.. im not an expert, and im sure someone will be able to give u some better advice, but if she is only doing it when you get home from work, can you change the times you get back so she is not expecting you? 

if shes scared of you, she obviously doesnt react well to negative reinforcement.  if she does somethin wrong, jus ignore her, and then praise her loads when she does something right so u get the right behaviour.  Also, if shes weeing, are you telling her off for this?

And you probably know this already, but you cant really tell her off for chewing through a wire if you werent there when it happened as she wont know why she is being told of and has probably associated a scolding with you coming home?

dont mean to sound horrible or anythin, its hard to get across what im thinking, and then a new idea springs into my head! lol.  anyway, hope someone can give some better constructive advice :D
good luck anyway

hi jenny,
it doesn't matter what time I come home, its maybe the routine of a weekday that she associates - I have a different routine in the morning.  I'm ignoring the weeing and cleaning it up when she's not there and its the only time she ever seems to be scared of me.  I used to use a crate with her but don't really want to go back to doing that as she has been out of the habit of using it for about 6 months and this has been the first blip.  Thanks for the advice, will need to invest in a giant sized bottle of bleach and get used to having the cleanest stairs in the close for a bit!

Bleach is the worst thing you can use Bio washing powder or liquid is a better bet

It may take her a while to forget the incident of last week - just keep with the upbeat happy stuff, try not to pay her any attention when she's being daft - ONLY reward a happy dog.  It's very easy to think that dogs need coaxing out of 'fear' behaviours, when in fact what you are doing is actually rewarding it :(

I am afraid you will have a long way to go before she trusts you enough not to be afraid of you and from a behavioural viewpoint, as you know, she is right. She has no reason to trust you. From your post i wonder if other people have also shouted at her for weeing, or worse, as you did say that she does it to other people and if so it is imperative that they also stop any negative connotations (if this is the case). I believe you did say she hasn't done it for a while though.

I agree with Digger's advice :) but remember it may take a while.

hi lindsay,
the submissive weeing has gone on since I got her.  any time anybody comes into the house or speaks to her in the street she wees.  She runs up to people wagging her tail & weeing, its a standing joke amongst friends that you can tell when she's really pleased to see people as theres evidence - it has been likened to faking an orgasm, this dog is no faker!  She shows me no fear at any other time but has now associated me coming home with her getting a row and this is based on one incident which seems to have scarred her as she does not do it when her dog walker comes to get her.  looks like it will just take perseverance on my part and lashings of guilt.

It sounds as if she is a sensitive soul, and i would suggest it may help if you invest in a DAP diffuser which is available from your vet at approx. £26. It is a plug in device which emits a synthetic odour which copies that of a bitch which has had puppies, it is a very reassuring scent and i have found it very useful for anxiety in my dog during fireworks; and they are now being recommended for other things such as chewing in the house :)

If she is as you say, and very inclined to wee submissively like this, i would suggest also a vet visit to make sure her plumbing is OK, and I would maybe consider a reputable behaviourist who could guide you through the problems. It's important to get everything right so that you have the best chance of success.

If she does tend to chew at home, also try using oil of cloves, Vicks or Bitter Apple on anything you feel she may chew, and leave her a stuffed kong. Well done for trying to get it right this time, i am sure with patience and some help you will have success :)

Lindsay
X

I have a new dog (Rudi) and he is extremely sensitive as well.   When we first got him three months ago (he is 18 months old) he would cower and piddle if we just reached down to attach his lead.    He's fine with that now, but will cower a bit if someone yells or is cross with him.  He does not take long to recover, however.  So we control ourselves and never yell.  A stern (not loud) voice is all he ever needs.    

Rudi now only piddles when he is excited.   If I come home from a long business trip he will piddle.   If he sees someone he knows and they go to stroke him, he piddles.  The trick with him is to give him a minute to calm down and then he's fine.

With Rudi we are very careful to give him a lot of praise.  We play tug games with him and let him win.  (He would not play at first, but he gradually built enough confidence to enjoy it.)   And when work and my trips slow down this month I am going to begin obedience training him, also to build his confidence.

The flip side of a sensitive dog is that if they are handled correctly they are very responsive and tend not to be resistent or stubborn.  They pick up what pleases you quicker (or at least react quicker) than their more confident peers. 

She will eventually figure out that you coming home is a pleasant experience.  If she is food oriented, you might want to walk into the house with a treat for her.   Just put it down (don't toss it at her) and let decide to come and get it.   I would also suggest that when you go into the house that you do not make eye contact with her or call her to you.  Let her approach you when she's confident that nothing bad will happen.

Stacey

How about when you come in you crawl in and play bow to her or walk in backwards - anything different to your normal routine.  Maybe walk across the room totally ignoring her (no eye contact) and drop biscuits or a toy.

Thanks for all the advice.  tonight was wee free, I came to door (moved my bag out the way coz it got peed on last nite!) and crouched down with loads of high pitched praise and lovies for her.  She went to run down the stairs and I blocked her way while offering biscuits.  This seemed to do the trick as she was more into the biscuits than anything else - resounding success.  Christine I was laughing as I read your post, imagining all the neighbours looking through their peep holes at me play bowing to the dog! they all think I'm nuts anyway so that would probably confirm it.  thanks to everyone who shared their knowledge and experience and for nobody laying on the guilt that I'm a bad owner who doesn't deserve to own such a lovely dog.

You have made me laugh, as you have reminded me of how we got it wrong with our older dog :) Every day, my husband would come home from work and the dog would piddle over hubby's shoes. What did we do ? - nothing, apart from hubby would greet him outside the front door and try to stand with his legs apart so that the dog would miss the shoes :) Eventually someone pointed out to us that hubby was making a big fuss of the dog (he is a rescue) and that if he walked straight past him and ignored him for a bit, the piddling would stop. It did :) Sometimes the answer isn't far away, it just needs the question to be asked in the right place :)

Daisy

Hi Ali

Sometimes a little lateral thinking is all that is required to start making a difference or break a routine :D