Hi, I have 2 bichons, Molly 2yrs & Fudge 18mths, having problems with Molly but I will do another post for her, Fudge is quite a submissive dog, the main problems are she wees if you go to her to make a fuss or pick her up, she also crouches down or rolls onto her side or back if you go to play with her, another thing although Molly is half her size she bosses Fudge. I hate to think of Fudge being afraid & would love her to be a little more confident, any suggestions to help her overcome her submissive behaviour.
regards Pauline

Biggest suggestion I can make is not to molly coddle.  I have a sensitive BC who when we first got him would do this all of the time, he now only does it to people he doesnt know but does have a tendency to wee at the same time.  I find if you make it more of game and jolly them they seem to get over it really quickly.  So many people when a dog displays this start with the cooing and ooing which just persuades the dog that this is the best thing for them to do as they are getting rewarded for it.

Perhaps she's trying to tell you she doesn't like to be picked up ;) small dogs are still dogs and should not have to be picked up frequently.  If you let her come to you or call her to you instead of going to her and picking her up or playing with her then she may gain in confidence as she is setting the pace.  In addition try to let her know whats going to happen instead of just picking her up, a command (eg. hup) before you pick her up will give her some warning of whats happening.
I wouldn't worry too much about the other dog bossing her unless it gets out of hand, they need to be different in status - its what will prevent fights between them :)

Humans often make the mistake of thinking a dog submissive wees because it's so frightened it's lost control of its bladder - this is not so.  It's a perfectly natural behaviour from a lower ranking dog who doesn't recognise the body language of the owner is not threatening - which leaning over her to pick her up will be, as she hasn't been taught anything else.  Personally I wouldn't pick her up, as she's obviously not comfortable with it and feels happier with all four feet on the floor where she can display her own species body language, which you perhaps can learn to react to?  Don't forget, if she seems herself as the less dominant dog, she won't be comfortable being in the elivated position 'above' the dog she seems as more dominant than her, and this may even be provoking Molly into pushing Fudge about, to remind her of her place......

If you start to bolster her confidence, you may find disputes errupt between the two bitches, and believe me, bitches who fight can be a NIGHTMARE to live with.  Although you could take measures to distract Molly from dominating Fudge so much, by offering her time to interact with you rather than Fudge. Giving Molly more time with you may even give her the confidence she needs to NOT bully Fudge (remember, bullies, human and canine are often lacking in confidence themselves.......)