SUBMISSIVE URINATION
          A Piddling Solution for a Happier Home-coming
 
 
     Submissive urination is not a conscious nor deliberate act
on your puppy's part.  It is caused by a complex set of inherited
behaviors and conditioned responses.  In order to address it
successfully you must understand this.  Success will be gained
through increasing your puppy's self-confidence, and through altering
the social response you receive from the pup.
 
1. The General Environment of Your Relationship  
 
It's time to re-evaluate your relationship with your dog.  Do
this honestly.  Do you correct and/or discipline more often than
you praise?  Do you praise at all?  Are you consistent and
predictable in your reactions to your dog's behavior?  Does your
dog know, absolutely, what to expect from you under any given set
of circumstances?   Is your daily home-coming a scene, variously,
of extreme anger, over-reactive jubilation, or disinterested
fatigue?
 
The first step in countering submissive urination is to realize
that the submissive piddler is a dog with low self-confidence,
especially with regard to its relationship with you.  There's not 
necessarily anything wrong with your dog or with your relationship 
with your dog.  Active submission to a leader is a natural response 
among canines, and in young dogs, this is a way to signal to an adult 
that there's no threat intended.    

Submissive urination is part of an active submission display
intended to cement the dog's relationship with you.  It is overt
praise for the returning ruler.  Your first job is to reduce the
dog's need to reiterate its subordinate position to you in such a
dramatic way.
 
Twice a day, morning and night, find ten minutes you weren't
using (you can do it! It'll be good for your time management
skills in general).  Create situations in which the puppy can be
praised for doing the right things.  Reteach basic commands. 
Praise immediately, even as the puppy begins to give the correct
response.  Avoid all correction, and anything which relies on
dominance on your part, such as physical repositioning of the
dog, or a scolding tone.  Learn to use your voice and your body
language in positive ways during these sessions.  Practice Come,
Sit, Stay, and even any simple games your dog enjoys during
these sessions.  
 
                      During these Sessions
 
Do:
* use your voice lightly and positively
* crouch down, make yourself small and non-threatening
* pet using your palm up, coming up under the chin, stroking up  
  on the throat and chest
* associate the words "good dog" with petting, with feeding, with
  correct response to commands throughout the day
* praise often, gearing the enthusiasm to the pet's response,    
  looking for a happy dog response that falls short of evoking  
  submission
* keep homecomings calm, ignoring the puppy for at least 5
  minutes if there is any active submission on the puppy's part 
* keep departures low key as well
 
Don't:
* use a scolding tone, or pitch your voice in a low or dominant  
  fashion
* hover or lean over the dog in any sort of threatening or 
  domineering fashion
* reach down suddenly at the dog's head or shoulders
* continue any sort of action which elicits an extreme submissive
  response from the dog, such as piddling or rolling onto 
  its back
 
2.  Submissive Urination
 
     When the sessions above have been practiced for about 2
weeks, you should begin intentionally to address the situations
which, in the past, have resulted in submissive urination.  Many of
you will find that these are nearly exclusively limited to
rituals of greeting.  
 
     When you walk in the door, if your puppy is still urinating
and groveling, interrupt the behavior by walking rapidly away
from the puppy, calling him calmly, in the same positive voice
you've been practicing during your ten minute sessions.  By now,
your dog is accustomed to praise, and knows what "good dog"
means.  The dog should be beginning to understand that approval
and social acknowledgement of its relative position in the pack
can be had without active solicitation.
 
     Use your imagination.  If simply walking away from the puppy
and calling it doesn't interrupt the urination, next time fill
your pockets with kibble before you leave in the morning.  When
you arrive, toss a handful several feet away from the puppy, just
as it begins to assume its submissive posture.  Use what works
for your dog.  A handful of toys might work more effectively for
some than food.  The problem should begin to show improvement
with the first week, and should be cleared up entirely within 6
weeks.
 
                           Conclusion
                        Some Dry Remarks
 
     If you have been honest in your evaluation of your dog and
your relationship with the animal, and if you have been
consistent in your practice sessions, you should begin to see
some change in the dog's confidence levels within the first four
or five days.  Submissive urination during greetings and moments
of excitement may require up to six weeks to correct entirely. 
Remember, the point of these sessions is not to simply alter your
dog's social response to you during the training sessions, but to help you
become a more consistent and predictable part of your dog's
social order.  

The more your dog can rely on you to be what he expects
you to be, the less often he will feel forced to reinforce his
position with you.  Don't worry that your dog will think you
don't love him if you don't fuss over him when you come in the
door.  If your hands and your voice are gentle, and you spend
good solid time with him each day, letting him know what's
expected of him in your house, under your rules, and in your
eyes, he'll know you love him.  Additionally, if your foyer is left
dry more often at homecomings, you'll be more certain that you
DO love him.  
 
     Submissive urination and active displays of submission are a
natural part of the canine order.  In the wild, they help insure
survival for the pups in a pack, and don't represent much of a
problem.  Mother Nature doesn't much care who pees on her carpet.
In the domestic dog this response has largely been mitigated, but
remains somewhat dramatic in the submissive urinator.  Remember, among 
wild canids, this is natural behavior in juvenile dogs.  In domestic 
canines, this behavior is also often restricted to young animals, and will
frequently self-correct as the dog matures.  If you are
patient and understand that this is not intentional behavior, you
can help your dog past this point in his development and enjoy
many long years together.
 
 
Good luck.
 
(please consult Behavior Problems in Dogs, by William E.
Campbell.  This program is based upon his, and his explanations
will help you better understand the source of this problem.)