My adopted German Shepherd pees when scared or excited. How to stop?

If you have tried everything and nothing is working than your vet could prescribe medications to see if they help. If she seems very anxious than an anti-anxiety medication, like Prozac or Trazodone, may help. You could also try an Adaptil collar and see if that helps. Hope something helps soon as I know it can be very frustrating. http://www.adaptil.com/us/#redirected

Many people assume a dog who seems scared was abused, but most often these dogs actually just lacked socialization at a critical age of development as puppies. I cannot say for certaint that is the case, but it is quite common. German shepherds unfortunately also have a tendency to be fearful if unsocialized. If this is happening so frequently I would recommend bringing her in to the vet to discuss the issue. They may recommend a behaviorist or specialized trainer, and/or antianxiety medication to help her be a happier pup!

My heart hurts for this poor dog! It sounds like she is suffering from submissive urination, and this will take time and training to fix. Do not make a big deal when you come home. Come in quietly, greet Abby softly, and let her approach you. If you make a loud noise or rush right over to her, that can lead to the submissive urination. Don't comfort her when she cowers. While you think you are helping her, you are actually teaching her that it's ok to behave this way. Comforting her reinforces the behavior. When people come over, I'd put her in a crate. It needs to be big enough for her to stand up and turn around in. This will give her a safe space of her own. Don't let people approach the crate, give her space. Patience is key in dealing with these dogs, and losing your temper will make the problem worse. Speak to a vet about getting a referral to a professional behavioral expert to help with this problem. Best of luck, I hope this helps.

What he's doing is probably submissive urination. He sees you as an authority figure, or someone he's very happy to see and urinates. Submissive urination is normal canine communication. When a dog submissively urinates, he’s trying to convey that he’s not a threat. Dogs who submissively urinate usually do so when greeting people or animals, during exciting events, while playing, during physical contact, such as petting, or when scolded or punished. When in a situation that seems to trigger submissive urination, a dog will tend to display submissive postures, such as cowering, lowering the body, raising the front paws, tucking the tail, flattening the ears back, licking the lips or displaying a submissive grin. Submissive urination is most common in puppies, but some adult dogs submissively urinate as well, especially those who seem to lack confidence. The following suggestions might help you manage, minimize or stop the behavior. If possible, greet him outside. Toss a handful of small treats or a few favorite toys in his direction as he runs up to greet you. Ignore him when you first come home and walk through the door. Wait until he has completely calmed down before interacting with him. When you finally greet your dog, do so calmly. Look off to the side instead of straight at him. Sit on the floor or squat down—and avoid looming over your dog as you bend toward him. Teach your dog to perform a behavior, such as sit, when he greets people. First, practice the sit behavior outside of the greeting context, in a calm place, without other people around. When you pet your dog, touch him under the chin or chest, rather than on top of his head or ears. Keep play sessions with him low-key and play games with him that focus on toys rather than bodily contact.

Many dogs need to be crated at night to prevent accidents until they are 1-2 years old, so this is not unexpected - I would simply go ahead and crate her at night for now :) Once she's a bit older, you can gradually try giving her more freedom in the house at night. Excited peeing is usually something that puppies grow out of once they're older. In the meantime, you can help by ignoring her for a few minutes when you first get home and asking your visitors to do the same. Once she calms down a bit, you can gently pet her and say hello. Leaning over dogs to greet them also tends to make this problem worse, so crouching down to say hi may also be helpful. You can also take her outside to potty just before visitors come over to help decrease the chances of an accident. It's also very important not to punish her for this behavior, as she can't help it - corrections will only make her more anxious, and often makes the urination worse.

This is called submissive urination. It would be a good idea to have her seen and rule out an infection, but likely it is behavioral. Avoid eye contact and do not approach her. Allow her to come to you. If you want to call her over kneel down and call her from your side so you are not facing her. As she becomes more confident in her new home hopefully this will decrease but it may never go away completely. Best of luck and thank you for using Pet Coach.

Hi. Congratulations on the new puppy. I'm sorry you were experiencing urination with excitement. This can be very common in puppies unfortunately. I would recommend having a urinalysis test done to make sure that she doesn't have a urinary tract infection. I would also recommend that your daughter and any other visitors ignore the puppy at first and talking in non-excited tones. Have her walk outside with you and go potty. Hopefully she will grow out of it. I would definitely discuss with your veterinarian also.