How to stop my fearful rescue dog from peeing when excited or scared?

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.

As with any symptom like this, and with any new pet, an initial exam with your vet to rule out health issues is a good first step. That said, submissive urination like this is very common in puppies or dogs that are unsure of the situation, and if Layla is still new to the home, this could be the case. It may resolve on its own after some time once she gets used to you and your routines. Maintaining a routine, staying calm, and interacting with Layla on easy to clean surfaces can help during the transition.

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.

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.

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!

Brownie is beautiful!! Submissive urination is a very common issue, especially with puppies. When approaching her avoid direct eye contact and remain very calm/casual, not using a high, excited voice etc. approaching brownie from the side rather than straight on can be helpful too, presenting the side of your body to her rather than standing over her. As soon as you get home calmly take her outside to potty without a lot of fanfare. Also work a lot on basic obedience like “sit”. That way you can re-direct her excited behavior to something you d like her to do when approached rather than getting overstimulated and urinating. Good luck!! This is a behavior problem you can make a lot of progress with!

Poor Lillian. Make every effort to get her outside to potty. Also work on making her more comfortable. It's a big change for her. Once she is comfortable in the house, you can begin trying to get her comfortable outside. It's possible something has scared her in the past and now she has developed a negative association. You may try to counteract this by creating a positive association. Begin by having a high value treat or toy. Start playing/a training session inside the house by the door way. Do this for a few days. Once Lillian seems comfortable playing by the door way, toss the toy or treat outside and allow her to retrieve it and come back inside. Do this until Lillian is comfortable. Then move outside by the doorway way. Gradually move further and further away from the door way. Then begin gradually decreasing the play time and just hanging outside with her. Try not to leave her outside unattended until she seems comfortable. I hope this helps.