# My dog appears to be afraid of me and pees when im present



## dhanley1 (Aug 8, 2013)

I have a jack russel/ chihuahua mix. She is full of energy and im a HUGE dog person so all i want is for us is to get along. I adore her but for some reason she is hesitant to come when i call her and if she does come she pees in front of me. Or if i go to pet her she pees all over. This is frustrating to me because she pees all over our furniture, our carpets, and we are renting our home. She is 2 and we have had her well over a year so this is getting old. any suggestions?


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## BostonBullMama (Apr 20, 2013)

Have you taken her to the vet to have her urine checked for any signs of infection?

She may just be excited too, some dogs pee when they're excited, lol. I'm not sure how to 'fix' this... but I hope someone can help you!! 
I'd start at the vet personally.


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## dhanley1 (Aug 8, 2013)

ive been thinking about doing that. But she has been doing it since the beginning and doesnt seem very enthused to see me even though i spoil her


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## Nuclear_Glitter (Jun 20, 2012)

Have you ever called her over to you and then punished her? 

What's your general training method like? 

I also agree you should make sure she doesn't have an infection.


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## dhanley1 (Aug 8, 2013)

i would never punish her for simply walking over to me. But if she pees i let her know that it was wrong and then i let her outside


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## Nuclear_Glitter (Jun 20, 2012)

dhanley1 said:


> i would never punish her for simply walking over to me. But if she pees i let her know that it was wrong and then i let her outside


I wouldn't scold her for peeing, simply because you may train her to think that peeing in front of people is bad and you will have a harder time getting her house broken. 

I would suggest that you start using a new word for "come" such as "here", or even a made up word. Sometimes dogs associate a certain word with something you didn't realize you had done, so they're now scared of it. They have an odd was of learning really lol. Don't call your dog to you for negative things, or things she doesn't like (such as a bath maybe). Only call her to you when it's a positive thing that she will like. Start using your new command by saying her name in a happy tone then the new word when you feed her. You can also do this when you walk her, take her potty, or want to play with her. She will begin to realize it's a good word, and it may help her to not pee. 

Also, some people are just more intimidating sounding/looking to dogs than they realize. Do you maybe have a loud voice? Or perhaps you're tall? 

Look up kikopup or tab289 on youtube and work on training some fun things with her, so she can maybe start to see you as more fun and not so scary. Some dogs are more sensitive than others and just need really soft training, and nothing that can frighten them at all. some dogs don't even handle being scolded well. Or anyone raising their voice at them. It's all about the individual dog.

Also, she's a small breed, she may not hold it well. As mentioned before, her pee could come from being overly excited. Some dogs never grow out of excited peeing. Just do your best not to excite her until you have the chance to take her outside to potty first.


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## cookieface (Jul 6, 2011)

It can be very frustrating to not have the relationship you expected with your dog. 



dhanley1 said:


> i would never punish her for simply walking over to me.


Not punishing for walking to you, but calling her to you and then punishing for chewing, barking, whatever. Or, calling her to you and then doing something she doesn't like such as trimming her nails, cleaning her ears, or giving pills. If you do those things, you are essentially punishing (in operant conditioning terminology) for responding to your calling.



> But if she pees i let her know that it was wrong and then i let her outside


Exactly how do you let her know it was wrong?

You may just need to be extra gentle with her. Not saying you're doing anything intentional to hurt her, but some dogs are more timid than others and loud voices and big people can be frightening.



> As mentioned before, her pee could come from being overly excited. Some dogs never grow out of excited peeing. Just do your best not to excite her until you have the chance to take her outside to potty first.


My parent's cocker spaniel had excitement pee issues her entire life.


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## dhanley1 (Aug 8, 2013)

im a large, tall guy with a low voice i suppose. Thank you all for the tips


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## cookieface (Jul 6, 2011)

dhanley1 said:


> im a large, tall guy with a low voice i suppose. Thank you all for the tips


That could be it. We had a cat who was terrified of my large, loud husband. He'd yawn (and it was _loud_) and she's scurry away. 

This is from a post about someone caring for their neighbor's dogs and one dog was acting "vicious." The same strategy of generally ignoring her, tossing yummy treats her way, and waiting for her to approach you should help. Also, check out Kikopup and Tab289 as Nuclear_Glitter mentioned. They're fabulous trainers.



> Sounds as though she's scared rather than vicious. One way to address the issue is to go to the house, but ignore the dog. Toss treats in her direction, but don't really look at her, approach her, or offer the treats in your hand. You could even spend some time just sitting in the house (reading a book, watching tv) and randomly tossing treats in her general direction. Eventually, she'll start to associate you with good things and her fear will decrease. For treats, it's good to use the something wonderful. Do you know if she has any dietary restrictions? Cooked chicken, hot dogs, deli meat, beef, and cheese are all good choice.


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## HollowHeaven (Feb 5, 2012)

There's not really a reason to "let her know it's wrong". That will teach her not to pee in front of you, not to not pee inside. And it will make her afraid of you, as you've seen.


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