Submissive Urination..and KEA GOT ADOPTED!

Today's blog is going to follow the story of a tall, lanky German Shepherd who touched my heart for the past two weeks. His name is Kea and he was surrendered to the rescue I work with two weeks ago. When Kea's parents brought him in to meet me for an evaluation, he was a mess. His legs were trembling, he hid behind his parents because he was terrified, and he tried to keep his body as low to the floor as possible. I had his folks walk him around a bit, and they did, but his stature didn't improve much. They had done training with him, and his obedience was spot on, but they never sought help of a behaviorist to help him build confidence and eliminate his submissive urination.  When I took his leash and walked him around, he reluctantly did so, keeping his body as close to the walls as physically possible, and peeing every time I touched him or praised him over-excitedly. During his initial half hour evaluation, he peed between 15-20 times. And then his training began...

Kea's first week with me was spent meeting and interacting with every one we could. He attended several Meet N Greet classes, and was worked with by several of my alumni students. In the beginning, he was very confused and lacking confidence, peeing every time a new person would come up to meet him. He tried hiding behind me, but I forced him to sit and accept petting. Every time he did something right (or even slightly right), Kea got lots and lots of praise.  By the end of the week, he was a new dog!  He had discovered that people really weren't so scary and that they had lots and lots of affection to give. Previously, he had gone through life basically on his own - never getting feedback from his owners, so he was never really sure if he was doing anything right. Once he started receiving praise, he knew he was on the right track, and loved every minute of it.

Kea learning that babies are awesome! Axel loved giving him treats, and soon Kea was following him everywhere in hopes of getting a treat!

Today Kea moved in with his new family. This previously "hide behind mom" kinda boy waltzed right up to his new owners, tail wagging! That was definitely a proud-trainer moment! He peed only once, when he first met them, and didn't pee the rest of the time we were there. He even met their daughter - no pee - and the family cat, and he was a big brave dog. As we were leaving, the family took Kea on a walk, and they stopped to talk to a neighbor. Kea went right up, tail wagging, ready for some attention! His previous owners would've been speechless. He just needed the right training to bring out his stunning personality.

I am so proud of all of the progress Kea has made these short two weeks, and I would like to extend a thank you to all of my students who volunteered their time to come meet him and help him on his journey. He is now happily in his forever home because of all of the positive reinforcement he has received.


So, in conclusion, I can't give specific instructions to fix a submissive urination problem - because every dog is different and not all dogs respond to the same training techniques, but I can say this:  dog's need leadership. Unless you own a wolf or a wolf-hybrid, your dog does NOT want to be the alpha leader. They need guidance, structure, and most importantly feedback.  They like to know when they're doing things right, don't forget to tell them! And if you ever need help with an anxiety or aggression problem, or if you can't get your dog to stop submissively urinating, I'm only a phone call or an email away! :)

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