April 19, 2011

We bought a male german shepherd. He has become very attached to my husband. When we first go near the dog he pees. What can we do to solve this problem?

Full Question:
We recently purchased a male GS. When we visited the dog, he seemed very confident and outgoing. However, when we brought him home, he has latched onto my husband. He gets upset when he leaves, he has to be constantly with him. When he leaves, I try to bring the dog out by playing with him, etc., and he just goes back into the porch to wait for my husband. He's a very soft dog, so I don't want the corrections to be to harsh, but he just doesn't engage in anything when my husband is gone, and when I call him out, he pees all over the floor. He's also doing this with my husband. We haven't abused him in any sense of the word, but when made to lay down or sit, he minds, but he still pees.



When we are both here, the dog interacts wonderfully, playing with toys, with both my husband and I. He goes from one room to the other to check on us if we are separate. He's really a fun dog, when we are both here, otherwise he is a real pain. He will mind me, but he pushes my husband to the limit, but yet he falls all over himself when my husband is here. I trained all our dogs for obedience, but never have had to deal with.



We have had him just over two months, and I keep waiting for him to turn around, but it seems to be getting worse. He was a show dog before, and the gentleman that had him, kept him in the kennel, where we let him have the run of the place, because it is all fenced.



Judy
Ed
Ed Ed's Answer:
The problem is with the dog’s genetics. It's just poorly bred and has weak nerves.



I would not tolerate this dog, but if you want to try the only thing that will work is obedience training.



If you would like to learn something about the principles of obedience training a dog, read the description for my Basic Obedience video. You will probably find that you have not had the full picture on the steps of training a dog must go through before it can be considered fully trained. You can also read why I am not a fan of taking an untrained dog to obedience classes.



These kind of dogs function well with solid obedience built on a foundation of good step by step training. They find solace in the order that obedience training brings to their life. They become comfortable in minding when they learn that they must mid and that there is not other option. But this all needs to be tempered with proper praise etc, etc.

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Expert Dog Trainer Cindy Rhodes
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