We have an 8 month old male GSD that has been described as very "soft" by our trainer. He is attached to me very much, so much that I am his protection; he is excellent at training with me. My husband has trained many dogs and is very knowledgeable from his Army dog handler days in Nam. Jeff has a yummy, steaky good dog voice, but a very firm and loud correction voice. He works at home and is with the dog during the day while I am out at the office. When I am home, the dog is pretty normal: he plays with both of us and only gets skittish once in a while. When I am not home, the dog gets scared a lot and runs away, even pees if Jeff walks by him. I feel when I am home I should correct the dog quietly when he does this, refocus his attention and then praise him. Jeff thinks I should give him a harder correction and make him leave the room. If I'm not home, Jeff can't really correct the dog, can't leash him and gets frustrated. What do you all think? Any other ideas? We do try to give him lots of praise. Thanks for your help!!

I don't think you should be correcting a dog for peeing because it is scared, I think it is going to make it worse. If your dog is very "soft", the last thing I think you would want to do is a harsher correction. Your dog is going to shut down on you. I didn't quite understand when you said Jeff couldn't really correct the dog, was it because the dog was afraid of him and running away? If that is true, I would say you are over disciplining or over-correcting your dog. Your dog shouldn't be afraid to come to you.
Sorry if I'm wrong and misread your post.

Until a pro trainer here weighs in on this, I'll give my 2 cents worth:

I would NOT correct for submissive urination & especially not harshly! -- A soft pup does not require hard corrections & overcorrecting one will only make it MORE submissive...

As you can see, your husband is already damaging his bond with this sensitive pup, IMHO

I agree....also, if you are the person he is "bonded" to, I would make sure that you are the one to train him. It sounds as though your husband needs to lighten up a bit......if the dog is a pet and is as soft as you say then I would not think any "military" training is required. I do not say this to be sarcastic, but rather to be helpful. Loud aggressive training tecniques with this dog may make him shut down on you.
My MAL (6 mos now) is turning into a hard dog but when I first started to socailize her (14 wks) for search and rescue purposes, she would submissively urinate. I ignored it and asked people to approach her calmly and to kneel down at first. It seemed she only did it when people would stand over (dominant display) the top of her or when they talked really loud to her. She outgrew it in about a week. Now she loves people and is in HIGH gear all the time. This is just my opinion and I am sure a trainer will give you more information.
Also if you go to the "Dogs as House Companions" section on this forum and then click on "Basic Dog Obedience" there are some posts about submissive urination there.
Good Luck
Carol

Get down level to the dog when you speak to it. Do not use a high pitched praising voice just use your normal everyday voice and don't make a big deal out of it. The dog can't help what it is doing.

Submissive peeing usually clears up around 8 - 9 months in most normal dogs. So, my question is, is he doing it less & less? I read in one of Eds' old posts not to walk up & stand over the dog, instead, approach the dog in a round fashion. If he is peeing submissively, try to sy nothing because yelling will only make it worse, & comforting him might seem to him like positive reinforcement of the peeing!!

dogs strongest reaction seems to be to your husband. note other people, things, noises, smells, etc., that might cause this reaction. use de-sensitization sequence to familiarize dog with subject. in the case of your husband, for example, a wire crate place where interaction can take place without the running away. also a drag line, so that your husband has a way to get control of dog without chasing or grabbing. tell your husband to stay at a distance, let the dog approach him. lead him into situations using a firm leash not a correction. ignore his fear reaction. over time of sequence (lenghth depends on how long this has been going on already)the dog should neutralize, or de-sensitize, to the objects or subjects, that have caused this reaction. it would not be good to use corrections for this behavior. it will cause complications.

I would like to thank everyone for their helpfulness. The pup is getting better, especially since our Chicago weather turned into spring and he can play, play, play outside a lot. We were confused because his being scared would take us by surprise - he'd be playing with Jeff one minute and change "into another dog" the next - no warnings. We think the obedience training classes are helping a lot, too. So, gradually good stuff is replacing unfamiliar or scary stuff and we are very optimistic. I will post updates again soon. Thanks again!

hello cathy; glad to hear your pup is improving. just a note: it may seem like out of nowhere, but there are subtle clues. the sudden change that you describe is typical of a younger dog who is not sure of the person who is higher in the pecking order than he is. your husband should look closely at how he is playing; something in his movements and or his voice is startling the pup. don't avoid startling behaviors, just give him time to adjust.

good luck!

Thanks for your help. We are still putting the pieces together. It seems Mack is a different dog when he can play outside: he runs up to Jeff for pets and to heel, sit, etc. When we have a long rainy day in the house, he gets really freaky and confused. Is there a doggie version of SADS - sunlight deprevation? Any ideas on how we can re-associate his outside behavior/mood into the inside - short of putting grass and flying birds in our living room? Can a clicker be used for this? If so, How? You guys are great - thanks so much for your help.