My puppy is four months old now. Pretty much housebroken, but she still pees when guest come over or when she meets someone new. What do I need to do to help her overcome her piddling. Or, is this something she will grow out of. Around me, she is an extremely confident and happy dog. thank you for your suggestions.

Jon

It will help if the new person totally ignores her. You can also put her in her crate so that she can see the people but there is no interaction. I would think she would out grow it in time if she isn't pressured.

I agree with Debbie. I've seen dogs outgrow this time and time again. The worst submissive urinator that I ever knew (really bad at about 1.5 years of age) is now 6 years old and hasn't had a problem in 4 years.

It's hard for people to ignore a cute pup who clearly wants to say hi. But here's a tip: Just tell them that they have to ignore her for awhile or else she'll pee on their shoes. Seriously, that is the only thing that I've found works at getting people to listen!

My brother has a little Chihuahua / Dachshund mix.

His name is Dewey and even though they didn’t name him that on purpose the name fits.

When I go over to my brothers house both his dogs come running. Dewey will do this little hop on his hind legs like he is begging for attention. If you reach down he will pee on the floor. I have to ignore his for a good 5-10 minutes to avoid the problem. He must be about 2 years old, the problem is much better, but not gone.

Good luck with your pup, I don’t envy your problem at all.

Is it submissive piddling or excitement piddling?

If the guest ingnores her for a few minutes, she usually doesn't pee. However, as she is getting older and more energetic, she might be peeing with excitement. I notice that she tends to do it when people stand over her, which I know is an Alpha dog behavior. She is very excited every time she sees me when I get home, or wake up in the morning, and she never piddles then.

Socialize the dog alot, I have seen dogs that did this till 10 months old and then it suddenly stops. Really annoying getting peed on or having to grab a leash that's gotten peed on everytime you let a dog out of the crate! But also, at 4 months old bladder control isnt at its best. As bladder control improves and maturity/confidence start to kick in, it will usually get better.

It could still be excitement piddling (sorry, I am just really amused by your choice of wording! ), dogs often have a different type of reaction when seeing a stranger vs. seeing their master.

If that turns out to be the case, and you find that if the guest ignores her solves that problem, the easiest thing to do is simply have your guests ignore her for that period of time and not let her practice that behavior.

If you still feel it is submissive urination (piddling ), then tell your guests that if they want to interact with your dog (assuming you want them to), then turn their side or back to the dog and offer their hand to her behind them so that they aren't towering over the dog or facing the dog frontally. This is submissive to the dog so should give no reason for the dog to feel dominated. The dog can choose to sniff the hand and choose their own position. If she tries to face the guest from the front and still piddles, then keep her on a leash and see if she stops doing it if you keep her behind or to the side of the guest. Having the guest kneel down can also help with bringing their level down to the dogs, but leash the dog if you try that, because it would suck if your dog tries to climb your guest while piddling

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I will try them out and keep you appraised.

Jon