HI,
I NEED SOME ADVICE ON THIS SUBJECT PLEASE.
MY PUP IS ALMOST 5 MONTHS OLD,I GOT HIM ABOUT TWO AND A HALF WEEKS AGO,HE WAS IMPORTED TO ME.
HE IS SUBMISIVE PEEING WHEN EVER I OPEN THE TAIL GATE TO MY HUMMER TO TAKE HIM OUT.HES NOT TO CRAZY ABOUT ME PICKING HIM UP TO PUT HIM IN OR TO TAKE HIM OUT.THE TRUCK IS SO HIGH THAT I HAVE TO!!HOW DO YOUS RECOMMEND ME DOING THIS ??WITHOUT YOUSING A CRATE IN THE TRUCK.
HES FINE IN THE TRUCK BUT THE PROBLEM IS TAKING HIM OUT,THATS WHEN HE SEEMS MOST UNCOMFORTABLE AND WILL THEN BEGIN TO PEE.

My opinion is that submission peeing is usually owner induced. Something happened that made the puppy feel like it has to show it's submission to you or you will become mad at it. Puppies are very easily traumatized with very little negative stimulus. One small mistake can cause you a problem for the next year or so.

A good example of what I'm trying to say goes something like this: An owner comes home from work and didn't crate his four month old puppy while he was gone. The owner discovers that his puppy chewed a hole in the couch so he loses his temper and yells at the puppy. Every time thereafter, the puppy submission urinates when the owner comes home from work.

In your case, and I don't mean to sound accusatory as I'm merely speculating, the puppy may have tried to avoid you grabbing him from the back of your Hummer. You got irritated and the puppy sensed your anger and wanted to show you he will submit to you and urinated. Now, everytime you go to pull him out the Hummer he urinates. The puppy is just trying to show you that you are the boss and he doesn't want you to get mad. Unfortunately, the puppy doesn't realize the urinating only makes you angrier.

Most times, in my experience, the only cure for submission urination is time for the puppy to mature. This can take months or even a couple of years depending on how fast the puppy matures.

The other possible cure is to try to eliminate or minimize the situation that causes the puppy stress. Your crate solution is a good one actually. Put the puppy into the crate on the ground and then load the crate into your Hummer. Do the reverse when you take him out. In this manner, the puppy isn't placed in the situation that makes him want to show his submission to you by urinating. Another solution might be to use a ramp. Place a ramp for the puppy to walk down, assuming he's coordinated enough to negotiate it safely. Then, coax him out with a treat or toy instead of reaching in to grab him.

Sometimes submissive urination has little to do with the owner. Young males seem to go through a spell where they haven't grown into themselves and leak a lot. Ignore it, I am willing to bet that it will go away. If it seems excessive, take the dog to the vet and try to get a urine sample. Kidney infections/UTI's can cause leaking too.

Lifting the crate with the dog might not be a bad idea, but depending on how high and how rambunctious the pup it might be very bad for your back. 50-60 lbs(pup with crate) isn't a bad amount to lift, but the size of the crate and wiggly-ness of the puppy can make for a very quick back problem.

Unexpected shifts in weight can tweak things in a hurry.

I ended up in bed for a couple days after lifting a 35lb kayak that had an extra gallon of water or so in the bottom. That water shifted mid swing and my back was not happy. lol... So how much something weighs isn't the only thing to worry about.

Deanna...I agree, sometimes male puppies have problems controlling themselves when young and pee a lot. I wouldn't classify that as "submissive urination" though. In that case it's merely a matter of biology and it's usually not situationally sensitive as Sunny mentions in his post. I think there's a big difference between a puppy that piddles a lot and a puppy that squats down and pees to show submission to it's owner.