My dog (Jessy) has a submissive urination problem ONLY with my husband. We have friends who are in the dog-obedience field and advice him to ignore Jessy for a while until he feels comfortable with my husband in the house, not to tower over him or shell out a list of demands right away.. The problem is more with my husband I guess.. He has a hard time following thru with this advice which in turn does not solve the problem. He feels that after doing it a few times that Jessy should be fine and never submissively urinate again.. What do I do as the mother of this 3-year old German Sheppard??? - Jeannette

Hi Jeannette, The dog sees your husband as big, loud and in charge. The dog most likely feels he/she needs to show submission, especially on first greeting. If the husband yells, towers, or enforces the "top dog" attitude AT ALL the dog will also enforce this by peeing. If you can't get your husband to stay with the program (maybe he likes cleaning up pee everyday!) then try this: Give the dog another submissive act to use as a greeting. For now have the husband demand kisses from the dog (she probably already tries this gesture as another submissive act) he says "Hi Jesse" (dog rolls over) give the dog a hand (or at first kisses on the cheek) and then say good dog and walk on by. eventually you walk in the door and the dog licks your hand. You walk on in with no yelling, no peeing and the dog has paid respects to the alpha. P.S. if the husband can't be trained make him quietly clean up the dogs urine every time!

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