Urination due to fear

verarenczi

My foster Lab mix Riley took to housebreaking very early. He's a very smart dog, however it's apparent that he was seriously abused in the past.

Riley was left out at our shelter tied to the fence with three other dogs. His throat had a six inch vertical cut with a 2 inch vertical cut right beside of it. Both cuts were terribly infected. He's only about a year, year and a half old so his life has been rough from the start.

I never yell at my pets, I always try to stay calm and keep my voice low when using commands but for some reason, when it comes to letting Riley and Lola outside to go to the bathroom, he gets so scared he pees before I can hook him on the leash. Apparently he knows that peeing in the house is the wrong thing to do because after it happens he runs away to hide. If I try to talk to him or comfort him, he only pees even more.

I don't know what to do. I don't know how he could even find a home with this sort of problem. Help? Advice?

fawkese1

wow...poor guy! sounds like he is associating the whole process with being punished...could also be that he is excited about going out...is there anyway you can take him out w/o the leash for a while???? probably not...
best advice i can think of off the top of my head would be to practice putting the leash on and taking it off over and over again remaining as calm as possible and rewarding heavily...i would do this repeatedly when he doesn't need to go out...
maybe break up the process into small steps, show him the leash, don't say anything, reward...then take a small step toward him with the leash, again w/o saying anything and toss him a treat...etc...

Criosphynx

oh my thats horrible.

You may have to get him used to seeing a leash first...maybe pick it up...treat....put it away....pick it up move towards him...treat...put it away...you know?

Usually for this kind of urination you ignore the dog and act like nothing happened. You want it to be as "unmemorable" as possible

verarenczi

He knows the difference for going out to use the bathroom and going out for a walk. I live in the city and have a small backyard. Both of my dogs will climb or dig under fences (we think that may be how Riley had his throat cut) so I use a 20ft tie out for their safety. But he does pee over going on the leash and going out to the bathroom. I think the leash brings excitement and the tie out brings fear, both resulting in urination.

I'm going to try completely ignoring the mess, but he gets even more scared when he sees me clean it up. I'll also try practicing with the leash and tie out. Thanks for the advice!

Criosphynx

thats really sad because that suggests he was screamed at while the old owner cleaned it up too.

Good luck!

verarenczi

On Riley's first day here, he nipped at our cat and I got a little overprotective and it caught me off guard and I yelled "NO!" He hid under my dining room table for a few minutes and that's when I realized how scared he really was. He hasn't done that to the cats since, he even plays with them now. But when he sees me get a towel and clean up his mess, without me even saying a word or looking at him, he runs away and hides. I usually try to pet him and let him know that I'm not upset and he pees even more. So I guess I shouldn't even try to comfort him after it happens?

fawkese1

i had a very similar experience with my dog...i had to completely freeze, and be quiet if he went in the house....and i tried not to even let him see me cleaning the mess cuz it would upset him...even when i'm cleaning his poo up out in the yard he sort of slinks away from me...

verarenczi

Also, I live with my boyfriend and when it happens, he gets up to help clean the mess right away and I'm thinking that could be scaring Riley even more? We're both really frustrated but we do our best to not to say anything, make any sounds and just continue to clean up the mess but somehow I think Riley still feels the frustrations we have and gets even more scared. I'm so confused about how I can block him from feeling my frustrations, even though they're silent, or just not be frustrated.

fawkese1

i had to concentrate on the fact that the dog has never been taught the right thing to do, yet was punished severly for doing the wrong thing...it just made me sad....
also, with time, clover has gotten so much better, and less frightened of the routine in the house, that will help riley too, when he is no longer punished, but rewarded for the right behaviors, it will build his confidence...that is the key, build confidence...there are some clicker training/shaping games you can do to help with this, otherwise, always set him up for success...maybe one of you take him out to go potty and if he has an accident the other can clean it w/o him seeing you...always think about how you can let riley win in a positive way for everyone....does that make sense?

verarenczi

It makes a lot of sense. The only thing is, if I touch him after he gets scared and pees a little, it's a monsoon the moment I speak to him or touch him no matter how nice I'm being. He won't even hold it back, it's just pee...everywhere.

In the past few hours I've been having my boyfriend hold Lola back while I go outside with Riley.

Sometimes I get frustrated because I have to let both dogs out, one at a time. Even if Lola just came inside, she wants to go back out when Riley does so when I command her to move away, it seems to scare Riley. So far, when Riley sees me put my coat and shoes on, he's been getting excited and going out without peeing before we make it out the door. There's still some anxiety to him before we go, but it's an improvement. When we come back in it's treat time and snuggles