I need HELP!!!!!

[Hawly]

Hello! I have a major problem and I truly hope it can be fixed. I adopted a 2yr. old Catahoula mix almost a year ago. She is the greatest dog ever with me (I am a girl), but she is scared of my husband. When we got her she urinated every time she saw him. She has gotten better but still does it and now it seems to be getting worse again. He is never mean to her and alot of times it seems as if she likes him but them she forgets and starts urinating again. We just bought our first home and my husband said that I either have to get rid of her or keep her outside all the time. Is there hope that she will get better??? I love this dog !! I need help!!!!

[EdEarl]

Urinating normally is a submission issue. I wonder if there is a tragedy in her past that triggers her behavior. If I had the problem, I'd closly monitor, maybe keep a journal that recorded your husbands activity or behavior immediatly before she started urinating. I'd try to get him involved as much as possible with her care, feeding, grooming, play, etc. attempting to develop her trust in your husband. There is always hope, and you need to ask yourself how you'd feel if someone passed this problem on to you.

[kuritsa18]

I would have to agree that she probably has male issues due to bad past experieinces; maybe her past owner beat her or something. The urinating most likely is an unvolunatry reaction that happens because of her anxiety/ fear of men. She should not be punished for this because she can't help it even though you would want to show her it was bad; if she is house broken then she knows not to go but does it because of the fear. Like some people will pee their pants if they get really scared

This will take a really long time to change through possitive re-enforcment and consistancy. I agree that your husband will have to spend a lot of time with her doing possitive activities with her if you want it to change. You can do this by yourselves but I would also recommend taking her to a trainer, behaviourist, ect, where you can learn the propper techniques for handling this. You should have taken her as soon as she displayed this behaviour, this is obviously not normal, a year ago because now she has put her fear of another person on to your husband. I also recommend practicing obedience with possitive re-enforcement and taking her on A LOT of walks. Walking and obedience training helps build a bond, respect, and trust between an owner and the dog. Dogs with anxiety need A LOT of exercise to help release the tention and to relax them.

Things can change but they will take a long time so you and your husband need to discuss if that is somehting you can work on and are willing to do. He has to be willing to put in the time and effort because it is the relationship between him and the dog that needs to be changed not yours. So, that's something he needs to decide for himself. Living for a year now with a situation like that is frustrating and hard on everyone. Having a dog constanly urinating in the house is unsanitary and damaging to the home; you invest your money into a home and the dog destroys it...not too nice It is acceptable and understandable for a puppy that is still learning but not for a 2 year old dog. Things can change but it will take time and effort. Good luck!

[crisbrigen]

I agree that your husband will have to spend a lot of time with her doing positive activities with her if you want it to change. You can do this by yourselves but I would also recommend taking her to a trainer where you can learn the proper techniques for your dog to behave obediently.

[psands]

I concur with the others. I actually saw this exact situation on the television show "It's Me Or The Dog".
The trainer had the husband to start giving the dog his treats and VOILA!!
The dog immediately started loving the husband, it was instantaneous

[kay9]

i agree with every1 else about the treats and more being more active in the dogs life but i would like to add that its possible your husband has unintentionally caused this behavior. when your dogs sees your husband she urinates which causes your husband to become tense/angry/annoyed/upset (possibly even you are the one emoting this) in turn making the problem worse. dogs are very in tune with human emotions and body language that sometimes people dont even see. just being aware of how he or even you are reacting in the situation. i know having a poker face when your dogs just messed in the house is hard but this might be the root of the problem. to solve it having him get more involved in her care, and giving her a treat are good steps to take. i know it sounds wrong to "give her a treat for urinating on the floor" but i assure you sub urnating is not a housebreaking issue its a confidience issue and not intentional. keep us posted!

[sherri88]

I hope the OP has found a solution already. If not this book really helped me with my dog, FeiFei.