Terrified peeing EM - HELP!!!!

[Xenawarriorprincess]

Hi everyone! This is my first post, I found this forum as I was searching for an answer to my puppy's
behavior. Xena is almost 7 months old, and she is afraid of people. We got her at around 12 weeks, and
she's always been timid, but it seems to be getting worse.
I know EMs can be wary of strangers, but her behavior seems extreme. Some examples:
We take her to classes at pet smart. Last week was loose leash walking. She peed 4 different times when someone approached her.
We've had a friend staying with us for a week. She pees every time she sees him. Even if he just passes by her crate. He doesn't look at her or anything.
Saturday we had a get together where we hung in the garage bar most of the time. Xena stayed outside
the garage and would run away if anyone came near her.
Every vet or grooming visit is a nightmare because she pees and cowers/tries to run away.
She's always been around people and she walks very well on a leash with my baby in a stroller.
She will bark at strangers when we walk, but if they approach, she will pee and cower/run.
I'm at my wits end. She has no issues with other dogs, but the only people she lets around her are me, my husband, my 14 month old son, and my friend who lives across the street and is around her all the time and has known her since she was a baby.
She is a very sweet girl with those she loves.
I don't even know if a trainer would work, because she won't let anyone new near her!
We are a very social family and we want our dog to be involved, but I just don't know what to do anymore! Ive never seen a dog act like this before. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! She is over 90 pounds
And can hold a lot of pee!

 

[Smart_Family]

I believe there was a rather lengthy article about submissions peeing and fear peeing in the last issue of Whole Dog Journal if you can get your hands on it. Azlin used to do this with other dogs but she hasn't in awhile.

 

[Xenawarriorprincess]

Thanks... I'll try to find the article. Anyone experience this? Any hope she'll grow out of it?

 

[Oak Hill Farm]

She will not grow out of it without your help, she sound extremely fearful. Good news with hard work, you can help her overcome this to a large degree, I would guess she will always be a bit of a "wall flower". Right now, stop meeting new people. Clearly she is telling you its too much for her. No groomer, no friends, no strangers. People 10 feet away may be too much for her. You are really going to have to watch for signs and gauge her comfort level. Your best bet will be behavior modification training. You need to create a good feeling in the presence of strangers. You can teach the "watch" or "Focus" command where she learns to look at you and gets a yummy treat. Thus teaching her if you ignore what scares you, yummy things come your way. Work on obedience, just anything to get you dogs focus on you not others. You're going to have to start slow, calm places, few people where you can stay a distance away and build up slowly as she becomes more comfortable. And I know I sound like a broken record but NILIF program. Fearful dogs will benefit from constant routines and structured order. It helps them relax.

 

[angelbears]

100% with Oak Hill. It will not happen overnight but you can get her in a much better place with some work.

 

[Kelly]

Would love to hear how your progress goes. I have a fearful female also, not to the extent of yours, but she's much better now. Used to be terrified of new people. shes good now for pretty much everything and everyone except my brother, thunder and fireworks.

 

[Xenawarriorprincess]

So we've had some success lately. She went to her puppy class at pet smart and didn't pee, even when a child snuck upon her and startled her! On her walks, she has been looking at people and dogs as we pass them, but no barking or fear. Tonight while walking, a lady even spoke to her and xena just looked at her and kept walking. Our neighbors stopped in their car to say hi and she only barked once - only when they spoke to my baby! She's very protective of him! We even walked by a group of about 6 screaming 10 year olds playing football and no reaction other than to look at them. I hope we're on the right track... She's such a sweet dog with us and I want her to be secure outside our house, too!

 

[Kelly]

Sounds like you are on the right track. What are you doing?

 

[chuckorlando]

Sounds good. Keep up the good work

 

[Xenawarriorprincess]

Thanks! Kelly, we've just been ignoring the bad behavior - not coddling her when she shows fear, not getting upset if she does pee. Another thing, we now take her out back to play and go to the bathroom. Her crate is by the front of the house, and before she was potty trained, getting her through the house, back patio, around the pool to the grass was a long walk for her. Now that she's potty trained, not such a long walk for her to hold it. She seems more relaxed out back... Fenced yard vice front yard in busy subdivision. I don't know if that has an effect or it's just a coincidence of if she may be growing up a little bit? I just hope she continues to improve!