Some dogs get so excited when you come home that they have submissive urination. To cure this, you totally ignore the dog when you come home, do not let guests bend over to pet the dog. When you do pet the dog get down on his level and pet him under the chin. This is less intimidating for him. These dogs almost always had outgrown this.
If you try and do any form of correction the problem will get worse and not go away. This is not an uncommon problem - it is just a phase that some dogs go through.
So have your husband ignore the dog and only pet it when the dog comes to him - not when he goes to the dog.
From my experience I have learned all the ideas that don't work. The spray you can buy at pet stores in not effective. The one I know that DOES work is using bitter apple. This is done by soaking bitter apple in a cotton ball and put the cotton ball in his mouth and holding it closed for 1 minute, (this is not an easy thing to do). You do this 3 days in a row. By the third day it’s like trying to catch a wild horse. To be effective you must do it.
You have now created a dog that hates the smell of bitter apple worse than anything you can imagine. So take 3 or 4 drops and put it in a Windex bottle full of clean water. Spray it on the couch - most dogs will not go near anything that smells like bitter apple.
Sometimes a dog can bark so much it turns into a nuisance not only to you but also to your neighbors. This can become a BIG problem. Picking the right training collar for you and your dog can be a very daunting task. My information comes from my experience using different products over the years. I prefer equipment that holds up over time, and I don't mind paying a little more for it. Some folks are looking for the least expensive way to fix a one-time problem
Get the Tri Tronics No Bark collar. It will stop the dog on the first day he has it. It also does not need to be an INTENSE shock. You regulate the strength according to what the dog requires. There is a video that comes with the product which explains how to get the right level of stimulation without hurting the dogs' temperament. I love my TriTronics bark collars! They work wonders! I have been using them for years and they are the best on the market. They have a "sleep mode", bark odometer and it's easy to change levels. I prefer a battery operated bark collar over a rechargeable bark collar because I want zero down time.
My dogs don't wear bark collars all the time, but I don't want to need a bark collar and not be able to use it because the battery needs charging. I love the new battery function called "Sleep" mode. When it is on your dog the collar will "shut down" when he is lying still after 30 seconds. This conserves battery life since it is not draining power while your dog is asleep. The second he moves or barks it turns back on.The way it works, you can see how many times your dog was corrected since you activated the Bark Limiter XS. If you have a dog that is barking while you are away at work during the day, you can turn the collar on in the morning and put it on your dog. When you return in the evening, you take the collar off of your dog and turn it off. Before it shuts down, the red indicator light will blink the number of times that your dog was corrected since you put the collar on him. This way you know if your collar is working. Too many corrections and you need to increase the stimulation level. If there were no corrections, you can either leave the collar on the same level or lower it if you think it will still keep your dog from barking. It is the easy to change levels. With the Bark Limiter XS, you do not need any tools or magnets to change correction levels. You also do not have to open up the battery compartment to change levels. This collar gives you control over your dog-barking problem.
You can go to www.tritronics. com. They are $110 plus shipping. These are the only ones I have found that work. The others are junk so don't waste your money on them
Some vets will even de-bark dogs. It decreases the sound they make when barking so they can still bark but it does not irritate neighbors. If you are here in Houston, I can give you the name of a vet that does this in Stafford, Texas.
If your dog is constantly licking, biting and chewing herself or pulling her fur out, the first thing to do is visit your veterinarian. These are often signs of health conditions that need medical attention. Pain and discomfort from more serious problems, as well as from minor skin conditions, can cause a dog to chew herself, so please, do not try to diagnose the problem yourself. See your vet.
Usually when the ailment troubling your dog goes away, so does the self mutilating behavior. Sometimes the behavior continues as a habit even though the health problem is long gone.
Many dogs have excess nervous energy and no where to vent the stress, so they develop a habit or pastime of licking themselves raw. Other dogs actually learn this behavior because their owners make such a fuss over them whenever they indulge in such activities. It doesn't take long for Rover to realize this is quick and easy way to gain instant attention and affection.
The key to stopping this self mutilation habit is distraction - giving the dog something else to do and not unintentionally rewarding the dog. First, be sure to provide your dog with plenty of opportunity to run, play, exercise and vent her energy. A well exercised, trained and happy dog is not likely to have to relieve stress or entertain herself by self mutilation.
Whenever the dog begins to lick or chew herself, try making a very short, sharp, loud sound just enough to startle the dog into stopping and looking around to see what happened. After the dog has stopped for some period of time, just a few minutes or several seconds, depending on how severe the problem is then call her over to play a game, do some training or even get a massage.
Realize that this habit is often just as hard for a dog to stop as it is for humans to stop habits such as fingernail biting or cigarette smoking, so please be patient and keep trying.
