My dog is a rescue and pee's on himself whenever I put on the harness. How do I stop this? Please help!?

It will take time for him to trust you. He was very abused and you need to talk in a soft voice to him. Hug him and tell him he is a good dog and you love him. Talking to him and lots of love will change his behavior, I am glad you rescued him, he has a very good chance of recovery from the trauma he has experienced. It will take time.

first why are you putting a harness on a husky? get a collar. as for the peeing, it's submissive peeing. the best way to get him to stop is to build his confidence. coddeling him and babying him is only going to make it worse. i'm not saying be mean by any means. but start obedience training. do not allow him not to get and please use a collar, on him. try to get on his level and not stand over him to do this. take him for walks and praise him for the good he does. try to ignore the bad. unless it's another behavior you cannot ignore. find an actual training class in your area, not petsmart and follow through with it. once he's doing well with the training you will see his confidence get better. find an activity he's good at and allow him to do that often. once he feels more secure and confident he won't be so submissive and pee. since you are doing a great thing and doing great with him already, keep that part up. but understand he is not intentionally peeing. he does not know exactly what you are expecting from him, he's insecure and nervous, and pees. find what you can do with him that he's not that way with and then try adding the leash into that activity. sounds like a good dog that needed a second chance and glad he found someone who's willing to do that. but honestly, husky's were bred to pull sleds, with a harness on. you are going to have much better control of him with a collar, and even better once you complete a great obedience class! good luck.

It's submissive urination. Building his confidence will help. Take him for long walks, it may help him. Obedience training will definitely help him see how he fits into his new family and how he can please his people. It will go away. Telling him "no" when he pees is telling him not to be submissive and try to appease you. I know it's confusing with the housetraining stuff, but I'd just ignore it and get to cleaning. My parents' dog did a lot of submissive urination and we tried to make sure she was on the tile when she was more likely to pee. That's the best I can do for now.

Good for you to find such a beautiful dog at the shelter! If you haven't already, I highly recommend reading "Secondhand Dog."

I have had a beaten rescue as well and she did many similar things. First, stop putting the harness on. Start by just having the harness laying around, so he adjust to just seeing it and that it doesn't mean you are going to put it on. You may want to then start by introducing a collar, but very loose, like a choke chain. But don't take him out with it the first time you put it on, just let him realize it is not going to hurt him and let him get accustom to "having something on", then eventually, you can add a leash to the chain , but just let hang there, in the house for a few minutes, let him see he is not restricted. Let himget accustom to you putting this leash on and off. Then you may want to venture out and see how he does, just take it much slower than you are. My dog would wet herself or run everytime she saw the t.v. clicker! Weird! But, I would just leave the clicker on the floor and eventually she realized it wasn't going to jump up and get her!! That was one of many desensitizing lessons.

Leash the alpha dog first. That should help. Huskies are working dogs, and need lots of exercise to be happy and healthy. If you jog, run or take long walks, take them with you. They'll love it and so will you.

He's peeing on himself and rolling over to show his submission to you and the other dog. He's probably been beaten before, so you'll have to work with him. Your vet might have more ideas on how to help him.

Good luck, sweetie, and congrats on your newest family member. I hope it works out.

My old foster dog used to do that. He used to pee when I put a leash on him everytime. Its a excitment pee, he was excited that someone is taking him out. He was in a shelter before we resecue him and no one took him out for potty and he is just happy to get outside. He will need some time to get over the adjustmnet.

Considering using Disposable Pet Diapers and what i also did was holding him until he is outside then i leash him outside at the potty area. So he also learns that where is the right area to go potty.

Good luck!

I have known a few dogs who do this exact same thing.

It does take a lot of time and patients, so please hang in there. I would not doubt for a moment that your rescue was either beaten or abused in someway for it to be so timid and do the fear/submissive peeing.

Then again I've known a few dogs that weren't abused but just did this because of their submissive personalities.

I would definitely speak with a dog trainer that is also a behavioralist. They can work with you on these types of situations.

You didn't mention if your Alpha Husky was a rescue or not????

Here are some excellent tips that I found on submissive and excitement urination for you.

Submissive and Excitement Urination

Just as an athlete may make a mistake when her confidence wanes in a daunting situation, so too may a dog. A dog who is threatened and lacks confidence may urinate out of submission. He may also urinate when he's being punished or verbally scolded, or when he's approached by someone he perceives to be a threat.

And just as the athlete will gain confidence as she plays in more high-pressure situations, your dog's submissive urination may resolve itself as he gains confidence. You can help to build his confidence by teaching him commands and rewarding him for obeying. You should also gradually expose him to new people and new situations and try to make sure all his new experiences are positive and happy.

Your Dog May Have a Submissive Urination Problem If:

He urinates when he's being scolded.

He urinates when someone approaches him.

He urinates when he's being greeted.

He has a history of being treated roughly or being punished long after he has displayed unwanted behaviors.

He is a somewhat shy, anxious, or timid dog.

He urinates while making submissive postures, such as crouching, tail tucking, or rolling over and exposing his belly.

What to Do If Your Dog Has a Submissive Urination Problem:

Take your dog to the veterinarian to rule out medical reasons for the behavior.

Keep greetings low-key.

Encourage and reward confident postures (sitting, standing) from him.

Give him an alternative to behaving submissively. For example, if he knows a few commands, have him "sit" or "shake" as you approach, and reward him for obeying.

Avoid approaching him with postures that he reads as dominant. To do this:

Avoid direct eye contact. Look at his back or tail instead.

Get down on his level by bending at the knees rather than leaning over from the waist. Ask others to approach him in the same way.

Pet him under the chin rather than on top of the head.

Approach him from the side, rather than from the front, and/or present the side of your body to him, rather than your full front.

Don't punish or scold him. This will only make the problem worse.

Excitement Urination

Excitement urination occurs most often during greetings and playtime and is not accompanied by submissive posturing. Excitement urination usually resolves on its own as a dog matures. In some cases, however, the problem can persist if the dog is frequently punished or if the dog's behavior is inadvertently reinforced—such as by petting or talking to your dog in a soothing or coddling tone of voice after he urinates when excited.

Your Dog May Have an Excitement Urination Problem If:

He urinates when excited, such as during greetings or playtime.

He urinates when excited and is less than one year old.

What to Do If Your Dog Has an Excitement Urination Problem:

Take your dog to the veterinarian to rule out medical reasons for the behavior.

To avoid accidents, play outdoors until the problem is resolved.

Don't punish or scold him.

Keep greetings low-key.

When he's excited, ignore him until he's calm.

Hope this helps

I think you need to let him (your dog) that theres nothing to be afraid of anymore, he was probably mistreted and abused, he probably thinks he's in trouble where your going to put that harness on him, question yourself, does he realy need it? make him play with the harness, let him shew on it, get another one, then he would think its playtime, and he wont pee. Thats what I did with my female pom. everytime I wanted to take her for a walk, she would see the color and leash and pee all over, thinking something bad,and now she dont, in fact she barks at me to put it on her to take a walk, hope this helps, good luck.

he probably was abused.... get ready you may be working with him entently for a year.... but with commitment he can be great....sit on the floor, have some treats.... a few different kinds.. and peanut butter.... start with tossing a treat near him. let him get it. slowly toss it but not so far. he has to come closer to you.... toss another closer still... the next one put a dab of peanut butter on it..so he can taste the new treat.. again another one with pb... as he gets closer to you, smear pb, on the palm of your hand.. let him lick...and just sit there...get more pb, do it again, talk sotly, let him lick the hand and this time bring the other hand close to pet, talking gently while you do it...... thats is.... day one.......repeat tomorrow.... and the next day,,,, the next.............switch treats.... begin to make it a challange.. my dog likes apples. carefully core the apple, leaving it whole, with a hole in center fill with pb... and let him have it.......... forget the harness for now... just try to bond with him.......

Leave the harness off.