My Chi is a SPAZ...Please Help

[Guest Anonymous]

Ok I need help please. I have a chi that will be 2 in Nov. She is a spaz. Her name is Kagome. Here is the problem. When you pet her she rolls on her back and pees at you,. When you try to pick her up same thing. She will come to you no problem but just dont pick her up. She rolls on her back when ever someone pets her and her tail is always flat between her legs. Also if you tap her by accident she cries like she is being murdered. The other night she started running up and down the stairs screaming. When I finally caught her she rolled over pee'd and then as I was searching for blood or wounds which there wasnt any, I saw a wad of tape on her side. I touched the tape it fell off but it had sent her into a frezny scaring the life out of me. She wasnt hurt but sounded like she was. The tape wasnt even stuck on her just fell off with a touch. Lastly the spaz will not go outside potty unless she is ready. and then after playing and going out she will come in and still poop. She wakes up and runs to another bed, climbs under the covers and wont go out. She hides under the bed and will come out when there is food. This dog is driving me nutz.
Any and all advice would be greatly digested and used.
:drinking:

[rotten_two]

when was the last time kagome saw the vet? if it has been a while you may want to take her in and make sure there are no underlying problems causing her to cry. do you do much body handling with her? you know like stroking, looking in her ears, mouth, feet? it almost sounds like she is not accepting of things touching her. have you had her since puppyhood? there could have been some trauma in her life somewhere that makes her sensitive to things touching her. these may/may not be her problems but i am just trying to think what might cause this behavior. some dogs are just kind of wimpy about their personal space. i have seen dogs that yipe if you get too close to them and have also seen dogs that could not careless if you fall on them. your vet might be more able to make a conclusion.

submissive urination -- that is what is happening when she rolls over and pees. there are a couple things that are important here. do not scold under any circumstances. if you scold then she will only be more submissive and the problem is likely to get worse. clean it up and act like it never happened. do you do much training with her? sometimes overly sensitive dogs need to build up some confidence and training, agility, pet/parent bonding type activities can help.
in general let her approach people. don't loom over her, don't reach and pat her on the head and don't make a big fuss. in greeting her it is probably best to ignore her the first 5 minutes you are home or have company. then when you finally do acknowledge her approach her from the side and pet her under her chin or on the chest as these body postures are less intimidating.

pooping in the house -- hmmm so she goes outside plays then comes in and poops? at my house it is the other way around. go outside go potty/poo and then you get the life reward of play. some dogs learn that when they poop outside the fun ends and they have to go back inside so they try to hold it for as long as they can and they go potty/poo in the house. i would suggest modifying her outside routine (you need a potty poo command if you don't have one already). if you suspect she has to go potty/poo then take her to her potty yard or where ever she normally goes, give her the potty cue, and give her ample time to do the doo! when she does it give her lots of praise and treats (i wouldn't be too boisterous given her skittish nature) and then let her play with a favorite toy or let her sniff around for 5 minutes whatever makes her happy. now if you catch her in the act in the house you need to interrupt her by saying no, outside -- and i bet you don't even have to be that firm with her-- then take her outside. with this particular dog i would be careful about walking over and picking her up to take her outside. maybe you can say no outside and call her to the door, get a leash on and then take her outside and show her where she is supposed to go. it is harder if you don't catch her in the act because she doesn't get interrupted and redirected but also because she gets a big sense of relief by eliminating.

i hope this is helpful to some degree -- again i would get her checked at the vet just to make sure she is healthy.

[courtnek]

RT is right on with her answer. Your pup is definitely over-submissive.
I would do exactly as she said about the housebreaking, but I would like to add something about the submissiveness. I have an overly-anxious foxhound. It took quite a while, but she is finally becoming more outgoing.
first off, dont pick your pup up if you can avoid it. Instead, make a habit of sitting on the floor by her to pet her, off to the side. avoid reaching for her head, like RT said. approach from the side. on a floor level, she will feel less intimidated by your size. slowly, over time, sit on the floor and pick her up and set her in your lap, then give her a treat for a reward if she doesnt submissively pee. look away from her as you do this, so she doesnt feel threatened. find a fun game you can play, like fetch, or tug of war, and let her win every other game. build up her confidence little by little, and the submissive peeing should stop.

good luck

:fadein:

[TDG]

i recommend getting the books "on talking terms with dogs: calming signals" by turid rugaas (ISBN: 0967479606) and "the other end of the leash" by patricia mcconnell (ISBN: 0345446798). you can easily find both of them on amazon if you do a search for the ISBN numbers. if you order both of them, you'll even get free shipping.

yeah, you'll have to spend a few bucks, but on the other hand you'll be learning so much more than anyone on any forum could tell you in just a few pages worth of posts on the internet. pat mcconnell and turid rugaas are two of the most brilliant people in the dog training world. :)

[imported_Kat]

It certainly sounds as if she is not confident with being handled by humans and hyper sensitive. You could try ignoring her when she screams for attention like with the tape. By this I mean in that sort of situation remove the tape but don't reassure her and simply walk away. You could aslo try something to build up her confidence and her bond with you like agility (even little dogs can do agility!). Don't excessively cuddle her but take a colder approach slightly and just pet her without picking her up then walk away. This will make her realise that she will not always be given a lot of attention when a human is present. Chis can be tough little dogs regardless of their size, and in essence its a matter of trying to make her a little stronger emotionally.

Good luck :wink: