Joined
·
93 Posts
I've done a search for this sort of thing, and it seems as if it may be fairly normal behavior for a puppy of her age, but I'm still worried and would love to hear suggestions/feedback.
A little background info on Echo: we chose her from a litter of 8 puppies, largely for her personality. She seemed the most friendly and sure-of-herself, she held her tail the highest, pranced around, etc. The name that was first given to her (by the couple that we got her from) was "Prissy" because of her diva personality. She was 7 weeks old then.
We began socializing Echo with people as soon as we could: i.e. take her up to the workplaces of my hubby and I, invite over friends, etc. She did BRILLIANTLY with everyone she came in contact with! She seemed sure of herself, and loved being around everyone.
Fast-forward to now: Echo is now thirteen weeks old. Little by little (over the past couple of weeks), I've noticed lately that she's been peeing more and more when introduced to someone new or when I've been away for a few hours and return home. It's more of "dribble" than pee, but it's troubled me.
Well today, I took Echo to the vet for her 3rd puppy shots/ first rabies shot. From the beginning, I noticed that she was acting a little more nervous/ agitated. She kept pacing and yawning. She dribbled in the floor a bit in the waiting room. When it was her turn to go back, she was not nearly as "friendly" and sure of herself as the last time. She was acting very scared. When the vet tech put her on the table to get checked by the vet, the floodgates opened. Echo peed a HUGE puddle. She was noticeably agitated. I understand that the vet is not a pleasant experience for most dogs, but she just acted so differently that she did for her last shot a month ago.
We left the vet, and I had to stop by my office to pick up something on my way home (I work at a university). She's been introduced several times to my colleagues before, and has always acted fine with them. When we went in the building, a few of them (and a few students) wanted to see Echo. She peed three times in the ten or so minutes we were in the building, all when greeting people. She jumped up on people and wagged her tail, but peed none-the-less. Even though she was her normal, friendly self, she seemed to act much more submissive to people than usual. I also noticed she held a much lower posture and tail position than usual.
It's just odd that this has started happening all of a sudden. Last weekend, a man from our church came over and she greeted him at the door with a sprinkle. Could she be doing this out of fear? Submission? She's just acting more submissive with strangers... her body language, the peeing... If this is submission, I feel like we're doing something wrong raising her. We've made a point to base the vast majority of her training on positive. She was such a confident puppy not too long ago. We certainly don't love her any less... we just hope we're not the cause of this. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
A little background info on Echo: we chose her from a litter of 8 puppies, largely for her personality. She seemed the most friendly and sure-of-herself, she held her tail the highest, pranced around, etc. The name that was first given to her (by the couple that we got her from) was "Prissy" because of her diva personality. She was 7 weeks old then.
We began socializing Echo with people as soon as we could: i.e. take her up to the workplaces of my hubby and I, invite over friends, etc. She did BRILLIANTLY with everyone she came in contact with! She seemed sure of herself, and loved being around everyone.
Fast-forward to now: Echo is now thirteen weeks old. Little by little (over the past couple of weeks), I've noticed lately that she's been peeing more and more when introduced to someone new or when I've been away for a few hours and return home. It's more of "dribble" than pee, but it's troubled me.
Well today, I took Echo to the vet for her 3rd puppy shots/ first rabies shot. From the beginning, I noticed that she was acting a little more nervous/ agitated. She kept pacing and yawning. She dribbled in the floor a bit in the waiting room. When it was her turn to go back, she was not nearly as "friendly" and sure of herself as the last time. She was acting very scared. When the vet tech put her on the table to get checked by the vet, the floodgates opened. Echo peed a HUGE puddle. She was noticeably agitated. I understand that the vet is not a pleasant experience for most dogs, but she just acted so differently that she did for her last shot a month ago.
We left the vet, and I had to stop by my office to pick up something on my way home (I work at a university). She's been introduced several times to my colleagues before, and has always acted fine with them. When we went in the building, a few of them (and a few students) wanted to see Echo. She peed three times in the ten or so minutes we were in the building, all when greeting people. She jumped up on people and wagged her tail, but peed none-the-less. Even though she was her normal, friendly self, she seemed to act much more submissive to people than usual. I also noticed she held a much lower posture and tail position than usual.
It's just odd that this has started happening all of a sudden. Last weekend, a man from our church came over and she greeted him at the door with a sprinkle. Could she be doing this out of fear? Submission? She's just acting more submissive with strangers... her body language, the peeing... If this is submission, I feel like we're doing something wrong raising her. We've made a point to base the vast majority of her training on positive. She was such a confident puppy not too long ago. We certainly don't love her any less... we just hope we're not the cause of this. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
