Puppy pees when he steals

[Karen Childs]

Our year old puppy pees if you try to take away a stolen item from him ( socks, mail, hat etc). Otherwise he is housebroken with no accidents in months. Even offering a treat in exchange sometimes makes him tinkle

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

So it sounds like it's a hand coming at him that triggers the submissive urinating. Has he ever been hit or physically punished?  

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Here's some good info on submissive urinating: http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/dogs/tips/submissive_urination...

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/15_02/features/Preventing-U...

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Spud still pees when someone comes into the house. Rare, but it still occurs.   Spud though, has excitement urination which is different that submissive urination. 

My suggestion is really practice your Sit and Drop it commands. Those really work.

Another thing, these dogs are born retrievers and really do need to have something in their mouths.   I wouldnt call your dog a thief or stealing, but rather retrieving!  Just like they were bred to do.  They will retrieve an endless amount of items.  Just natural. 

Do have many things around the house for your pup and exchange the item the dog should not have, for an item that is acceptable for its mouth  :)  Then say thank you.  

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I really agree that working on the "drop it" command will help this problem a lot.  That way you're not taking the object away.  The way I taught it is with a ball or toy.  I would throw it and after he caught it I'd call him to me.  Then I would say "drop it" and show a high value treat.  The second he dropped it I would give the treat.  Do this exercise several times a day, and it won't take long for the puppy to understand what this command means.  Also, I would encourage you to be very careful with what he can grab in the house.  There have been so many Doodles recently who required surgery to remove foreign objects from their stomachs. 

[Karen Childs]

Thank you for the advice. Love my puppy and he has not been hit or punished. I have tried the sit and drop it with a treat and he responded today by dropping the 'retrieved' item. So progress is in our future. Cash drooled quite a bit before he took the treat and gave up his envelope, I think he wants mail delivered to him !!! Thanks again for responding.