Unexplained piddles

[RubyWitch]

Thelma is an approxiamtely 2 y/o female Mini-Doxie. She was rescued from a puppy mill where she had been kept  outside, in a crate, for probably most of her life until her rescue at 9 months of age. We also own a rescued German Shepard X..............the vet thinks Sheltie or Australian Shepard. The two of them took to each other immediately and while the Doxie is only 12 pounds (well, OK, 15.........the entire neighborhood feeds her!) and the GS is 80+, SHE rules the roost. She was shy for about the first 15 minutes she was with us and then totally took over the house and our hearts. We have NEVER hit any of our animals but we do sometimes raise our voices if they are really out of bounds. Sorry, I will get to my question. Thelma has adapted to our home and us and our 5 cats and is calm (well, as calm as a Mini CAN be) well behaved 97.8% of the time, housebroken, unless it's freezing, (we're working on this) and is basically a very well adjusted dog. My problem is that when I go to bed and she tries to jump up, (Yes, she sleeps under the covers with my husband and I) she doesn't always make it the first or second or even third time, so I call her to my side and reach down to help her up. I am not angry or exasperated when I do this, but every single time I reach down for her, she will pee. Not a lot, just dripple a few drops which makes me think she is frightened! She doesn't piddle if my husband picks her up. Is it possible it's because a woman may have been in charge of the puppy mill and this fear stems from that? I never yell at her for this.........it just makes me feel sad. I can pick her up any other time and she doesn't react this way. Any ideas of what's going on, what I can do to help her?
Really sorry for the length of the post. I don't get out much................LOL
Thanks so much
Linda

[RubyWitch]

So you own one of the little beasts yourself, eh? Was never a small dog person until Thelma came into my life...........I am now a hard-core "doxie" person! She has the most unique personality!

Thank you so much for your prompt reply. It makes so much sense to me now. My only remaining question is why she doesn't do this when my husband helps her into bed? Does she not view him as dominant then?

I am aware of the back problems of this breed and will not let her attempt to jump anymore. But I know she climbs into bed when we're at work and she's off and on the furniture all the time.
Is there any sort of supplement we could give her to keep her spine healthy, her bones strong? Some particular exercise that will strengthen it?

I understand this post may not reach you personally, so I will go to the sites you've given me..............perhaps my questions will be answered there.

Again, thank you so much.
Warmly.
Linda Pedersen (and Thelma)

[Jennifer Mathis, D.V.M.]

Being a "doxie" owner myself, I understand what you're saying.  The dribbling urine is likely a submissive response.  She views you as dominant.  Not making eye contact, not approaching from above, but from the "front" is best to help not cause her to dribble.  There isn't a true fix.  Sometimes training can help, but it is doubtful to help in this case as it's occurring on an off in a non threatening situation.

Be sure to limit that jumping as much as possible - including jumping down, as back problems is something she is quite prone to -- I know with my own little black and tan mini.

There should be some more information on submissive urination on veterinarypartner.com or at http://westwoodanimalhospital.com/ then select behavior info.

Keep your sweetie safe!