ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
by Carlee

I have a two year old maltese named Brandon and he has bad breath and pees when excited, scared or upset.. What can I do .. Please e-mail..

DISCUSSION:

Our dog also pees when excited, like when we return home. We were told to ignore him for about 10 min. and avoid eye contact. It does seem to help somewhat. They also suggested "flooding", having many people come over, and the hopefully the dog wouldn't think it was such a big deal anymore. That worked for the session, but in real life, he was back to being his same old self. We had hoped that he would outgrow this problem. Our dog is 1-1/2. It is quite embarrassing when friends come over, and he leaks! Hope some people respond with some good advise!
-Patti

Dear Carlee, This sounds like a difficult problem. I have read a little about this, and it seems to be linked to very submissive behaviour (your dog is showing that he is happy to see you, and acknowledging his reverence to you by peeing!) You should never scold these dogs for this behaviour -- it only makes it worse. Instead you need to try building his confidence. When Touquet was a puppy, he did this occasionally. I resolved the problem by immediately picking him up and putting him on his papers as soon as I walked in the door. Lots of praise when he did it there! In terms of the bad breath, have you checked his teeth and gums? Sometimes dogs with gum disease will have bad breath. If this is the case, your vet can help. One last thing -- there is a great book on dog behaviour by Dr. Nicholas Dodman called "The Dog Who Loved Too Much". It helped me alot with Separation Anxiety, and may address your problem as well.
-Barbara

Snowball is 12 and still has episodes of this happening when he gets excited. Want to talk about embarrassing? Whenever I take Snowball over a friend's house, he gets so excited that without any notice, a little poop comes flying from his bum. No warning, no assuming poop position, nothing. He's just running around and suddenly, flying projectile. The worst was when I took him with me to vote. Not thinking, I put him down on the floor and sure as you know what, a little poop came flying out. Everyone started laughing. All I could say was, "Well, that's Snowball's vote." Some things you just gotta laugh at.
-Joanne

Hi, I have both a male and female Maltese. My female leaks when she gets excited and I use the word excited when either my husband or I come home after a period of absense for a while. My vet suggested I ignore her very briefly to give her a chance to calm down and I have started doing that and it works for me. She only weighs 2 3/4 lbs and is 1 yr and my male weighs 3 3/4 lbs and is 2 yrs. No problem with him, just her. Try ignoring her very briefly and see if it improves, Good luck.
-Pat

No one seemed to address the first question about bad breath. My Maltese, Ashley (6 yrs.), had terrible breath. It was to the point that I did not want to play with her because it made me sick. The vet suggested a teeth cleaning (it was about $60). He then suggested that we brush her teeth every day. The teeth cleaning made a tremendous difference, so you may want to consider it. I suggest talking to your vet about the problem.
-Andy

About the bad breath. Oral hygiene may be the culprit (though for a while, Lucy ate the cat's food and her breath was horrendous. Also she may be eating her or another pup's feces, which causes breath to reek). I was on hold for making a vet appointment yesterday, and their recording talked about a new product (I can't remember the name exactly, Oro "something") available that goes in drinking water and keeps the bad breath away. I would have the dog's teeth checked to see if that's the problem and would ask the vet what he/she knows about this product. If I am over there in the next few days, I will ask Lucy's (and the cat's) vet what the product is called and will let you know.
-cathy brown