Question
We have two Labradors, a male and female from the same litter, that we got when they were two months. They are now 5 months old. They are both very friendly and loving with the kids, but the female seems to be afraid of me.
When I call for the female, who is also smaller than the male, she really avoids me. She will normally cower and urinate on the spot most times when I call her. The male dog is very confident.
My one theory is that because the male is very dominant over her and a little jealous, she is afraid he will hurt her if I show her affection.
The other possibility I have thought of is that her reaction stems from when I have been reprimanding them (often accompanied by a smack) to discourage defecating on the porch and jumping up on us and the children, but then I wonder why only she is afraid and not the male, as both have been reprimanded the same way.
Any ideas?
UPDATE: I found an interesting article about Submissive Urination which describes a number of causes and how to address them. Thanks for all the input.
http://www.dogcareclassroom.com/dog-submissive-urination/
Answer
Just because both dogs have been getting the same reprimands does not mean they will react the same way. If the female has more of a submissive personality to begin with, which it sounds like from your other statements, she is very likely to have a stronger fear response. As a result, she is learning to associate her name -- or at least, her name when called by you -- with punishment.
You can try positively loading the word by saying her name and then reinforcing with something positive: a treat, a favorite toy, a gentle scritch, whatever she likes. Start by doing that several times in a row -- name, treat, name, treat -- a couple of times a day. Since she seems to be afraid that the male will intervene, do this with the male closed in another room to remove that external stimulus.
Once she is more comfortable with you calling her name, reintroduce the male during these times, but be ready to remove him again if he does try to interfere with your affection to the female.
(On a side note, the best way to discourage jumping, I've found, is to just turn your body away from them when they jump, and give a firm "No!" or "No jump!" Follow that with an alternate command, like "Sit" and then treat and pet when they do. The point is to let them know that if they want affection, they have to ask for it the right way -- by sitting, not jumping. Always replace a negative behavior with a positive one so they can learn what they should do.)
Answered By - Roger