small dogs

Question
We recently bought a (about 10 pounds)Pekingese. and need some advise.  We were told the little dog was 10-12 months old, but we have noticed that she is missing some of her bottom teeth. Is there any way a Vet can determine how old a dog is??  Also we were told the little lady was house broken, but we are finding out that she is not.  We are having some trouble. We have always been told that the best way to house break a dog is to Kennel train them, and that they will not go to the bathroom while in their crate.  She has gone three times now. The crate that we were told to buy is a 24X18X20 crate, and I think that is about the smallest you can find for a dog.   We are begriming to think that she is a lot older than the people said.  Any ideas- she sure is a sweet little thing.

Answer
Pekingese are the sweetest little things aren't they? Yes, a vet can look at her teeth and her eyes and pretty much tell her age. Most dogs get gray hair around the age of 6 so if she has any of that, she is way older than you thought.

You are going to have your work cut out for you house training her at this age, but it's not impossible. You will have to be very diligent about taking her outside on a leash right after she eats, later in the morning, at night and before bed. Just take her out whether or not she looks like she wants or needs to go out. Give her a small piece of her food as a reward when she does go outside, but do NOT punish her for accidents in the house. To her they are not and she won't understand you getting upset at her. You must be very patient with a dog like this and she will get the idea eventually.

Crates need to be big enough for a dog to stand, sit and turn around in. Crating only works for house broken or young dogs that are new to them. This dog might have been in a crate all of the time. Was she used for breeding? She almost sounds like a puppy mill dog. I hope that you got some kind of papers with her if you paid for her.

Sounds like the owners were not up-front with you about much. You can try and continue to crate her after you take her out for the night. Put a very small bowl of food or water in there with her and that might keep her from pottying in there but I doubt it.

Being patient with her, training her in obedience, and just having a relationship with her will help you in training her to be housebroken as well as just being a good dog. Do these things and you will have a long, happy life with her. Post a photo of her if you can. I just love those dogs. I have never had one but my boss did and we all just adored her.

Make sure you have her on a good diet as well, such as Science Diet small bites Adult food. That will help with house breaking as well, as it makes the stool small and very easy to clean up. It is highly digestible hence the small stool size. It is made to give her optimal nutrition with a small amount of food so it costs less per feeding then the average food.

Switch her over slowly over a 7 day period if you buy some for her. It will make her coat super shiny and soft too.