QuestionI took in a 1 year old pomeranian male from a girl that was disabled and could not give him as much attention as needed. Buddy, has a couple problems. The worst one is that he poops and urinates in the house. The second was mostly corrected when I had him fixed. The first one he still has problems with. I let him out many times during the day, when he first gets up, before bed, ect. He is also in a crate while I am at work and asleep because he will poop many times. He will usually go outside without a problem, but then he will go inside too. He knows that he is going to get in trouble when he goes in the house but he still does it. He will not go in his crate and he knows to bark when he has to go but he will not do this if he is out in the house. The next problem is that he eats his own poop as well as my cat's. I know that when you train a dog you are supposed to teach it to go in the same place outside, but when he goes out he eats his poop from the previous day. (I put him outside on a leash by himself because it takes longer for him to go if you stand outside with him, he also loves to play in the snow.) When he eats cat poop he gets in trouble, and he knows this, but he will still do it. The vet gave us some stuff that you sprinkle on the cats food to make their poop unappealing to him but that did not work. My house is very wide open so I cannot shut him off into a room with just me. He does not like to be in a bedroom or bathroom by himself, he will bark and be destructive (chewing and clawing stuff). I do not want to leave him in the crate all the time because I think he needs time to run around and play.
Please help me!
AnswerYour dog doesn't know that cat poo is not ok to eat. To them it smells and tastes good so you cannot expect them to not eat it. It is up to you to make sure it is not available.
They DO need time to run around and play but if he is being destructive then he is having too much freedom and the only way to teach him is to take some of that away. Only let him play in the house freely when you can keep a close eye on him. Every time he has an accident, get a rolled up newspaper and hit yourself on the head and say "I wasn't watching my Pom, I wasn't watching my Pom!" :-)
It takes much diligence and patients in training a dog. Spaying her will not do anything for the bladder control but is a great idea if she is not a breeding bitch.
Here are some tips-
What is Crate Training?
Crate training is one of the most efficient and effective ways to housetrain a dog. Dogs do not like to soil their resting/sleeping quarters if given adequate opportunity to eliminate elsewhere. Temporarily confining your dog to a small area strongly inhibits the tendency to urinate and defecate. However, there is still a far more important aspect of crate training.
If your dog does not eliminate while she is confined, then she will need to eliminate when she is released, i.e., she eliminates when you are present to reward and praise her.
Be sure to understand the difference between temporarily confining your dog to a crate and long-term confinement when you are not home. The major purpose of confinement when your are not home is to restrict mistakes to a small protected area. The purpose of crate training is quite the opposite. Short-term confinement to a crate is intended to inhibit your dog from eliminating when confined, so that she will want to eliminate when released from confinement and taken to an appropriate area. Crate training also helps teach your dog to have bladder and bowel control. Instead of going whenever she feels like it, she learns to hold it and go at convenient scheduled times.
Crate training should not be abused, otherwise the problem will get drastically worse. The crate is not intended as a place to lock up the dog and forget her for extended periods of time. If your dog soils her crate because you left her there too long, the housetraining process will be set back several weeks, if not months.
Your dog should only be confined to a crate when you are at home. Except at night, give your dog an opportunity to relieve herself every hour. Each time you let her out, put her on leash and immediately take her outside. Once outside, give her about three to five minutes to produce. If she does not eliminate within the allotted time period, simply return her to her crate. If she does perform, then immediately reward her with praise, food treats, affection, play, an extended walk and permission to run around and play in your house for a couple of hours. For young pups, after 45 minutes to an hour, take her to her toilet area again. Never give your dog free run of your home unless you know without a doubt that her bowels and bladder are empty.
During this crate training procedure, keep a diary of when your dog eliminates. If you have her on a regular feeding schedule, she should soon adopt a corresponding elimination schedule. Once you know what time of day she usually needs to eliminate, you can begin taking her out only at those times instead of every hour. After she has eliminated, she can have free, but supervised, run of your house. About one hour before she needs to eliminate (as calculated by your diary) put her in her crate. This will prevent her from going earlier than you had planned. With your consistency and abundance of rewards and praise for eliminating outside, she will become more reliable about holding it until you take her out. Then the amount of time you confine her before her scheduled outing can be reduced and eliminated.
Mistakes and Accidents
If you ever find an accident in the house just clean it up. Do not punish your dog. All this means is that you have given her unsupervised access to your house too soon. Until she can be trusted, don't give her unsupervised free run of your house. If mistakes and accidents occur, it is best to go back to the crate training. You need to more accurately predict when your dog needs to eliminate and she needs more time to develop bladder and bowel control.
When You Are Not Home
Confine your puppy to a small, 'puppy-proofed' room and paper the entire floor. Put his bed, toys and food/water bowls there. At first there will be no rhyme or reason to where your pup eliminates. He will go everywhere and anywhere. He will also probably play with the papers, chew on them, and drag them around his little den. Most puppies do this and you just have to live with it. Don't get upset, just accept it as life with a young puppy. The important thing is that when you get home, clean up the mess and lay down fresh papers.
Passive Training
While your puppy is confined, he is developing a habit of eliminating on paper because no matter where he goes, it will be on paper. As time goes on, he will start to show a preferred place to do his business. When this place is well established and the rest of the papers remain clean all day, then gradually reduce the area that is papered. Start removing the paper that is furthest away from his chosen location. Eventually you will only need to leave a few sheets down in that area only. If he ever misses the paper, then you've reduced the area too soon. Go back to papering a larger area or even the entire room. Once your pup is reliably going only on the papers you've left, then you can slowly and gradually move his papers to a location of your choice. Move the papers only an inch a day. If he misses the paper again, then you're moving too fast. Go back a few steps and start over. Don't be discouraged if your puppy seems to be making remarkable progress and then suddenly you have to return to papering the entire room. This is normal. There will always be minor setbacks. If you stick with this procedure, your puppy will be paper trained.
When You Are Home
When you are home but can't attend to your puppy, follow the same procedures described above. But the more time you spend with your pup, the quicker he will be housetrained. Your objective is to take your puppy to his toilet area every time he needs to eliminate. This should be about once every 45 minutes; just after a play session; just after eating or drinking; and just upon waking. When he does eliminate in his toilet area, praise and reward him profusely and enthusiastically! Don't use any type of reprimand or punishment for mistakes or accidents. Your puppy is too young to understand and it can set the housetraining process back drastically. Don't allow your puppy freedom outside of his room unless you know absolutely for sure that his bladder and bowels are completely empty. When you do let him out, don't let him out of your sight. It is a good idea to have him on leash when he is exploring your home. He can't get into trouble if you are attached to the other end of the leash. Every 30 minutes return your pup to his toilet area. As your puppy becomes more reliable about using his toilet area and his bowel and bladder control develops, he can begin to spend more time outside his room with you in the rest of your home. Begin by giving him access to one room at a time. Let him eat, sleep and play in this room but only when he can be supervised. When you cannot supervise him, put him back in his room.
Active Training
The most important thing you can do to make housetraining happen as quickly as possible is to reward and praise your puppy every time he goes in the right place. The more times he is rewarded, the quicker he will learn.
Key to Success
Consistency and Patience. Never scold or punish your puppy for mistakes and accidents. The older your pup gets, the more he will be able to control his bladder and bowels. Eventually your pup will have enough control that he will be able to "hold it" for longer and longer periods of time. Let your puppy do this on his own time. When training is rushed, problems usually develop. Don't forget, most puppies are not reliably housetrained until they are 6 months old.
Your Pom will learn to go where you want as long as you are consistent in your training.
Good luck!
-Trish
Gemini Poms
