House breaking and health

Question
Hi Carrie,

I was wondering if you know what it means when a poms tail is down. I have a 8 month old female. She was fine this afternoon. Took her outside for about 10 minutes and since I have brought her in all she is doing is laying around. She is usually full of energy. She is eating a little and drinking water. I know you may not know the answer but Ive never seen a poms tail down before.
I also have a house breaking problem. We've tried the crate...she goes in it. I tried a litter box...she wont even go by it. I can take her out every hour and I still have a problem. While inside she is confined to the kitchen ...used to use pee pads but now just goes anywhere. Any suggestions.  Thanks for your help.

Answer
Hi Kim,

I don't know what it means if the tail is down.  The only time my pom's tail has been down is after playing outside with another dog until he was exhausted.  As soon as I noticed his tail was down I picked him up to end the playing.  I recommend you ask your vet especially if anything else has changed, i.e., eating, energy levels, mood, potty habits, etc.

Regarding housetraining: I recommend you have her spayed (if she's not already).  It helps with housetraining immensely.  Why don't you try pee pads in the liter box?  You said she won't go near the liter box.  Don't wait for her to go near it--put her in the box and say, "Go potty".  That's how I trained my pom to use one.  I just kept putting him in it when I was pretty sure he had to go.  Sometimes he wouldn't go so I would try again later.  If he went I would praise him lavishly and sometimes give him a treat.  If she poops on the floow put it in the liter box.  (Don't leave it in there too long though.)  If she potty's on the floor wipe it up with the pee pad and put the pee pad in the liter box.  Also, stay with her outside until she goes.

Hope this helps.  Hang in there, be persistant and consistant and you'll get her trained.  

Best Regards,
Carrie