pom boy

Question
i have recently baught a pomeranian supposed 4 week old "PUPPY"  but infact i have found out he is 5 months old and barely paper trained, i was wondering what is the best way to teach him to go potty outside rahter then continuously on paper or inside, i sometimes keep him outside in the back garden with me for 2 hourse and he wont go, but as soon as i open the door to the house again he will run to the paper and do a pee or poo, why does he not go outside?  please respond via e mail and i will be eternally greatful. sincerely. charlotte  

Answer
Well, Charlotte, I'm glad he is not 4 weeks old, because that is WAY too young to be separated from his mother and littermates. Puppies should remain with their mothers at least until they are 5-6 weeks old, and then, should remain with their littermates until at least 8 weeks of age so that they can learn how to properly interact with other dogs. Dogs that were taken away from their littermates too early, and not given playtime or interaction with other dogs during that time, often grow up to be overly-dominant towards other dogs, or simply just do not understand doggie language all that well, which can result in fights.

At 5 months old, he's still very much a baby, and I'm actually impressed that he is as well trained as he is - it sounds like he fully understands where he's supposed to be going potty (on the paper). He does not go outside because he's been taught to go inside, on paper. If you want to teach him to go outside, then you need to remove the paper from inside the house. It may help to put some paper outside, and as he gets used to going outside to potty, you can gradually decrease the surface area of the paper, until it is gone completely and he's doing his business on the grass, or wherever you want him to go.

When he's loose in the house, you need to keep an eye on him at all times, and you might even let him drag a 6ft leash so that if he starts to go potty in the house, you can quickly get him outside using the leash. Use baby gates or closed doors to keep him in the same room as you. If you catch him starting to potty inside, make a sudden noise to startle him. This noise can be clapping your hands, saying 'eh eh,' or whatever noise you want to use. You can use 'no' if you can say it in such a way that it startles him and makes him stop what he's doing. Then, encourage him to follow you to the door (do not pick him up and carry him unless he absolutely will not follow you), and get him outside ASAP, using the leash, so he understands he's out there to go potty, and not to play. When he does his business out there, praise praise praise him!

When you cannot supervise him, put him in a crate, but he should not be left in the crate for more than 5-6 hours straight, and that's only if he went to the bathroom right before being put in the crate.