pomarainen

Question
I have a year-old male pomarainen, and I love him to death. I have had him for 2 weeks now and I can not take much longer of him chewing, peeing, and pooping on everything that i own. Everytime that I see him use my floor as a bathroom I show him what he has done, and then I follow that by putting him on the pee-pad. I have done this on a non-stop basis, but I have no results. What should I do?

Answer
Hi Katherine,

There's no doubt about it; housebreaking a dog or puppy is a time consuming process, and there aren't any shortcuts. It takes persistence and consistence on your part, until that light bulb goes off over your dog's head. Until then, it's quite useless, in fact it can be counter productive, for you to try to punish your dog when he soils in your home.
Yelling at, or punishing a dog for soiling in the house can train the dog to soil when his owner isn't looking, as well as leading to other behavioral issues.

The next time your dog "has an accident" in your home, take a newspaper, roll it up... and give yourself a whack on your behind, because it's never the dog's fault for soiling in the home. It's your fault, because you either weren't monitoring your dog, or you didn't take him outside in time.

The biggest thing you can do to get your dog trained, is not give him the opportunity to soil in your home. That means when you can't monitor your dog, he needs to be in a crate. A small room with a childgate won't work as well as a crate because it gives the dog room enough to soil the floor, and also sleep comfortably. That won't teach the dog anyting.

Here are directions on using a dog crate in housetraining:

http://perfectpaws.com/crt.html
http://www.caninedevelopment.com/housebreaking2.htm

It is pointless to punish your dog at any age for "accidents" that occur in your home which you do not witness. To be effective, punishment (and praise, for that matter) must closely follow your pet's action. Punishment is ineffective unless it is given immediately (within 3 seconds) after the "crime." No matter how frustrated you may be, clean up the mess and concentrate on the steps to prevent another one.  Use an enzymatic cleaner such as Nature's Miracle so your dog can't smell where he's gone before.

Until your dog is reliably housetrianed he can't have the run of your home. As I said before, when you can't watch him he should be in a crate, for all the other times he must be under your watchful eye. Keeping the dog on his leash within your home, and tying the leash to your belt loop is a good way of ensuring that the dog is always within your sight.

Until your dog is trained you need to give him the opportunity to go to the bathroom outside more often than you will after he's trained. Housebreaking pee-pads can confuse the dog. You may be unintentionally teaching your dog that it is acceptable to eliminate inside your home. Though some dogs will stay on the pads, many more "miss" the boundaries set for them. You may think your pup clearly understands that he should void on paper. Instead, he may learn that it is acceptable to eliminate anywhere in that room and think nothing of soiling in a variety of unacceptable areas in your home.

The best and most reliable way to house train your dog is to provide frequent opportunity to eliminate in an appropriate place and to reward this behavior immediately as it occurs.

To do this, walk your dog on a leash at regular intervals (at least every 2-4 hours). It is best to leash walk your dog within 20 minutes or sooner after each meal. When your dog prepares to eliminate, begin using a key word or phrase which he will soon associate with elimination (like "hurry up" or "go potty"). Use a happy and light tone of voice. . This teaches the dog to void on command so that you won't freeze unnecessarily on a cold winter night while the pup leisurely looks for just the right spot. Praise immediately once the task is completed. Immediate encouragement is necessary for your dog to associate praise with elimination outside. Make it a fun and positive experience. So much fun that he wants to go outside and do his business.

At this point, your dog needs consistency. He's had plenty of time to develop bad habits, so things won't right itself over night. But if you stay on top of things, and don't give your dog the opportunity to make mistakes, you might begin to see progress in a few weeks.

I hope I've been a help.
Best of luck,

Patti