Pomeranian Housebreaking

Question
Dear Sarah,
I have a 5 1/2 month old female Pomeranian and I am having an increasingly difficult time housebreaking her.  I would like to know how many times a day should a Pomeranian urinate normally?  I have been extremely dedicated to the training effort for the 2 months that I have had her and I have seen almost no progress.  I watch for the signs that she needs to go and sometimes she will scratch on the door.  Sometimes she scratches on the door every 10 minutes or so and she seems to want to go out even more often after dark.  Other times she will urinate outside and then come back in and urinate inside within a 15 minute time frame.  I am crate training her during the times that I am unable to supervise her and during the night.  She is able to hold her bladder during the time that she is in the crate.  I am a student so I am able to be home with her for most of the day so she does not spend an excessive amount of time in the crate.  I have tried putting her on a set food and water schedule but I have since abandoned that idea because she seemed thirsty constantly and I was afraid that it was not healthy for her.  I have even tried to paper train her with absolutely no success.  I use an odor neutralizer on the areas that she has had accidents on and she seems to show no preference to where she decides to urinate.  At times she has even urinated on the couch.  I am watching her every second that she is out of her crate and I generally catch her in the act, scold her and immediately take her to outside, then reward her for using the bathroom outside.  However, it seems to make no difference and she will look you in the eye and do it again 20 minutes later.  I took her to the veterinarian for a check-up shortly after I bought her and I mentioned the fact that she urinates a lot.  I was told that this is expected in puppies and that she will probably grow out of it.   However, I am desperate for some help and would like to know if what I have described is a normal behavior.  If you have any advice or suggestions please let me know because I am pulling my hair out over this.  I can't fully enjoy her because I am either too busy cleaning up her accidents or taking her outside because she scratches on the door every few minutes.  I have successfully housebroken dogs before but this experience is nothing like what I have experienced in the past.  I do not know what else to do.

Sincerely,
Melanie H.


Answer
She sbhould really be starting to grow out of the excessive urinating by now, i would suggest another vet check as a precaution, monitor how much she drinks carefully as drinking and urinating excessively can be a sign of diabetes insipidus and diabetes mellitus.  It is highly unlikely a puppy that young has either of these conditions but it is possible.
Your answer may be to step the crate training up a gear, only let her out of the crate every half to urinate and then take her for a walk immediately she urinates (or give her half an hours play time) if she urinates inside put her in her crate immediately and let her out again in half an hour.  If she doesnt urinate when you take her out put her back in her crate after ten minutes and leave her for another half hour.
Its a bit of a harrowing process but toy dogs are notoriously difficult to housetrain (second only to jackrussell terriers) so keep persevering.
I hope this helps
Good luck
Sarah