new puppy that was scared of last owner

Question
I'm getting a Pomeranian puppy that is 5 months old. Her owner is never home with her and is always yelling at her. She is not house trained and he has her in doggy diapers. She is scared of her owner. I would love some help on how to handle her and to help her be a happy little puppy again.  

Answer
As a rescuer I encounter similar situations quiet often. People get dogs before realizing dogs need companionship, they need to be trained in order to know how to behave for us.

Your puppy isn't properly socialized and has only experienced the loud and unfair side of a human. Don't be discouraged, she's so young, she'll come around quick!!

1) Enroll her in a group class. Social, controlled settings like in a group class, combined with exercises which increase her selfesteem and confidence will help her big time. You and her will bond thru-out this process and she'll learn her actions will only earn her praise and smiles.

2) Get her a small crate, one cozy enough for her to get up, turn and comfortable lay in it. Dogs are denning creatures by nature and a crate helps them to feel safe, dismiss stress and even if you're not around, they still experience the closeness of you since you put her in there.
It's a sanctuary, a comfort zone.

3) To proper potty train her you will need to keep her under control 24-7 so she learns where to go when. Never wait until a puppy/dog signals to go outside. Always be ahead of the game -- which ultimately makes you the benevolent leader, the Alpha this pup needs so urgently.

An Alpha is always settle, calm, soft spoken, relaxed and confidant.

Keep her on a leash in the house so you can control her actions. Set a timer and take her out for the first day every 30 - 45 minutes. Say "Let's go potty outside" with a happy, up-beat voice. IF she does go potty, praise, praise, praise! You can also give her a little treat.
If she doesn't have to go potty it's no big deal. She may simply doesn't have to go.

Make sure the water dish is outside so she has a quicker imprint that potty/water goes hand in and (Or paw in paw in this case, LOL).

If you are busy:

In-home moments like taking a shower or a nap = She goes in the crate.
If you're on the computer, put a little dog bed next to your chair, place her on it, give her toys and some bones (www.merrickpetcare.com -- I prefer hooves and G.I. bones), but tether her leash to the chair so she can't sneak away and do a tinkle somewhere.

When coming out of her crate always take her straight outside to go potty, if she took a nap on the bed, same idea. If you're on the computer for a while, also take her straight outside when you're done.

She should be sleeping in the living room, in her crate. At night, if she cries, wait 10 minutes to see if she'll go back asleep. If not, take her outside but only whisper "Go potty" to her, don't otherwise interact, don't play. If she's gone potty, put her back in her crate and whisper "Good night".

If she continues to cry you know now for sure she just wants out and play. Don't be tempted!! Leave her in there so she can learn from you setting the rules that at night it's quiet and everyone's asleep.

The next morning greet her with a happy "Good morning, time to go potty" and take her out.

According to your life/work schedule feed and water her. At 5 month old twice a day is appropriate for food. Don't feed later than P.M. so she'll be able to sleep sound thru the night.

Desensitizing:
If you can, have male friends come to your home. Advise them to ignore her and always speak with a soft voice. After a bit, if it's OK with you, they can try to offer her little bits of treats so she learns that men aren't always loud and harsh.

Is she spayed yet? If not you may want to get her done ASAP before her potty problem becomes a marking issue, too.

If you need more help, feel free to contact me again.


Sincerely,

DogNanny 911