Stubborn Pom Puppy?

[SalaamDementia]

Hello.

I’ve spent a lot of time reading around the forum and have learned a considerable amount, which I’m so thankful for. I’m hoping that making a new thread about this isn’t too annoying – I know there are lots and lots of them. But I need a bit more guidance with an issue I’m having with my pup, Gizmo. He’s about 13 weeks old, a very hyper, happy Pomeranian. He’s a smart little dog and catches onto things quickly. He knows how to sit, come and stay – he’s not always consistent with responding, but he seems to get the idea.

But house training seems to be a constant struggle with him. I try and keep him on a schedule and take him out about once an hour, sometimes more than that. He stays right by my side for the most part while we’re inside, but it seems the second I look away he’s left a puddle or a pile on the floor for me. If I catch him in the act I’ll immediately tell him no and take him outside to finish. The most frustrating thing is that I’ll take him out and spend 15 or 20 minutes letting him sniff around without doing anything – so we go back in. Only a few minutes after being inside he’s going on the floor. It just seems like he doesn’t understand that outside is the place to be going potty.

I’ve tried putting him on a leash and taking him into the yard, so he understands it’s not time to play – once he goes potty he can play. But he refuses to cooperate with that idea. He barks and flips around, trying to get me to let go of the leash. He will walk nicely on the leash with me when we go on walks, but he will not cooperate with the idea of having the leash on him while in the backyard.

I understand he’s got a small bladder and not full control of his bowels at this age, but I know he can hold it. He sleeps in his crate every night and he goes in it during the day when we need to leave the house. He has yet to have any kind of accident while he was in his crate. He goes right outside after being in it for any amount of time and he gets lots and lots of praise when he goes potty outside.

I’ve had some people tell me that it’s the breed – poms are stubborn and hard to potty train. I’m not too willing to believe that yet. I’m just trying to figure out what I’m doing wrong here.

Any help or suggestions would be really great.

 

[Maxy24]

Many small dogs will take longer to housebreak but it's also an individual thing. If you take him out and after 10-15 minutes he has not gone potty go back in and put him in his crate for ten minutes then take him back out. This way he has no possible opportunity to go potty inside, only outside. I would tie his leash to you in the house so he is never left unattended or out of your sight. Just remember it won't happen automatically it will take time, he is a baby.

I would just let him flip out on the leash, if you worry about him getting out of the collar then get a harness. To transition him t the idea maybe go for a walk then go straight to your backyard and walk around there. That way he might not notice the big difference.

Don't give up on her due to breed, people always just use that as an excuse, he will housebreak but he's very young, many Poms don't even leave the breeder until 12 weeks because they mature slower than large breeds so things like housebreaking are not going to happen as soon as with large breeds. It's not that he's "hard" to housebreak, he's just slower to housebreak, you don't have to do anything extra with a Pom than you would with any other breed.

Good luck! Puppies are hard work but if you stay strong you'll have a beautiful well adjusted adult dog who you'll be very proud of. Keep us updated on your progress!

 

[foxielover28]

make sure you get rid of the smell inside , I first use some dishwashing liquid or washing powder then I use a disinfectent with lavender in it to get rid of the smell , because if you dont clean it up properly and get rid of the smell she will keep doing it, and leave some of her poos outside so she knows its ok to go there

 

[Rebecca4614]

Don't worry too much about this... at 13 weeks, puppies are not reliable, consistent creatures! Housebreaking takes a while and just about everyone finds it pretty frustrating at times!

A couple of things that may help... first, I'd suggest tightening up on your supervision. As you've found, it takes about half a second for a puppy to sneak off and have an accident. You may find it helpful to keep your puppy on his leash in the house so he can't sneak away and get himself into trouble. With a small dog, you can also carry him or have him in your lap in the house to prevent him from wandering off. Don't let him have a moment of unsupervised time... if you need to take your eyes off of him, put him in his crate.

Keep him on his leash when you go for potty trips... and make your potty trips even shorter. I'd do maybe 3 minutes. Keep him in a small area so he doesn't keep finding new, interesting things to sniff. If he goes within a few minutes, let him have playtime in the yard as a reward for doing the right thing. If he doesn't go, take him inside, supervise him carefully for a while, then try again.

Soon, he should learn that he doesn't get to have any fun outside until he empties out, so you should find that he's motivated to get the job done quickly.

You might also find it helpful to teach him a command that tells him when it's time to go potty. I teach this by repeating the command (go potty, hurry up, get busy, whatever!) in a quiet, happy voice the whole time he's squatting down going potty, then praising him and playing with him when he's done. Usually, within 2 or 3 weeks, he'll learn to associate the command with the action and you'll find he'll squat down to go potty when you give the command.

I hope this helps! Hang in there!

 

[621mum]

It's stressful, huh? Indy isn't doing too bad, but she has little in the way of signal behaviors, so it's more us being trained than her. Today has been particularly bad (she's peed on the floor 3 times right in front of me... ugh). She's a big water drinker too, so I'm sure that helps. The good news is, if you keep at the training, it will work eventually!
Good luck!

 

[Kellster]

I have a 10 week old Westie puppy. I sympathize. Puppies are freakin hard work. There are so many excellent dog experts on this site and I'm always so impressed with the great advice and insights given. I have no such expertise, but I am an avid reader and have read a number of really good books. Here's one thing I read that made great sense to me: when you take puppy out to potty, you want him to associate his being taken outdoors with the task of pottying, therefore once he potties he should be taken immediately back into the house (after lots of praise). That way he will come to understand that going outdoors is about pottying. Otherwise if he's allowed to remain outdoors after he's done his business, he doesn't make the connection. I've also read that you shouldn't spend too much time waiting for him to potty while he's outdoors. If he doesn't get down to business in 5 minutes or so, take him back inside and place him in his crate for 10 minutes, then repeat until he eventually does the right thing. No doubt, it is soooo much hard work. I'm goin thru it too. Your little guy will catch on eventually, just hang in there.