pomeranian puppy toilet training

Kaldorn

he goes for wee on the paper sometimes but wont poo on it..then this morning he had pooed and weed somewhere else and on the sofa in the kitchen..i didnt think they would wee on a sofa if they like chilling there..i feel like i will put him out the back indefinatly but i think its too cold. i just got the pup and do be in work for a long time during the day so i am not around to scold him for doing it on the floor during the day..what should i do?

star-pants

How old is the pup?
If it's younger than 12 weeks it can't hold in it's business so it's not their fault if they go wherever.

No offence but if you're gone for a good portion of the day - how do you expect to train a pup? they need you to be there to train them.
You have to bring them out (under the age of 12weeks definitely) every 2 hours or so, along with after big drinks and after meals. Late at night before bed, first thing in the morning, out to do the business.
After 12 weeks they gain more control over holding it in but only for so long.

You should be bringing the pup out every so often and when it does the business you give him lots of praise. If he's mid wee you still lift him and put him out the back and let him finish and then lots of praise. When they're young if they've a big area to wander in and they need to go, they just go.
If he's under 12 weeks you can't give out to him for going indoors it's not his fault.
Either way, when you see them going indoors you give a firm 'NO' and bring them outside, then praise when they go out there. This tells them 'i go outside i get praise' and thus they slowly learn outside is the place to go, and in time will ask you to go out.

<edited out as pointed out below>

Toulouse

star-pants wrote: »

You might be better off if you're not going to be there, getting a crate to do crate training. I can't give advice on this as I've not done it but others will.

Agree with everything else but this. Crate training takes time and patience and as such a young pup will not be able to control it's bowels and bladder then crate training is not going to work. Leaving a small pup on it's own in a crate for a long period of time is just encouraging it to soil the crate and forcing them to sit in it until the OP comes home. Even then when the dog is older you can't expect to leave it in a crate all day.

OP, you're not going to see good results if you're not around to train the pup. It's not about scolding him for going where he shouldn't, Star Pants is right, it's about teaching him where the right place to go is. If you're not around then you can't do this and dogs don't train themselves. Any chance you can come home at lunch or do you have a good neighbour or local dog walker that could help?

Here's a good training resource. Pups really are an awful lot of work but you get back what you put in. http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/digital-dog-training-textbook

SarahSassy

Why did you get the pup if he is only going to be an ornament. Its not fair putting pups out in this weather.. Cover the sofa and wipe up the poo. Its not the end of the world.. If you dont have time to train the pup then you cant blame the pup.

spurscormac

I crate trained a young pup from 8 weeks - but I ensured he was regularly brought outside for the first 4-6 weeks while he learned.

Lots of praise& had very few issues.
You also need to know the signs of when your puppy needs to go & get them outside ASAP.

It can work, but you need to regularly bring them outside to be successful.

Steve30x

The signs the puppy is going to go on the floor is the puppy sniffing the floor (sometimes frantically) a lot. Keep an eye on the puppy and if you see its head down for a prolonged period pick it up and put it outside using a word like potty or something like that to indicate that is the word for the toilet and the place to go.

PS. Why do some people see the need for a negative attitude? As my mother said : if you have nothing nice to say then dont say anything at all.

boardbrowser

There is indeed another option available to you before considering permanently housing your dog outside- an indoor potty set up.
There are hundreds of thousands small dog owners that are in the very same position as yourself.
Remember, not every small dog owner on the planet is fortunate to have a back garden but some how they manage just fine to love their pets an provide them with a great home.
Yes, indoor house training is more time consuming than teaching a dog to only eliminate outside but can be done with a strict management set up.
I would advise the use of an exercise pen ( mobile and foldable wire enclosure) available in pet shops. The isssue the OP is facing is a management issue. The pup just has too much freedom given that it is free in the house to urinate and defectate in the wrong areas.
Indoor house training involves leaving the dog in an exercise pen or baby gated area(kitchen perhaps) with a legal toilet for the dog to use ( wee- wee pad with tray or sod of turf in a water proof container) when the dog is home alone.
crate is situated inside the exercise pen and the door can be left open so dog has a separate sleeping area and water bowl and food bowl can be situated next to the crate and a distance from the wee wee pads.
with this set up there is little room for error- dog is confined and also has a bathroom available when the owner is away from the house.
Yes, common sense dictates that when owner is home that dog be trained with the same rules that apply to house training a dog to go to the toilet outside.Indeed any dog should be trained to go outside regardless of it's size and dwelling limitations.
Indoor has it's draw backs if not done properly ( dog urinates on any porous surface - rugs/ sofas/beds/ mats) but done correctly and diligently there is nothing to say that it cannot be achieved even as a tempoary solution until your dog has developed better bladder and bowel control.
The method is to be vigilant about helping the dog discriminate between wee wee pad and other substrates.
Plus leaving him outside comes with so many cons too- dog being stolen, never being house trained, becoming bored and developing habits such as nusiance barking/ digging/ chewing not to mention depressed due to lack of human companionship.

Kaldorn

hello, thanks for all the advice, i was thinking of getting a crate to put him in at night so when i go to bed at 11 pm put him in and then take him out at 7 am and leave him outside untill 7.30 then let him in and leave him in the kitchen until i get hom at five. my mam calls in at 12 to let him out too. i have had him 10 days nopw and he wees on the paper alot but it seems that he wont wee on top of old wee i didnt think he would have a problem with this. maybe the negative posters are right..maybe i shouldnt have got him because i am getting frustrated with him not learning and it seems the only time i can teach him is between 5.30 and 11.30 pm because thats when i watch him. so would it be a good idea to buy a crate..like the travel crates and leave him in that all night and then out the back all day untill i come home..the vet last night said that should be fine. but i was counting the hours in my head that he is alone which really is 17 hours.. i feel sorry for him.. maybe ill give him to my mam. she would love him. and give him alot more time than i can.,

andreac

Sorry, but you CANNOT leave a 12 week old pup in a crate from 11pm to 7am without letting him out at least twice to go to the toilet.

A pup that young cant hold it in for any longer than an hour or 2 at this age so he needs regular toilet breaks or he will just go in the crate, whether its his bed or not.

Sso no, you cant leave him in a crate all night unless you get up and let him out a few times to go outside.

Also, you cant leave him in the kitchen all day either and expect him to hold it in, if your mam calls at 12 then thats only 1 toilet break, hw will prob need to go at least 5/6 other times throughout the day too, so if this is the case, training him is going to take months until his bladder gets stronger.

Could you not give him to your mam during the day to mind and at least he will be with someone?

In my opinion its a very long time to leave a dog let alone a pup on its own.

Toulouse

That's exactly why I didn't want crates mentioned on this thread. If you don't have enough time to toilet train your pup then you don't have enough time to crate train your pup.

OP, pity you didn't think about any of this before you went and got the pup but you're not the first and unfortunately you won't be the last.

Could your mum not take him during the day. If this happens just make sure that you both train in the same way so that he doesn't get confused. I used to do this with my dog when I worked long hours, I'd drop her to my parents in the morning, pick her up in the evening and she loved it.

As an aside, vets aren't always right, I certainly wouldn't be advocating being locked in a crate all night and being out the back alone all day as 'fine' for a young pup.

andreac

Kaldorn wrote: »

the vet last night said that should be fine. but i was counting the hours in my head that he is alone which really is 17 hours.. QUOTE]

How could this be in any way ok? A little baby puppy, on his own for all that time and then getting in trouble because he is going to the toilet in the house when its not his fault.

Toilet training takes months, not days and it takes time and effort which you dont have, so i would either be patient and expect toilet training to take even longer than a few months or put up with the pup going in the house as he has no other other option at the moment.

Leaveing him out the back all day will not train him either as he has to be taught to go out there and rewarded for doing so, that way he will associate going outside as good.

Kaldorn

the pup is 18 weeks old i never mentioned him being 12 weeks old..that is a good idea about my mam, i will ask her about it and see what she says..i think she would be happy with that.

andreac

Kaldorn wrote: »

the pup is 18 weeks old i never mentioned him being 12 weeks old..that is a good idea about my mam, i will ask her about it and see what she says..i think she would be happy with that.

Sorry, i thought someone mentioned 12 weeks somewhere.

Doesnt matter anyway, its still only just 4 months with no proper toilet training and cannot be left in a crate for that long if its not toilet trained yet. The pup will end up soiling his bed as it has no other choice.

Toulouse

Kaldorn wrote: »

the pup is 18 weeks old i never mentioned him being 12 weeks old..that is a good idea about my mam, i will ask her about it and see what she says..i think she would be happy with that.

Good idea He'll be much happier for it and you won't be sitting in work feeling sorry for him. Trust me, the more you get attached, the harder it is to leave them on their own all day.

Now to training, he's still very young at 18 weeks but should be starting to be able to hold it. Take him out after a nap, after food and after play and wait with him until he goes. The give him lots and lots of praise, he needs to know that he's a good boy for going outside and that that's the place to go. Then watch him like a hawk, he'll have some tells, usually sniffing, circling, etc. If you see these then outside and again wait until he goes and lots of praise. If you're out for a little walk and he goes then praise again. If he goes in the house ignore and clean it up, you weren't watching him. Get your mum to do the exact same during the day and you should be seeing results fairly shortly. You may need to get up once during the night to go out with him too but that won't last forever.

spurscormac

Kaldorn wrote: »

the pup is 18 weeks old i never mentioned him being 12 weeks old..that is a good idea about my mam, i will ask her about it and see what she says..i think she would be happy with that.

The other plus side to this is that the dog gets used to travelling in the car, and grows to love it. My fella gets so excited when I unlock the car, he's busting to jump in and go visiting.

This is because we used to drop him at my g/f's folks house during the week while we were at work. He loves the variety and now relates trips in the car with visiting or a drive to the park and all those lovely smells.

Kaldorn

Thank you for all the advice... ill forget about the crate then and leave him be and leave him with my mam a few days a week and ill watch him like a hawk when i am with him and take him out the back and stay with him every time. other than that i cant do anything else. i know plenty of folks with ful time jobs that have dogs that are grand in the house during the day. i have been feeding him at 6 pm when i get in and 7 am when i get up..not too much and i havent been giving him scraps most of the time. he is adorable i really want this to work. i got him chipped and vaccinated last night and i have been bringing him on 15 minute walks in the evenings

Toulouse

I know plenty of people do it but you said yourself, 17 hours is a long time for a dog to be alone.

I'm glad that you want this to work and I wish you all the best of luck with it. It'll be easier when your mum is watching him during the day.

Well done for getting him chipped, one last piece of advise, please don't forget to check that the chip details are registered to you. You wouldn't believe the amount of dogs that show up with untraceable chips.

Let us know how you get on with him.