Pomeranian Puppies

Training a Pomeranian

HOUSEBREAKING: Housebreaking the puppy isn't difficult because his natural instinct is to keep the place where he sleeps and plays clean. The most important factor is to keep him confined to a fairly small area during the training period. You will find it almost impossible to housebreak a puppy, who is given a free run of the house.

Spread papers over the puppy's living area. Then watch him carefully. When you notice him starting to whimper, sniff the ground or run around in agitated little circles, rush him to the place that you want to serve as his "toilet" and hold him there till he does his business.

Keep in mind during the housebreaking process that you can't expect too much from your puppy until he is about 5 months old. Before that, his muscles and digestive system just aren't under his control. However, you can begin outdoor training even while you are paper training the puppy.

Start outdoor training by taking him outdoors first thing in the morning (he should have learned to walk on lead at this point), and walk him back and forth in a small area until he relieves himself. After each meal take him to the same spot. Praise the dog every time you take him outside.

NIGHTTIME TRAINING: If you want to speed up the outdoor trainings so that you can leave the dog alone in the house with less fear of an accident, keep him confined at night so that he has enough room to move around in his bed, but not enough to get any distance away from it. When he has to go, he'll whine loudly enough to attract your attention. Then take him or let him out. You may have to get up once or twice at night for a few weeks, but then you can be fairly sure that your puppy will behave indoors - although accidents will happen.

Rubbing a puppy's nose in his dirt or whacking him with a paper may make you feel better, but it won't help to train the puppy. A dog nature wants to do the right thing for his master. Your job to show him what you want. If an accident happens, ignore it unless you can catch immediately and then in a firm tone express your displeasure. Take him to the spot he should have used. A puppy has a short memory span. When he uses the right place, be lavish with praise and petting, but first make sure he has finished. Many a puppy has left a trail of water across a floor because someone interrupted him to tell him how well he was doing.