Our daughter inherited a 6 year old female Pomeranian. She's adorable but she isn't house trained! She prefers to leave her business on the bathroom floor which is very discouraging when one steps in it in the middle of the night, :mad: in fact, our daughter is having to replace the bathroom carpet because of the urine smell. We are dog sitting this little character while our daughter is away. If we close the bathroom door, she just goes somewhere else in the house. We take her out often (6 to 7 times a day) but she holds it until she comes back in. Question, is it possible to house train a 6 year old dog? Please, can anyone help?:confused:

I have a Pom, only 3 1/2 yrs old not 6 like yours, might be harder to train than mine was when he got him at 6 months old. Try these things, pay attn to about when you think the dog goes, try to take her out just before that, then if you catch her in the act, pick her up immediately, tell her no in a stern voice, take her outside. Keep repeating, takes time. Good luck as I know what it is like to step in a mess with your barefeet when sleepy ! It's not any fun.

See the housebreaking sticky near the top of the forum, https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/dogs/h...ing-42521.html It is meant for young puppies, but at the end I discuss using the same methods with an older dog. A 6 week old is much easier to deal with than one that has 6 years of entrenched bad habits to break. You could fix part of the problem yet tonight by buying a crate, but she might adapt better to it if you give her more of a chance to get used to it.

The dog may be happier in its den than loose in the house. It relaxes, it feels safe in its den. It rests, the body slows down reducing the need for water and relieving its self. Dogs that have been crated all along do very well. Many of them will rest in their crates even when the door is open. I think the plastic ones give the dog more of a safe, enclosed den feeling. Metal ones can be put in a corner or covered with something the dog can't pull in and chew. Select a crate just big enough for the full grown dog to stretch out in.

A dog that has not been crated since it was little, may take some work.
Start just putting its toys and treats in the crate. Praise it for going
in. Feed it in the crate. This is also an easy way to maintain order at
Feeding time for more than one dog.

It is only natural that a dog resists its crate at first. What the dog
Wants more than anything else is to be with others, you, anyone else in the
Household, and any other pets. In our modern society, even if we are home,
Other things distract us from the attention an uncrated dog must have. The
Only real solution is to crate the dog when you aren't around. Leave it some toys. Perhaps a Kong filled with peanut butter. Don't leave anything in the crate the dog might chew up. Rather than relaxing and catching a nap in their den, some dogs foul the crate. I am not sure if it is protest or stress. I haven't had this problem. I see many questions about it, and saw my daughter fight the problem. They held firm, and their puppy accepted being crated fairly soon.

A wire grid in the bottom of the crate will help keep the puppy up out of urine and to a lessor extent stools. They are available with the crates, but expensive and hard to find. A piece of closely spaced wire closet shelving from a home supply place is cheaper. You may also find something suitable in house wares. This reduces the mess, making the protest much less effective. The longer haired the puppy, the higher it needs to be. In warmer weather, you can just haul the crate out and hose everything off. When the puppy sees you coping with the situation, and you stand your ground, most of them give up and learn to relax, and that you will return. One more thing that may help is using a smaller crate, or blocking off part of a larger one so the puppy can't fouled one spot and retreat.

The "shut the puppy in a safe room" is a fallacy. Very few houses even have a
Safe room. How many of us have a room with a hard surfaced floor and nothing
Else? Most rooms have electrical cords to chew if nothing else. In addition
To destroying anything a bored puppy finds to chew, it may choke or have
Intestinal blockage from the pieces. I had a friend that left her dog in a
"safe" room. It ate a hole in the floor covering. The safe rooms fail to
Give the dog the comfort of the enclosed space their instinct requires. Nor
Do they restrict activity extending the time the dog can go without relieving
Itself.

The first time you crate it, you could do what I do with a new puppy. I have never had much luck with the old clock or radio tricks. What I do is lay down by the crate like I was going to sleep there. Usually a puppy may fuss a little, but then settle down and go to sleep. Once it is asleep, you can get up and go to bed.

Having a good pack structure reduces such problems. The dogs see all the
People and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in
The pack and a top dog. Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members
Outrank the 4 legged ones. You can learn to play the role of top dog by
Reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class
Or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with
A treat. Start at http://www.dogsbestfriend.com/. As top dog, you have the right to crate her. It is her place to wait quietly for your return.

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Originally Posted by Emakala

Our daughter inherited a 6 year old female Pomeranian. She's adorable but she isn't house trained! She prefers to leave her business on the bathroom floor which is very discouraging when one steps in it in the middle of the night, :mad: in fact, our daughter is having to replace the bathroom carpet because of the urine smell. We are dog sitting this little character while our daughter is away. If we close the bathroom door, she just goes somewhere else in the house. We take her out often (6 to 7 times a day) but she holds it until she comes back in. Question, is it possible to house train a 6 year old dog? Please, can anyone help?:confused:

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CRATE HER!