Hello Everyone, I just got a Pom from a friend and he is about a year and a half old. And I found out recently that he is not yet potty trained. What should I do to potty train him? I have read that I need to take it outside about 20 minutes after he eats but that was for a 5 month old pom. He is about a year and a half old so doesn't that mean that it could take hours before he pees? I NEED HELP!! THank you.

Go to https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/dogs/i...tml#post251809 Like much of the housebreaking advice it is meant for young puppies. The last paragraph discusses some of what you need to do with an older dog. Read through it and post back with any details you need help on.

I don't think you will find a fixed time to take him out. You need to learn to read the signs he needs to go out.

Thank you Labman for your last post. I have another question now. I heard it was harder to train a pom if he has been forced to live in his filth. Well the previous owner told me that he has stepped all over his poop before. So I think that might be a sign that he is willing to live in his filth.

Right now I feed it and then I take it out for a walk for him to relieve himself about 20 minutes after. He pees a lot, in many places. He does not have a specific place yet.

Is there a reason why he pees in so many places? Like just a little here and a little there?

I understand that he might be marking his territory, but sometimes nothing even comes out.

Even after he pees so much outside, when I take him inside he pees some more... What can I do to make sure he relieves all of himself?

What do you recommend I do about the living in his own filth?

Thank You, IF anyone can help me out I would greatly appreciate it.

Is your dog neutered ? If not they will mark more, even in your house. I have a pom/ daschund and a chi/ rat terrier the pom is a girl and she still has accidents she was over 1 when I adopted her. She was not potty trained and had been treated poorly by someone. I have had her almost 3 years and she still has accidents... The vet says it is because she has a small bladder... I love her and so I just deal with it. My chi/ terrier was badly abused... he was whipped and starved for peeing and pooping in the house... the people had a female dog unspayed living with him and he would mark everything. I have had him for 2 years he was neutered immediately. In the beginning he was taken out every 20 minutes on a leash, and was never left unsupervised. I would say within 2 months he trusted us to not hit or starve him and he never has accidents. Also I don't yell at him nor do I allow anyone else in my home to. We try to keep our tone at the same level when we speak to him and call him by his name when we address him. We have a fenced yard and he does his business by himself now and yes he still mark things.. the fence, a tree but not as often as when he was intact. We walk and he marks a little but is mostly content just to sniff. However she marks more than he does and try to lift her stubby little leg when she pee's she also marks by scratching her back feet into the ground... Not sure what this is called. I hope sharing my babies story some how helps you, although all dogs are not the same they have different story's and needs. I am sure that you will find a soultion that works for you. Good luck

Now I have a barking problem. The last owner that had him went to him every time he would bark. So now he thinks that barking will get my attention to play. I am trying to break him in to his crate, and he barks to try to get out. I ignore him until he stops barking then when he does stop I wait a little bit more before I play with him or let him out. I never let him out when he barks to come out is that good? Do I continue ignoring him or what do I do to stop the barking?

*posts Merged*
Please stick to ONE thread.

Take him to the vet next week to be checked for a UTI. If not neutered already, do so. It is no cure all, but can make a big difference in cases like this.

As for the filth, you just have to hope he eventually regains his instinct for cleanness. He is still young enough to recover from poor early mistreatment.

The truth is, Labs usually don't bark that much and I don't have methods of controlling barking that I have been successful using. It isn't even in the manual for them. The manual does have a suggested reading list which I put in the sticky at the top of the dog forum. One I have read is The Other End of the Leash by Patrica McConnell.

She suggests the first step is not to yell at the dog. After all, usually if one dog starts to bark, any others around will to. So yell at your dog when it barks and it is happy to have you bark with it. Quietly tell it enough and walk over to it with a treat, doesn't need to be very big. Let him know you have it and use it to lure him away from what he is barking at if anything, and praise him as he shifts his attention to the treat and away from barking. Once away from where he was barking, give him the treat.

Unlike much of my other advice, this is not something I have tried and found works. It does come from a reliable source and I would trust it more than something I found on a website I know little about. I just hope he isn't smart enough to figure out if he barks, he gets a treat plus your attention.

From an email:

''Hello Labman this is Str33tdragon from the askmehelpdesk.com. I have a few more questions.

Right now I am trying to get him used to his crate. And he seems like he is getting better at it, I think he barks when he wants to get out. He also likes to poop at weird hours like 4am or 5 am. So it is hard to catch him in the act. I think he understands "go potty" but when I say that he only pees and no poop. He pees like 4 or 5 times before I let him play. But there never is any poop, until he goes back into the crate, and when no one is looking he decides to poop. Like just now he did poop but I could not catch him in the act because I had just walked off. And for some reason he does not really have a schedule of pooping. I feed him at 6 am, 11 am and 8pm but he doesn't have a specific schedule when he poops. I really don't know what to do. How can I teach him to poop outside if he only poops when no one is around?

A more general question. How can I teach him how to poop outside?''

A 1 1/2 year old Pom should only need fed once a day. There are some larger breeds that that encourages bloat, but would be surprised to hear it is a Pom problem. If you leave him alone all day because you work, I would try feeding him as soon as you get home, giving him as much time as possible to process before bed time. Later in the evening, take a plastic bag, a bread wrapper, the slip the newspaper comes in, etc. with you on his walk. Walk, walk, walk. Younger dogs can't hold their bowl movement very long when walking. You may stop occasionally to allow him to sniff grassy areas. Eventually, no matter how stubborn he is, he will have a bowel movement. Lavish praise on him. Rave about what a good dog he is. Pet him. Then walk some more if he seems to want to. You don't want him to realize that the bowel movement ended the walk. It shouldn't take too many repetitions for him to catch on. Follow up with the same thing in the morning. By confining him in the crate shortly after emptying his bowels, he may not have to eliminate over night. Once you break the cycle, he may decide he likes a clean crate. Trust me the walking works. I may be a bit of a slow learner, but I have learned not to scoop up a napping dog and go park near the entrance to a store and take the dog in. I park to where I have to walk out to the grass, give the dog the command to relieve itself. Then I give the dog a second chance in the small landscape beds when we get back near the door.

The plastic bag is for cleaning up with. Slip it over your hand, pick up the stools, and turn the bag inside out. This works best on the smaller, firmer stools produced by the concentrated, meat based chows. Such chows may also extend the time dogs can go without a bowel movement.

I support the site policy of not answering questions in a PM or email. Answers need to be out where everybody can see them. It is your best protection from poor advice. If answers conflict, you just have do your best to sort them out. Often you can look at members profiles and see what background that they have in the subject area.