# Desperate - About To Give Up On Potty Training Rescue Puppy



## brewerweb (Feb 28, 2015)

Hello,

My wife is about to kill me over this new dog and I'm in desperate need of your help. Basically we rescued a 6 month old Pomeranian and she's now 8 months old. The original owners said she was potty trained and only made a few mistakes now and then. We'll that's not the case at all but I suppose they could have been telling the truth and the new peeing/pooing is a behavioral issue. Here's the deal.

We originally took her to the vet. He had a UTI and we got the meds to take care of her. While I haven't taken her back to the vet, I am assuming she's fine. The discharge the vet showed me has stopped.

Other than these potty training problems, she doesn't have any other problems. She's actually the nicest little girl you can imagine.

The problem: We've done every common potty training trick that you see.
* she's in the carat when we're not directly playing with her (and at night).
* we take her out immediately after taking her out of the crate.
* we take her out immediately after catching her pee/poo in the house
* we clean the heck out of the mistakes to remove the smell
* we have a freaking celebration when she goes outside and give her treats

The result: not one damn bit of good. She goes outside probably 75% of the time but that's only because of our diligence. She doesn't miss a beat or even think about peeing inside and even right in front of you. She pees on the tile, on the carpet and even right on the couch and recliners. She's an equal opportunity pee'er.

The worst part: she has pee'd directly on both of my sons and me while "snuggling" on the couch and recliner. God help us all if she pees on my wife.

After two months of zero progress (and I mean zero) and having pee'd on me and my family directly... she's on her last leg. I need help to fix this or I'm afraid my wife will put her foot down soon and this sweet little girl will be gone. I can't argue because my wive (who hates dogs) has already steam cleaned the carpet, tiles and furniture 3 times.

Please help if you can.

Thanks in advance!

Dave


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## ForTheLoveOfDogs (Jun 3, 2007)

The fact that she has the chance to potty in the house at all tells me you need to be even more diligent. She has no free access to any part of the house. She needs to be watched constantly like she is an 8 week old puppy. If she is not in the crate, she is tethered to you and never out of your sight for one second. If she normally pees in the house after an hour, take her out every 45 minutes. Are you cleaning with an enzyme cleaner, such as Natures Miracle? Doing this sounds like a pain.. and it is! It really is the only way though. The more accidents that you prevent, the more likely they will permanently form the habit of outside. 

As far as the peeing ON you.. that sounds either like a UTI related thing or submissive urination which they cannot control and generally grow out of. There's also the possibility of incontinence if she is peeing a lot with no warning. I would go to the vet and make sure the UTI is cleared up. 

All of that being said.. small dogs.. Poms definitely being known for it.. are notoriously hard to housebreak. If all else fails, maybe try looking into female dog belly bands for in the house while you are working on it.


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## Gally (Jan 11, 2012)

Make a vet appointment first and make sure everything is okay physically. I am highly suspecting that the UTI never fully cleared, they can be persistent and take a few rounds of antibiotics to clear sometimes. The peeing on people and on several different surfaces is not common for just general non-housebroken dogs, sounds more like a physical issue so either UTI or other incontinence/bladder issue.


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## Inga (Jun 16, 2007)

The fact that she is peeing on your guys makes me think something is wrong. I would take her back to the vet to verify that the UTI is cleared up. She might still have an infection that wasn't resolved fully with her meds. I know that potty training small dogs seems to be a great deal harder then larger ones. I have an 8 week old puppy that is going outside 98% of the time already. It is about constant management. I watch her like a hawk and if she starts to do the "potty walk" I rush her outside right away. She always goes when she is out but if your dog is not, you need to keep her outside a little longer. If she goes out and doesn't go potty then she goes back in the crate for another 15 minutes or so and then back out. It is rough in the beginning and so much work but... you can do it, please do not give up on her. Imagine how sad that is that she is only 8 months old and has already been dumped once or more.


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## Effisia (Jun 20, 2013)

Are you using an enzyme cleaner to clean the mess spots? Just regular cleaning will often leave behind the potty scent, at least enough that the dog can pick up on it. You should be cleaning with something like Nature's Miracle if you aren't already. That will help really eradicate the smell. Aslo, as others have said, you should take your pup back to the vet.


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## SirviRavenWind (Dec 1, 2014)

I would look in to the UTI first as that could be the cause
With little dogs that tend to have more accidents and have to go many more times then large dogs- this leads to more chances of mistakes that can lead to behaviors, you want to stop the cycle ASAP
Some small dogs do exited urination, so you need to see if the peeing on people is this or related to something else. Some will pee on soft things if use to pee pads.


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## luv mi pets (Feb 5, 2012)

I agree what others have said. You need to change your thinking to, Why am I letting my dog go pee inside??
Schedule a vet appointment, make sure the UTI is gone
shrink her inside home. she can not have full access to the house. 
keep her crated like you are doing tether her to you or the furniture that is near you.
set a timer for hourly outside time. the timer will remind you to take her outside
not only take her outside be out there with her reward her for going
walk her several times a day walking stimulates the whole digestion system
feed her on a regular interval and not free feeding you will have a better way of controlling her poos this way
have her wear diapers inside

The thing is if your wife does not like the dog maybe a re-homing is the best option. The dog could be nervous because of the vibes your wife is giving the dog. It is not fair to the dog if every one in the house is not on board about owning a dog.


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## Kritter (Jan 28, 2015)

I'm not sure about the UTI as I don't have experience with it. But I do have a chihuahua whippet who finally stopped peeing and pooping in her pen at about 1 year old. She occassionally peed in the house if we didn't let her out quick enough in the morning or if we did not notice her "sign" at the door. We were beside ourselves and I almost decided to just accept it. I hate to say "it takes what it takes" because it affects your kids and wife too, but I will say routine, routine, routine. When she goes outside praise the daylights out of her. When she pees inside, scold her and put her outside immediately. She might also be peeing out of excitement, anxiety, or nervousness. My dog does that but seems to be growing out of it as she is very sensitive it seems.


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## brewerweb (Feb 28, 2015)

Thanks for everyone's comments and suggestions. I think a trip back to the vet is what I need to do first and start with that. I almost hope that's what it is. Of course that doesn't explain the pooping but who knows. Thanks again and I'll post when I know more from the vet.

Dave


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

Vet visit for sure... and do you by any chance know where the previous owners purchased the dog from?

I am mentioning this because I have a puppy mill rescue, and he was really difficult to house train. Puppies from pet stores and mills often are notoriously hard to house train because they have not learned to control their bowel movements (from being forced to pee/poo where ever they are).

I adopted Meeko at 9-12 months, and he had moments where he would just start peeing when he was sitting on our laps, sleeping with us on our bed, etc.

With dogs like this you have to be EXTRA patient. Treat them like puppies, and above all, MAKE SURE TO REWARD HEAVILY FOR GOING OUTSIDE. It will NOT be enough to just take her out and praise. You will have to give her something high value like some cheese, or a piece of hot dog.

I've had my dog two years now, and he is perfectly fine left loose around the house... but if I'm gone for more than 6 hours I still have to confine him to a room because he sometimes has accidents, even now. It took... I would say the first year, for him to be fully house trained.


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## Rescued (Jan 8, 2012)

Yes to what taquitos said about the puppy mill thing.

Grey (also a Pom) was pretty hard to house train TBH, and that was even WITH a good start since she was a puppy mill rescue that had lived in my house since she was 2 weeks old, so not raised in a mill.

What helped with us was timing water and food reeeeally strictly- of course give plenty of opportunities for water, but do it on a schedule! Also feeding (2x per day if yours is big enough)- offer food for 15 mins then pick up so you get a better feel on when they're going to need to go.

We also ended up using an xpen for all times that I couldn't directly keep my eyes on her, and fencing off all carpeted areas in the house. Layout wise that won't work for everyone, but if you can it helped for us.

And a vet check! Make sure everything is ok there.


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