House training

I am a bit worried about my puppy's house training. She is nearly 5 months old and still wets her bed every night. She also pees and poops the floor.

She always wets her bed in her crate after about 3 hours. I though she was too small to hold it, but last night I let her in my bed, then she was dry all night so she must be able to hold it.

She wees within 20 mins of being taken out to toilet, completing it and coming in. Sometimes when she goes out she does her wee in 3 bits over a two minute time scale, demanding a treat for each bit. She can similarly do her poo in multiple bits. When she comes in she still has saved some and does another puddle or poo straight way. When she does indoor puddles or poos she does empty her bladder/bowel fully then does not need to go for ages.

Also she is trying to train me. When the phone goes, she competes for attention. If I dont give in to her, she will finally go to always the same spot, look me in the eyes, then wee, so I have to hang up and see to her.

I have gone out my way to make sure she in not spoiled, but she still behaves as though she is.

She is a very intelligent dog. 'Solved all the Nina Ottoson toys by herself one after another in about 2 hours first go, but she is very very manipulative and naughty.

I can out manipulate her in all other aspects so far, except house training. Has anyone any suggestions?

Also she is starting to try to manipulate me over barking at strangers. I stopped her doing so by making her sit for a treat when we saw new poeple. Now at certain points on our walk where we most often met people, she threatens to bark unless I get the treats out even if no one is there.

I have had lots of dogs before, but never one that competes against me like this all the time.

Mmmm ... my first thought was that the clue is staring you right in the face ... when she sleeps with you, she is clean.

Shelties are very intelligent dogs ... I am wondering if she is not being naughty, but just needs to be with you, her pack leader.

Is there any reason why she shouldn't sleep with you every night? It would be interesting to try this for, say, a week and see if she stays clean and also if it helps the other problems ... which don't sound like problems to me, just a little dog who is devoted to her pack leader.

Yes, but I actually let her in the bed for the first time yesterday, after months of changing her bed twice a night, so that is not the cause of it. I dont want her to become spoilt by always sleeping in my bed. They cant all sleep in my bed, the shelties too!!!!!

She is not a Sheltie. All my others are, but she in my first ever Pomeranian, so she is small and could get squashed or hurt falling off.

If she doesn't want the dog in her bed long term, I'd not recommend letting the dog sleep there just to see if it helps. I did this with my puppy Nigredo and now he is constantly sleeping in my bed.

At 90 lbs, and with me having only a single bed, this can be uncomfortable sometimes. He gets down when told, but it's annoying to have to tell him to get down ten thousand times.

Dogs that constantly pee in their own beds often have something else going on. It's unnatural for dogs to repeatedly soil their own bedding. Now, that being said, my cat pees on every single bed we bought her, but she NEVER lays in them. She simply hates them and that is her way of saying I'm not using this.

This seems to be what your dog is doing. Everything seems to be to get your attention. The peeing when you're looking right at her really is bothersome. I'd go nuts if my dog did this.

Try and make a small noise when you see her start peeing to stop her. Take her outside to finish when she does this, use a lead and guide her to the same spot, and then crate her. No playing, no attention. Perhaps she will get the association, if I pee, I get crated and it's boring.

As for the barking, this is why I don't use food for outside distractions. You'll often end up with a dog that is focused only on the food and how to get it. Smart dogs can really exploit this and cause you a headache.

I have a dog that sometimes barks at people (tall people or people encumbered with tons of stuff). If she acts like she's going to bark, I draw her up and distract her by getting down to her level and speaking firmly but calmly "It's okay girl, quiet." while blocking her vision as much as possible. She's not a smart dog, but this works quite well.

Hang on, I am a bit confused here. I thought you said that you let her in bed with you for the first time last night and she was dry? But previously she hadn't been?

Poms ... lovely dogs!

I agree with you about the titbits ... I don't use titbits for 3 reasons really:

1. Ben is not massively turned on by food
2. I frequently would forget to bring the titbits with me, and
3. I hate a dog to be hyper-focussed like those agility collies often are ... gazing up the whole time at their handler waiting for their treat.

That it. She has only slept in the bed once and she was dry, but I dont want to encorage that. I am told that spoilt Poms become snappy. At the moment she loves everyone and every dog , unless another dog is threatening her food that is!

Jade will hardly take food when we're out. She's too excited. It bothers me to see dogs constantly looking up towards their owner on walks. I like my dogs to be aware of their surroundings and paying attention. If I trained Nigredo to walk using food, he'd be practically falling over his feet, that is how little attention he'd be paying to where he's going.

She wants to be with you though - to the point that she will wet herself if she is shut away from you; I can understand you not wanting her in the bed; how's about her having her own bed on the floor, or sleeping at the foot of the bed on top? Or crated in your room? You have the answer to the problem ... it seems a shame to ignore it, but I can quite understand how you are reluctant to have a dog in the bedroom. I was with my Hal but had to roll with the punches and allow him in.

Hi,
Just been reading info about Poms.All the behaviour you describe is listed as being in their character.The barking at strangers,difficult to house train,also said they can become very demanding without rules.Might be a good idea to go to Puppy training classes with her.She sounds like a smart wee cookie,think it would benefit you both.Just my opinion