7 Pomeranian potty training problems

7 Pomeranian potty training problems (and how to solve them)

July 23, 2022

Pomeranian potty training problems can be very frustrating. However, in this article, we’ll look at the most common problems that new Pomeranian owners have with housebreaking and tell you how to fix them.

When you do a simple look-up on the internet, you’d notice lots of complaints from people that are very frustrated as a result of Pomeranian potty training problems.

They have followed all the standard advice and yet their Pomeranian wees in the house more than he wees outside!

And they want to know why they are having puppy potty training problems despite their best efforts.

These folks need a solution and they need it fast. If you fall into this category, then you’re in the right place.

Every family and Pomeranian is different, but most of the time, potty training problems can be traced back to one or more of the seven things we’ll talk about below.

In each case, we will tell you what’s wrong and what you can do to fix it. So let’s dive straight in.

Potty Training Problem 1: Your Pomeranian is left unattended when its bladder is full.

Most Pomeranian puppies don’t have much control over their bladders, so your puppy won’t wait until his bladder is full to go to the bathroom. Instead, he’ll go before his bladder is completely full.

You might want him to wee outside, but the truth is that your Pomeranian will only go to wee the moment he starts to feel very uncomfortable. That could happen a lot sooner than you think. And the problem is that you won’t have much time to prepare.

He might look a little off or take a quick sniff around. (That’s all there is to his signals). If you don’t notice the signs, there will soon be a puddle.

What’s The Solution?

When your Pomeranian puppy’s bladder starts to fill up, you need to either keep a very close eye on him or take him to the bathroom right away. Or put him somewhere where he will have to work hard not to empty it.

Like a small crate, your arms, or your lap. Once that “bladder fill level” goes past half, you are in “danger” territory. You should be keeping a close eye on your Pomeranian, cuddling him, or putting him in his crate for a few minutes.

I can actually hear you say, “How am I supposed to know when his bladder is full?”

How to tell when your Pomeranian’s bladder is full

Your Pomeranian doesn’t have a “fill gauge,” or a little red light, or a warning buzzer to let you know when his bladder is full.

You’ll have a hard time. And that’s why things go wrong.

The best way to avoid incidents that you do not want, and by that we mean knowing when your Pomeranian’s bladder is full, is to monitor the frequency at which he uses the bathroom.

Hence, if your Pomeranian has to go to the bathroom every twenty minutes, you should keep an eye on him for no more than ten minutes after he goes to the bathroom in the garden.

Having less supervision

Once he can go an hour without going to the bathroom, you might be able to watch him for less than half an hour after his last visit to the bathroom.

Not everyone wants to use a crate, and we’ll talk about what to do if you don’t have one, but many people use “crate time” when their pomeranian’s bladder is getting full so that they can’t watch him.

Potty training Problem 2: Your Pomeranian’s crate is too big for him to use.

People often put their Pomeranians in crates at night or when they can’t watch them for short periods of time during the day because they have been told that the puppy won’t pee in their own bed. Only to find that he pees right there in the crate! What’s up with that?

Hold on a second before you throw your dog’s crate out of the house.

This doesn’t mean that crates don’t work for potty training. Unless you have had your Pomeranian in the crate for too long, it probably means you need a smaller crate.

Solution: for a short amount of time/small crate:

Your 8-week-old Pomeranian won’t sleep in the same crate for more than a couple of months. However, if you want to use a crate to help your dog learn to go to the bathroom on its own, the crate needs to be small.

This also means that the time he has to spend in the crate doesn’t have to be long. Not only is it cruel and wrong to keep a Pomeranian in a crate for a long time, but once he is awake and moving around, he can’t wait very long.

So, although there isn’t much room for the Pomeranian to play, it doesn’t matter because he won’t be in there for very long.

Use your crate the right way.

The Pomeranian crate isn’t made for Pomeranians to run around and play in. It is meant to be a safe place for him to rest and sleep at night and for very short periods during the day.

Potty training Problem 3: You always leave your Pomeranian in his crate long after he is done using it.

Pomeranians will try very hard not to wet their own beds. Moreover, they can only do so much because poms can only hold their urine for so long. A skill that is, of course, a bit limited when they are just a few weeks old.

So, a crate can help with potty training because it teaches your Pomeranian to hold on to his urine just a little bit longer. As long as the time he has to wait isn’t too long, a lot of people get this part wrong.

Then, the Pomeranian will pee in his bed. Pom owners don’t always notice this until it becomes a habit and the Pom stops trying to keep his bed dry.

Set up your Pomeranian to come out on top, not to lose:

Let’s face it: if you keep trying your best at something but keep failing, you will eventually stop trying. That philosophy holds true for your Pomeranian too.

Don’t overestimate how smart your Pomeranian is:

Solution: Don’t overestimate your Pom’s threshold for potty training and always check his bed for wet spots when you take him out of his crate. And this is more about you and your success than it is about the puppy, who doesn’t really have much to say about it.

Check your Pomeranian bed:

Be sure to check his bed. If the bed is wet, then it’s because you’ve been gone too long.

If you have to leave your Pomeranian for longer than he can go without doing the potty, you should put potty pads or newspaper at one end of a large puppy pen or puppy-proof room and his bed at the other.

Bear in mind also, that your Pomeranian can last longer at night when his metabolism drops and he is sleepy, than he can during the day when he is eating and drinking regularly and is active. 

Putting the crate to good use:

Remember that a crate should only be used for a short period of time before you notice that your Pomeranian’s bladder is full. Don’t waste your Pomeranian’s “empty bladder” time by putting him in his crate right after he goes potty.

This is the time when you can relax and enjoy his company without worrying that he will wet himself.

Potty training Problem 4: You often leave your Pomeranian too long between potty breaks

This potty training problem happens when your Pomeranian is not in his crate but is wandering about in the house. 

If you are having regular accidents outside the crate, you may well be leaving your puppy too long between trips to the garden.

Puppies have annoyingly small bladders and very little control over them.  One of the commonest reasons for puppies to wee indoors is that you have simply left the puppy indoors for too long.

As a Pom parent, you might say—”but I let him out every hour!”  As though that’s enough. Although for some Pom breeds, it might just be. Your pom may need to use the bathroom every 20 minutes in the first week.

Another thing is the temptation to overlook the time that has passed since his last bathroom break, especially when you are caught up between activities.

What you should do is to set your alarm for every 20–40 minute gap, or the reasonable amount of time you think your Pom should be able to wait, and then take him outside when the alarm goes off.

Yeah, frequent garden visits can be quite exhausting, but you have to find a way to deal with it. The idea is to find a balance in your Pom’s potty timing and never attempt to fit your Pom’s schedule into another dog’s potty timing.

You can be sure that he will grow up and get older very quickly. If you start good habits now, this will seem like a distant memory in about a month. That means letting your Pom out when he needs to go, not when you think he should need to go.

This brings us to the next problem, which is one that a lot of people find hard to understand. If you’re expecting your Pom to tell you he wants to go outside or that he needs to go to the bathroom, you will probably be waiting a very long time.

Potty training Problem 5: It’s absurd, but you’re expecting your Pomeranian to ask first!

You’d be surprised that most people would really say something like, “But he didn’t even ask to go out—he just sat down on the floor in front of me!” Reality check; your Pom would never “ask” to go outside.

They don’t make a cute little “yip” at the door, like in those Walt Disney movies. They don’t whine or scratch at the door, and some of them don’t even go over to the door and stand there. Not for at least a few months.

If you really pay close attention, you might be able to tell when your canine friend needs to “go to the loo.” Other times, your Pom will sniff in small circles in the same spot. This is especially true if they feel like they need to go to the bathroom.

But many puppies don’t show any signs at all. They just go down on their knees, and that’s all. So, it’s up to you to figure out when your puppy might need to go to the bathroom and make sure he does.

Don’t wait for him to tell you, because it’s unlikely that he will.

Potty training Problem 6: You always leave your door open for your Pomeranian

In the summer, a lot of us do this. We leave the back door open so your Pom can go in and out of your yard or garden whenever it wants. There’s really nothing wrong with this. However, if you are not careful, it can lead to problems.

Most poms will quickly figure out on their own their favorite patch of grass in your garden, and a happy parent is sure that they have potty trained their pom to go outside in just a few days.

Nonetheless, the only thing they did was ensure their pom had a chance to be clean.

The sad reality is that they really haven’t taught their dog to “hang on” when there’s no opportunity to potty in the meantime. There is a difference, though.

Since the door is always open, your Pom never has to wait very long. Even though he has learned that there are good places to potty outside, which is good, he is likely to be caught with a full bladder if the door is closed one day, and you know what happens after that.

The main problem with leaving your door open is that you will assume your Pom knows where to go when they need to potty at a very young age, whereas they still need you to point in the direction of where to go.

And this is not a good way to potty train if your Pom is not able to access the door anytime.

Have you thought of the possibility when you don’t leave the door open for another three months?

You can see that it’s really not a good idea. So, if your door is going to be closed, what you must do is take him to the exact spot in the garden and watch him from the window.

Potty training Problem 7: You don’t effectively clean up your Pomeranian

Pomeranians are very smart, so they have a good instinct that makes them want to go to the bathroom in places where they have already done so.

This is helpful because it means that once you get your Pom used to going outside or to the spot you have set up for him to potty, he will really want to go there again.

Nonetheless, this instinct is also a double-edged sword because it makes your Pom more likely to potty inside in places where he’s had “accidents” in the past.

Now, let’s get something straight. We’re not implying that you aren’t cleaning your little friend’s potty accidents well enough, that’s far from it.

In fact, chances are you’re even doing way better than we would even recommend. However, there’s something you must keep in mind, your dogs are generally gifted with a good sense of smell.

Poms can smell traces of urine that humans wouldn’t be able to pick up. Worse yet, some of the chemicals in human cleaning products smell like urine to dogs. So, you should not only make sure to clean up any spills well, but also use cleaning products that don’t contain ammonia.

There are products made just for cleaning up after a dog’s potty accidents, which is a good idea, especially if your Pom is having trouble with this part of his training. Of course, it’s one thing to clean up a floor that can be washed and quite another to clean up carpets.

Conclusion

When it comes to potty training your Pomeranian, patience is the key to getting them to use the loo. Some time is needed. However, if it’s been a few months and your canine friend doesn’t seem to understand you, it’s best to check in with your vet for professional attention.

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