Are Pomeranians hard to housebreak? (A How-to Guide)
No, Pomeranians are not hard to housebreak, in fact, Pomeranians are a smart breed of dogs that can quickly learn new commands and ways to act.
However, smartness alone doesn’t cut it, because there are a whole lot of other factors that go into housebreaking a Pomeranian effectively.
Well, the fact that Pomeranians have small bladders is part of the problem. Because of this, Pomeranians can’t go as long between pee or poop breaks as some other breeds.
More so, you’ll more often than not be close to them to give them access to the outdoors or puppy pads, or other places that the owner has approved.
Pomeranians are easy to train, which is one of their best qualities. This is true for basic behaviors and tricks we humans use to train kids to use the bathroom.
The most important thing to remember is that Pomeranians will respond much better if you train them regularly. Pomeranians need to be taught to pee outside, and they will depend on you to do the teaching.
This is where being consistent really pays off. If you don’t have a consistent routine on how you intend to housebreak your Pomeranian, they will be confused and may never learn the very basics of housebreaking rules.
Another important factor to keep in mind is that Pomeranians can be stubborn, so you need to train them with firmness and consistency.
They learn best from treats and rewards, so if they make a mistake, don’t punish them because that will just make your housebreaking efforts even more difficult.
On the flip side, Pomeranians are usually ready to be housetrained by the time they are 8 weeks old, so you don’t have to wait long to start fixing their ‘nuisance’.
The only catch is that if you’re housebreaking them, you should wait until they’ve made all their mistakes, or they could get reactive while you’re training them.
5 Things to Know Before Housetraining your Pomeranian
Here are five facts that can help you effectively housebreak your Pomeranian to poop in the right place:
Fact 1: Adult Pomeranians can be trained to go pee outside just like puppies.
If you get an adult Pomeranian, you might not have to worry about potty training if it has been trained well. Even the not-so-smart dog breed doesn’t have any reason not to know that it’s wrong to go inside.
They must be taught to understand, just like most adult Pomeranians did, but we can’t just assume that. Some adult Pomeranians grew up outside, in a cage from the time they were puppies, or with bad training from their previous owners.
In this case, you’ll have to start over and use the same basic methods for housebreaking your Pom.
But adult dogs don’t have to go to the bathroom as often as puppies, which makes training them much easier. On the other hand, accidents that happen to adults can make bigger messes, so it’s best to be ready.
Fact 2: Pomeranians don’t have much control over their bladders and bowels.
When awake, a Pomeranian younger than 20 weeks old has to use the bathroom once every hour. Under 12 weeks old, a Pomeranian will need to go to the bathroom more often than every 30 minutes to two hours, or even more often.
For older Poms, a good rule of thumb for potty training and figuring out how long they can go without going to the bathroom is to add one to their age in months.
So, a baby who is 4 months old could hold for about 5 hours. For small breeds, they can’t hold it for too long, but for large breeds, they can.
This is a general rule, but the way your puppy behaves may be different. Puppies can hold on even longer when they are sleeping than when they are awake.
Facts 3: Pomeranians like to sleep in places that are clean and free of dog waste.
Pomeranians, like people, like to sleep in a clean place. Wolves, coyotes, and foxes sleep in dens and go outside to use the bathroom when they need to.
And because Pomeranians try hard not to mess up where they sleep, their puppies learn to do the same thing.
A puppy is less likely to go potty in a small “den,” and keeping them there when you can’t watch them can keep them from getting into the bad habit of going potty wherever they want.
Fact 4: Pomeranians do best when they have a regular schedule for going to the bathroom.
If you feed your Pomeranian at the same time every day, it will go potty at the same time every day.
If you let your dog eat and drink whenever it wants, it can be hard to tell when he needs to go outside. It’s also a good idea to take them out on a regular basis.
Fact 5: It doesn’t make sense to punish your Pomeranian for causing a scene in the house, and it might do more harm than good.
Even if you are upset about something that happened just a minute or two ago, your Pomeranians won’t understand why you are upset.
This could be scary for a puppy, and he or she might not know what the punishment was. And because of this, they might not understand what you want them to do.
How to Potty Train a Pomeranian: The Basics
It is best to wait until your Pomeranian is eight (8) weeks old to start training them to use the bathroom outside.
Before starting formal training, it would be best to put the following principles into consideration:
Being Patient
Not all Pomeranians are the same, they all learn at their own pace. Some pick up things quickly, while others take longer.
When it comes to housebreaking a Pomeranian, it is true that patience is a virtue.
Being Kind
After patience, comes kindness.” Don’t get mad at your Pomeranian if it doesn’t “get it” right away or seems to ignore you. In all you do don’t hurt your dog because it doesn’t learn fast enough.
Don’t hurt your dog in any way.
Being Flexible
If your Pomeranian is having trouble learning, you may need to adjust your house-breaking technique.
One, the location you’re using for training may be too distracting, secondly, the time of day may be too close to feeding time or too far away.
Thirdly, the length of your housebreaking training sessions may be too long or too short, or finally, the housebreaking exercises may need to be broken down into smaller, easier steps.
Always keep in mind that now all Pomeranians are the same. Be willing to adjust and do what you can to help your dog break even.
Being Generous
Being generous with your time and rewards can make the difference between an average housebreaking technique and a great one that leads to successful housebreaking.
Always give a lot of treats when your Pomeranian does something right.
If your Pomeranian puts in the hard work, then you need to reward him accordingly. And give your training lessons a lot of time.
We’re all busy these days, but training your Pomeranians will be more fun and effective if you spend time with them.
Most importantly, you should plan your schedule ahead of time.
The Best Reward for Housebreaking Pomeranians
By training your Pomeranian, they will be able to tell when you are happy, mostly by the tone of your voice.
Take, for example, whenever we make someone happy or smile, it feels good and they feel great about it too. More so your Pomeranian needs the same kind of attention.
Allow your Pomeranians the opportunity to show you what they really enjoy.
When you pay close attention to how they react to the reward you offer, you can often tell by how they act.
Don’t go ahead rewarding them with a bowl of kibble just because they eat it, you can get more creative with your treat and reward system.
When you give them a treat, pet them, or play with them, watch them. If they look away or walk away, it could mean they weren’t interested in what you were offering.
If they get excited, stay close, and ask for more, it means they like what you’re offering and are willing to work for it.
We strongly suggest that you use a food treat as a reward when you are first training your Pomeranian.
It’s the easiest to use and works the fastest, but make sure it’s something that they would enjoy.
The second point is using positive reinforcement to train your Pomeranians and also knowing when to give them rewards.
This is very important when you are first training your Pomeranian. It’s best to give the reward right away after they do the right thing.
This means that your reward for their right action must be clear and quick, and it must happen quickly. It’s normal to be happy and amazed when your dog does something right that you taught it to do.
Another important thing to remember about housebreaking timing is that training lessons shouldn’t be too long.
Like humans, dogs can get bored with repetition, and as the old saying goes, “Students who are bored don’t learn very well.”
To ensure that your Pomeranian training remains relevant to them don’t make them do things for longer than they can pay attention to. Each dog is different, so you’ll have to keep an eye on him and notice when he starts to lose interest.
Try it for 10 minutes and see what happens. If you need to, cut it down. Don’t make it last longer than 15 minutes. Instead of having one long session every day, it’s better to have two or three short housebreaking sessions that are useful.
Breakthroughs in Housebreaking and Potty Training that Work
Most first-time Pom owners believe that housebreaking is an important part of having a loving relationship with your dog for life.
If you don’t teach your new best friend, not to poop and pee in your house, he won’t be your friend for long.
With positive reinforcement, it’s not hard to teach a puppy or an adult Pomeranian to go potty outside. All you have to do is make sure they don’t poop and pee in the house and give them treats when they do it outside.
Putting this simple idea into practice isn’t hard, but it does take a lot of dedication, hard work, and patience on your part. But the rewards are definitely worth the work!
Are Pomeranians Hard to Housebreak Conclusion?
When housebreaking your Pomeranian, keep in mind that they don’t know anything yet. For an adult Pomeranian, you may have to teach him to “unlearn” some old habits first.
Be patient, stay on the same routine, and cheer them on when they get it right.
If you work hard on these basic house-breaking techniques for a few weeks, you’ll have clean floors and a great relationship with your dog for the rest of your life.
