Help me with my puppy problem

[lexi]

We got a Pomeranian puppy last year. She will be 1 in June.

She has been super sweet with the kids and loves the play with them. But we're having potty training issues (yes, I know this breed can be a challenge with that).

 

She knows to potty outside. We've taught her what "Go potty" means. She gets a treat when she potties outside. We started off with crate training (which went well), then I kept her gated in the house near me, and for a while she stayed on the leash. She did really well. Then she went off the leash and did fine. But she will have 3-4 days of accidents and then go for weeks with zero accidents and then we have a few days of lots of accidents. It's making me crazy. I can't figure out why we have those few awful days.

 

We take her out every hour and a half or after she's eaten. Her accidents are pee accidents not poop accidents.

Why is she doing this and what can I do to get her fully house trained?

 

I've taught her sit, stay, fetch, and she's learning to lie down. She's very smart and is usually very obedient.

Her accidents are during the day and never at night. She sleeps in a chair in our room and never has accidents.

I thought about bell training her but with our 3 story house, I will never hear the bell. And she doesn't like to leave my side during the day anyway.

Oh and she's been spayed and was recently seen by my vet. She is healthy and at a good weight.

 

What can I do?

Thoughts please!

[Ellie]

We got a Pomeranian puppy last year. She will be 1 in June.

She has been super sweet with the kids and loves the play with them. But we're having potty training issues (yes, I know this breed can be a challenge with that).

 

She knows to potty outside. We've taught her what "Go potty" means. She gets a treat when she potties outside. We started off with crate training (which went well), then I kept her gated in the house near me, and for a while she stayed on the leash. She did really well. Then she went off the leash and did fine. But she will have 3-4 days of accidents and then go for weeks with zero accidents and then we have a few days of lots of accidents. It's making me crazy. I can't figure out why we have those few awful days.

 

We take her out every hour and a half or after she's eaten. Her accidents are pee accidents not poop accidents.

Why is she doing this and what can I do to get her fully house trained?

 

I've taught her sit, stay, fetch, and she's learning to lie down. She's very smart and is usually very obedient.

Her accidents are during the day and never at night. She sleeps in a chair in our room and never has accidents.

I thought about bell training her but with our 3 story house, I will never hear the bell. And she doesn't like to leave my side during the day anyway.

Oh and she's been spayed and was recently seen by my vet. She is healthy and at a good weight.

 

What can I do?

Thoughts please!

 

I had trouble with a dachshund. My solution was to wear her. I put her leash on her and attached it to my belt when I was walking around or sitting; I tethered her to a chair leg when I was working in the kitchen or on the computer in my office. I even tethered her to me when we went outside so she could potty. We did that for two or three days, and she never piddled in the house again.

[MercyA]

I have a toy breed dog, too, and she wasn't fully trained until she was about a year old. It was either a physical maturity thing or a mental "light bulb" thing.

 

She is learning to use this electronic doorbell--you can buy two receivers if you have a large house. She mostly rings it when she wants to go outside and chase birds or wants to follow one of us out, but it's a start.  :)  We didn't mount the bell on the wall, but just have it sitting on the floor. I initially attached a toy to it to teach her to swat at it.

 

Don't feed treats or food with yellow or red dye in them. They can actually numb the urinary tract. 

Edited May 26, 2017 by MercyA