Question:
Hi everyone

I recently bought a Pomeranian, which is about 4 months old. I just don't know how much to feed him. I normally feed him a handful of Pedigree puppy dry food but he's constantly begging for food, stealing food from my 's bowl, and looking for food in the garbage can (he's not tall enough to actually steal food but tall enough to look ). I read it somewhere that Pomeranian tends to have bad teeth but he doesn't seem to like his dry food. Does anyone know a good brand? Would it be bad for him if he constantly eats my 's food? Also, I have trouble housebreaking him. I thought all boy dogs raise one of their hind legs to pee but apparently not Pomeranians (at least not mine). My dog simply just goes without any sign at all! I tried placing some newspaper and he would tear it all up. I soaked up some of his urine and placed it on a tray and he would tear that up as well (YUCKS!!! ). I tried the potty-training spray but he hates the smell...I am so out of ideas...please HELP!!!! Is it possible to train him to go to a litter box like a cat? How can I do that???

Answer:
Originally Posted by vcheng79
Hi everyone

I recently bought a Pomeranian, which is about 4 months old. I just don't know how much to feed him. I normally feed him a handful of Pedigree puppy dry food but he's constantly begging for food, stealing food from my 's bowl, and looking for food in the garbage can (he's not tall enough to actually steal food but tall enough to look ). I read it somewhere that Pomeranian tends to have bad teeth but he doesn't seem to like his dry food. Does anyone know a good brand? Would it be bad for him if he constantly eats my 's food? Also, I have trouble housebreaking him. I thought all boy dogs raise one of their hind legs to pee but apparently not Pomeranians (at least not mine). My dog simply just goes without any sign at all! I tried placing some newspaper and he would tear it all up. I soaked up some of his urine and placed it on a tray and he would tear that up as well (YUCKS!!! ). I tried the potty-training spray but he hates the smell...I am so out of ideas...please HELP!!!! Is it possible to train him to go to a litter box like a cat? How can I do that???

Well I have learned alot about food lately so you may want too consider the food you are feeding him...

As for the house training...I have a lab that rarely lifts his leg...he just squats..you need to look for the body language..I know it sounds strange!! Also I would keep the puppy on leash with you at all times so it does not have the opportunity to pee...when you take him outside praise him when he goes! reward him...is your dog crate trained?? if so does he go pee in the crate!

Cindy

Answer:
I have a Pom as well, and though I am no expert, I may be able to help.
First, it should say on the side of your small breed puppy food (dry) how much to give him. Mine is 10 weeks old, and we give her about 2/3 of a cup. You're right, their teeth can get bad as they age, so make sure he eats the puppy food.

Also, he likes the cat food because it smells better, as it has different kinds of protein in it. You'll need to teach him not to eat cat's food; he needs to eat his own. We had to put our cat's dishes on a crate where little Pom couldn't reach it! This has worked out well so far.

As for peeing, I have also heard and seen male Poms peeing like girl dogs. I don't know why, but it is probably for the better, because of all the hair- if they peed under one leg, it might get all over the fur.

Our dog, when she needs to pee, runs around really fast, or snifs around in a circle. She is fairly good at going on her pee pad though, so just watch for those signs.

We are also looking into getting a doggie litter box. I'll let you know how that works!

Good luck with your Pom!

Answer:
Pee pads might be better than newspaper because they spray them with pheromones to be more attractive...

For the food, pedigree is a pretty low quality food. Here are two puppy foods I'd recommend instead:
Innova Puppy
Wellness Super5Mix Puppy
Natural Balance and Canidae make "all life stages" foods that are good for puppies too.

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Your little guy is too young yet to urinate like a male dog which will make paper training difficult and messy when he does. My Joe didn't lift his leg until he was about 9 mos. old but he had been trained to go outside. I would put the cat food and the garbage up on the counter where he can't reach it and monitor him when he wakes up, finishes play time and starts smelling around the floor looking for a place to pee, take him to the paper, make him stay on it and reward with a tiny treat and lots of praise when he does.

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thanks people for all the advices, I am going to get some pee pads and new puppy food tomorrow. Hope he will learn where to pee soon. Feels like I am walking in a land mine every day....

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Don't forget to change the food over really gradually.

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What about Science Diet? I live in Hong Kong and we don't have that many brands of dog food...

Also, is it normal for him to "spray" drops of urine instead of actually peeing the normal amount? It happened the night before when my father came back from work. The puppy was really really excited and then suddenly drops of urine came out and this happened 3 times continuously...

Answer:
Young puppy will not lift their legs to pee. My 15 mo. old doesn't always lift his leg. Only when he marks his spot.

Young puppy can lose control when excited. He will out grow it.

Before our dog was house-trained, we have him confined in an exercise pen unless he is supervised. In one corner of the pen, we gave him a tray lined with newspaper. His bed was at the other end of the pen. Most dogs would not pee/poop where they sleep. They prefer it as far away as possible. When he does it on the paper, praise him and reward with treat. If he mess up, tell him he's a bad boy. It is important to response instantly, not after the fact. Better yet, if you can time him, take him outside just before he wants to go. At the spot you want him to take a dump, just tell him to do so. Reward him with praise & treat every time he listens. It wouldn't take long.

Answer:
Originally Posted by TKW
Young puppy will not lift their legs to pee. My 15 mo. old doesn't always lift his leg. Only when he marks his spot.

Young puppy can lose control when excited. He will out grow it.


I agree....lots of puppies will do this when excited.


Originally Posted by vcheng
What about Science Diet? I live in Hong Kong and we don't have that many brands of dog food...

Science Diet is not a very good food. Can you list all the dog food brands that are available in Hong Kong and we can tell you which one is best.

Answer:
What about Royal Canine? I am feeding my cat this brand...

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Royal canine isn't great either. I think they have a couple of semi-holistic formulas, but they're nothing like the foods I mentioned above.

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So Royal canine is no good as well? Can you also recommend a good cat food for me please? Thanks.

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It might help to know what brands you have available there, there are probably more than a thousand brands here

Ths might might help you to figure out what ingredients to avoid and what to look for in a dog food to help narrow down the list
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/

The guidelines can help with catfood as well, but with cats they need higher levels of protein and it need to be specified meats

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I agree. It is so much easier if you list all the brands that available in Hong Kong and we can tell you which one is best.

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Just realized we do have Natural Balance in Hong Kong, both cat and dog food. There are also, Royal Canine, Science Diet, Pro Plan, Solid Gold, Felidae, and other Japanese brands. I tried Science Diet and Solid Gold before. Solid Gold makes her poop really really stinky and Science Diet doesn't seem to agree with her stomach...

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Felidae is an excellent cat food!

As for the pee pads. I gotta be the black sheep and question the use of them. Why not just train the pup to go outside? Are you gonna use the pee pads forever? If not then you gotta eventually train him not to use them anyways, so why not do it from the start?

Take him outside after any meals, as soon as he wakes up. After playing. And lots & lots of praise when he does his thing outside. Expect accidents. If you see him squat, pick him up quickly and rush him outside. And again, praise praise praise when he gets it right. Don't dwell on the accidents. Clean it up and move on. Not bad puppy, but bad owner as you should have been watching them more. Puppies are like little kids. Gotta watch them like hawks. Keep this up and he'll learn quickly.

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I would love to bring him outside to pee. Unfortunately, I live in an appartment and to go outside I either have to wait for the lift or go down 3 levels of stairs. I was hoping that one day I could train him to go in a litter box like my cat. However, right now just want to know how to train to him to pee and poop at one site instead of the whole house....

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My finiky pom loved Chicken Soup for the Puppy Lovers Soul, and now Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul.

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To potty train you have to watch the puppy very closely as soon as he goes to pee , a little stern ah-ah, and take him to the place you want him to pee, reward with praise when he goes and you need a small area to put him when your cannot supervise him, it takes a while for puppies to get the idea, plus they can so busy playing they forget, but evey pee he makes unnoticed and uncorrected the longer it will take for him to learn, and just to warn you it could take a couple months of ongoing training to consistently learn to go in the same spot

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