About Beth Adams Expertise I have 10+ yrs rescuing Cairn terriers. Ask me about rescue work and re-homing rescued terriers. I am also proudly owned by a Jack Russell Terrier rescue. I am also keenly aware that terriers are significantly different from other kinds of dogs, and often not the best choice for some owners.
HOWEVER I AM NOT A VET! PLEASE DO NOT ASK ME IN-DEPTH MEDICAL QUESTIONS THAT SHOULD BE DIRECTED ONLY TOWARDS MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS. I WILL BE HAPPY TO ASSIST WITH BASIC MEDICAL QUESTIONS/NEEDS THAT I CAN OFFER MY PERSONAL OPINION ON. If you ask me questions about breeding, please expect me to be direct about my opinion on this topic.
Experience 10+ yrs owning and rescuing cairn terriers. Proudly owned by a Jack Russell Terrier rescue. My JRT is active in being a foster brother, and earthdog and agility events and we're having a blast
Terriers - House training a rat terrier/pomeranian
Expert: Beth Adams - 11/17/2008
Question QUESTION: Hi, I have a 1 yr old rat terrier/pomeranian. He is not letting me or my other family members that he needs to go outside to potty. Of a morning after he eats we go outside he does what i ask him to do and he gets praised and a small treat. We come in the house and i keep a close eye on him. He is always around me.But instead of letting me know that he needs to go he goes and does he business in my floor. And when he does this he gets put in his crate.Is this the right thing to do? What am i not doing right can you help? thanks. I do have a picture of him But i cant add it to this site I am not on a computer and dont have one. I can email it to you if you would like to see him his name is cisco
ANSWER: Benita -
My best recommendation is to make a schedule of taking him out and sticking to it. You should probably start with taking him out once an hour. After that you will get a good idea of how often he really needs to go, and can then adjust your schedule.
I would also raise the "value" of the treat. There are just some things that get dogs excited more than others. A biscuit may be better than a piece of dog food, but certainly a little piece of cheese or hot dog is much better than a biscuit.
The other thing to remember about treating a dog - several tiny bits of a treat are enjoyed a lot more than one medium sized piece. Dogs respond to numbers of times being treated more than the size of the treat.
You may want to use a belly band on him in the house until he is doing just great outside, and then you can wean him off. Here's a link to what I'm talking about:
And if you are being able to catch him while he's peeing, here's another item you can use. This would be used when you see him doing it, then you would immediately take him outside:
And I almost forgot to ask. Is he peeing, or is he marking ? Peeing would entail a pretty good amount of pee, while marking would mean he was sidling up next to furniture or a wall and just letting out a couple of squirts. Marking is much harder to break, and you would be using the same techniques above, except taking him out more may now help.
Let me know if you have any questions about anything I said here.
-Beth
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QUESTION: He is leaving puddles of urine in my floor, plus he goes and does the poopy in my floor also. But i will do has you say about taking him out every hour, and we can go from there. I just want him to let me know that he needs to go but he wont. Is there anything else i could try? and when he does go potty in the house I usually take him and put him in his crate Am i doing the right thing?
Answer Benita -
If you catch him peeing or pooing in the house, take him outside immediately. I don't even say anything to them - I just pick them up and go outside. I don't really expect them to potty outside which I do that, but it's a reminder that the right place is outside.
I have never had to train a dog to tell me. Once they get the idea to go outside, and learn to enjoy being outside, they just go to the door.
Good luck - You sounds like a great Mom for your little fella
