Any advice would be appreciated - Pomeranian!!!

I have a 18 month old pom (Jagger); he is fixed and I thought he was housetrained. We recently moved from virginia beach to fairfax and since our arrival he has began urinating in the house constantly. When we were in virginia beach he had mastered potting outside. Since our arrival here, I will take him outside to go potty and no sooner than 2hours latter he is wetting the floor. Just today alone he urinated on my bed twice. I call him to go potty and he just lays there. When I go to get him he urinates right there. I know we are in a new place and that probably has something to do with it. I took him to doggie day care today and he came back and urinated in the house twice and he didn't socialize with any of the dogs. I don't know what to do. I feel guilty because he is alone from 7-4 (why he is in doggie day care) when I come home he recieves my immediate attention and also through out the night. I will take him to the vet to make sure he doesnt have any medical problems (just had a checkup last month) and continue with doggie day care. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. He is such a awesome dog and companion I want him to stay! :cry:

 

Hi and welcome

I think youve pretty much anwered your own queston. Your definately doing the right thing by having him checked out, always best to rule out any medical issues.
Moving house can be very traumatic for our pets, it can take months for them to settle into a routine again. Going back to needing to be housetrained again is pretty common with this.

Do you have a crate? Have you tried crate training him? Even dogs that are neutered can still want to 'mark territory' it happens with some females whether they are spayed or not also but its workable, the problem you will have now though is that because he has already put the scent down he will probably want to keep going back there so you should use something like Natures Miracle to clean up the areas that he hes peed in (use something that eliminates the urine rather than just a regular cleaner/disinfectant that will just mask it....you might not notice the smell any more but he will). I dont know where you moved to....if you put new carpets down but if not and the other people there before you had pets then he may well be picking up the scent from them too which will make him want to leave his mark.

When you catch him in the act of urinating....a stern "NO"....and take him outside immediately....wait with him until he pees outside and when he does give him a lot of praise, I use small treats initially (usually something like chicken or bologne, usually after a week of doing this consistently you dont need to give him the treats anymore....some dogs take a bit longer but shouldnt take more than about 3 weeks at the most)....even though youve gone through the housetraining with him before its still better to start again from scratch, dont let him have free access to the house, if you dont want to crate train then I would use something like a 'play pen' type thing when you not home....when you are home then keep him where you can see what hes doing, you have to be vigilant and patient with him. Ive had dogs in for training or fosters/adoptees that I know were house trained....but theyve relapsed....like I said just treat the situation like theyve never been housetrained before.

Did he socialize with dogs before you moved?? Had he ever been in day care before?? This could also be a bit overwhelming for him, suddenly being in a strange place, surrounded by things, people, dogs etc that hes not familiar with. I would continue taking him to the day care centre but talk to the staff there and see if they can give him some special treatment in making an effort to try and get him to play....he should get used to it reasonably quick as long as hes not having a problem with another dog there or any of the staff. Ive never put a dog in day care but I know that with a lot of the fosters or rescues that come into my house it takes a couple of days before they are comfortable with the other dogs that I had, they tend to want to find 'their own litle area' and stay by themselves initially. No different really than putting say a 4 or 6 year old child into a new play group, some kids will go right in and mix with the others...some kids will be a bit shy and keep to themselves until they get to know a few others.

Keep us updated and let us know what the vets finding are if you can. Thanks.

 

great news for Jagger

Thanks DeLaUK for the advice. :y_the_best: Jagger did check out fine...he said the same thing you did (new surroundings new place). So today we started a new schedule and we will stick with this one (a brand new day ). Yes he is crate trained he learned that quick as he does not appreciate being dirty. Its so funny when its wet outside you can just see his face as if he is saying "I'm not putting my feet down on that wet grass" its hilarious. My sister and I have coined him the name DUDEVA. :lol: So next week he goes back to doggie day care, 3x times a week. I found at the pet store that he does well with one dog but it was about 10 dogs in the day care so I know he was a bit overwhelmed. Well someone is pacing back n forth at the door (potty time) Once again thank you and I will keep ya posted.

 

Great to hear he got the all clear at the vets, sounds like youve got/getting everything organized. :y_the_best:

I know exactly what you mean about the wet grass, my whippet refused to step foot outside in the rain, had to carry her to her 'spot' (bathroom area) if the ground was wet :lol: