Posted 08 June 2012 at 09:58 | Last updated 11 June 2012 at 13:30
Wetting his bed, how to stop it
Asked by Denise M | 1 Answer
Amo is 7yrs old now and the most loyal, loving adorable dog I have ever had, he always has to have physical contact which we love, he has an amazing character however when someone passes the windows he barks and goes bananas and if he hears noises external too he can bark sometimes. I know we have spoiled him, He sleeps on our bed when he wants too, he sometimes jumps and sleeps in his bed in our room so I know its probably our fault, however I know poms do tend to be highly strung with barking, when the door goes he surely lets us know someones there but when someone comes in he settles straight away and sits next to them so we dont have problems with that. So with his barking we put him in the utility room when we go out, which as i am pretty much housebound is not often, he wets his bed when we take him through or sometimes when he know we are going out he wets it before he's put in there. I know we have probably caused this, but what can I do to stop this, please help as I cant keep washing his bed and blankets or him when he lying in it? I did ask the experts last night but did not get an answer, please help us.
Poms are great little dogs and it sounds as if yours is doing his job well. They do like to alert us if they hear something that sounds like an intruder but it sounds as if he's doing a bit too much alerting! It's quite a long process to reduce the level of barking as he's had 7 years practice - however with calm, patient retraining it can be done (don't worry about having 'spoiled' him - letting him sleep on the bed won't have caused this).
You'll need to set up situations (perhaps have a friend who is willing to help) where by someone rattles the gate (or whatever noise sets him off barking). Ask them to rattle the gate just enough for your dog to hear but hopefully not enough to set him off barking. When your dog is calm and quiet give him a tiny food treat and praise him. Then repeat - keep going until the gate being rattled is a signal for him to look to you for a treat rather than bark. Then gradually increase the noise outside - again rewarding with a treat...and so on. This will not stop your dog alerting when there is some one there but it will reduce the barking.
Regarding the bed wetting - it is likely that he is quite distressed about being shut in there when you go out (but it is also worth checking him at the vet to make sure nothing medical is going on). Try leaving him some where where he normally spends the day to make him feel more secure.
Expert answer
Hi Denise,
Poms are great little dogs and it sounds as if yours is doing his job well. They do like to alert us if they hear something that sounds like an intruder but it sounds as if he's doing a bit too much alerting! It's quite a long process to reduce the level of barking as he's had 7 years practice - however with calm, patient retraining it can be done (don't worry about having 'spoiled' him - letting him sleep on the bed won't have caused this).
You'll need to set up situations (perhaps have a friend who is willing to help) where by someone rattles the gate (or whatever noise sets him off barking). Ask them to rattle the gate just enough for your dog to hear but hopefully not enough to set him off barking. When your dog is calm and quiet give him a tiny food treat and praise him. Then repeat - keep going until the gate being rattled is a signal for him to look to you for a treat rather than bark. Then gradually increase the noise outside - again rewarding with a treat...and so on. This will not stop your dog alerting when there is some one there but it will reduce the barking.
Regarding the bed wetting - it is likely that he is quite distressed about being shut in there when you go out (but it is also worth checking him at the vet to make sure nothing medical is going on). Try leaving him some where where he normally spends the day to make him feel more secure.
Hope this helps
All the best
Julie