Socializing Your New Pomeranian Dog

Below are some helpful tips on how to socialize your new Pomeranian dog with existing pets in the household, with your friends, and with other people’s animals.

Socializing with Existing Pets: Make an initial contact with other dogs outside the home. If you can, take your existing pet (or pets) for a walk and have a friend meet you somewhere with your new dog. Take a long walk so the dogs can get used to each other. Switch dogs on your walk.

Take all the dogs back to the house. Switch dogs and have a tour of your home, with all dogs still leashed. Let your existing house dogs loose, but keep the new Pomeranian tied to you. If the new dog tries to mark the house anywhere, correct him with a sharp jerk and a stern “No!” If any of the existing dogs try to mark, correct them in the same manner. Explain to all, in no uncertain terms, that marking will not be tolerated. In addition, when you feed the dogs be sure to feed the established pets first and stay near the new dog while he eats.

Most established pets, if already well socialized, will enjoy a newcomer as long as the newcomer is friendly and is introduced in the manner described above. If you find you have brought in a troublemaker, you must remain the Alpha dog. If you are not willing to assume that responsibility, take the dog back.

Socializing with Your Friends: While puppies always generate warm feelings, adult dogs do not. It is especially important that they make a good impression on your friends and neighbors from the start, especially if you already have other pets. Set rules for your Pomeranian immediately.

No jumping on friends; keep your Pomeranian leashed the entire time friends are at home gatherings for the first few weeks to make sure your dog does not try to jump on them. No barking when the doorbell rings; no running out the door when you open it for guests; make him sit at your side and ask the guests to ignore him until everyone is in and he has a chance to evaluate the new people. Let him approach them for petting if he is calm; if not, wait until you have established the control you need so as not to make a spectacle of yourself and the dog.

When he can accept guests, make sure he does so with all four feet on the ground. It is easy for a dog to try to explore with his paw as well as his nose. If you are firm and consistent from the first guest on, you not only will eliminate obnoxious behavior but will instill acceptable behavior. The end result: Your friends will welcome his addition to your family.

Socializing with Other People’s Animals: The same logic applies here as with your other animals, so use the same type of rules. Take long walks on which you know you will meet friends doing the same with their animals. Contain and restrain your dog from barking at other animals as they approach. If necessary make him sit at your side.

Always allow thorough sniffing from both animals, as this is their way of saying hi. If at all possible, invite friends and their animals back to your home and allow the dogs to play by themselves. This solves many problems the everyday pet owner may not think about and he will find the dog much more relaxed and easier to handle.

Should Pomeranians Be Fed Fruits & Veggies In Addition To Their Diet?

Many Pomeranian owners enjoy feeding their pets human foods like raw vegetables, lettuce, broccoli, carrots, apples, and any other type of fruits or vegetables. The question however, is are these types of foods good or bad for dogs?

Fruits and vegetables for dogs are unnecessary if you are feeding a complete and balanced diet, which most are nowadays. In fact, anything you add to a balanced diet is really just throwing it out of balance and thus lowering your dog’s plane of nutrition. While dogs need the vitamins and nutrients in those healthy foods, they have a different system of digestion.

Think back to the wild. The free-roaming dog eats game - the whole beast: muscle, hair, intestines, organs, brains, and toenails. Inside those intestines is the food consumed by that other critter: vegetation. This vital source of nutrition is partially digested already, which is exactly the way the canine digestive system needs it to be. High-quality, complete, and balanced dog foods supply these nutrients in a digestible form. The bottom line is that you can give fruits and veggies to your Pomeranian, but they’ll do her little if any good.

Settle Down Little Pomeranian Puppy!

A Pomeranian is not like a television or a video game - you can’t just pull the plug or temporarily remove the batteries from a rambunctious puppy. Instead, you must teach him to settle down and shush. Right from the outset, make frequent quiet moments part of the puppy’s daily routine. Following a proper confinement schedule will help your puppy train himself to settle down. Additionally, encourage your puppy to settle down beside you for longer and longer periods. For example, when you’re watching television have your pup lie down on-leash or in his crate, but release him for short play-training breaks during the commercials.

When playing with your Pomeranian puppy, have him settle down for frequent short interludes every fifteen seconds. Initially have the pup lie still for a few seconds before letting him play again. After fifteen seconds, interrupt the play session once more with a three-second settle-down. Then try for four seconds, then five, eight, ten, and so on. Although it’s difficult at first, being sent back and forth between Settle Down and Let’s Play, the puppy soon learns to settle down quickly and happily. Your puppy will learn that being asked to settle down is not the end of the world, nor is it necessarily the end of the play session, but instead that Settle Down signals a short time out and reward break before he is allowed to resume playing.

If you teach your Pomeranian to be calm and controlled when told, you will have years of fun and excitement ahead. Once your puppy has learned to settle down and shush on cue, there is so much more your dog can enjoy with you. Your well-trained dog is likely to be invited for many walks, trips in the car, picnics, visits to the pub, or to Grandma’s, and even on incredible journeys to stay in ritzy dog-friendly hotels. On the other hand, if you let your dog play indiscriminately as a puppy, he will no doubt “want to play indiscriminately as an adult. Your dog will be hyperactive and uncontrollable because you have unintentionally taught him to act that way. If your pup has not been taught to settle down by the time he reaches adolescence, he will be unfit to be taken places. Your pup will begin a lifetime of confinement and isolation at home while the rest of the family go out to have a good time. That folks, is not fair!

Until you have trained your puppy to enjoy spending much of his day at home alone, you might recruit a Pomeranian puppy sitter. Just a few houses down the street, there may live an elderly person, for example, who would just love to live with a dog. He or she might be willing to come over during the daytime and sit and enjoy your TV or the contents of your fridge, maintain your puppy’s confinement schedule, regularly reward him for using his doggy toilet periodically play with the pup, and teach him household rules.

Herniated Discs In Pomeranians

Cushioning the bony vertebrae protecting the spinal cord are discs. When a dog herniates or slips a disc, she has pierced the cartilage surrounding it, allowing the gelatinous
fluid within this cartilage to seep out and put pressure on the spinal cord. The result is an inflammation of the spinal cord that is painful to the dog and hinders her normal movement.

A slipped disc can occur over time or suddenly due to trauma, athletic activity, or everyday exercise. dogs who have an extended back and short legs, such as the Corgi and the Dachshund, are especially vulnerable to slipped discs due to their elongated spinal column.

Symptoms vary because the rupture can vary in size and location from dog to dog. If the herniated disc is in the back, your Pomeranian will arch her back, walk with a clumsy gait that will appear especially exaggerated in the hind legs, and whimper. In certain cases, paralysis of the hind legs may occur. If the herniated disc is in the neck, your dog’s neck will stiffen and she will avoid moving it. She will whimper, especially if you pat her on the neck or head.

Helping Your Blind Pomeranian Around The House

Pomeranians can adjust to blindness and poor eyesight with very little difficulty. Their senses of hearing and smell begin to function as directional indicators, even though they may occasionally bump into table and chair legs or stumble over objects.

The following steps may help a blind pet find his way about the house and yard more easily.

1. Mark upright obstacles, such as chair legs and door jambs, with a light-scented cologne, spray or other scented substance. This helps the dog identify perpendicular objects.

2. Use a different scent on the floor about 6 inches from steps or similar obstacles. Use a light scent to avoid the buildup of odors around the house, which has been the only owner complaint about this method.

3. Wear a small bell or a bracelet that jingles. Visitors can also be equipped with such jewelry. This allows the Pomeranian to follow his owner’s movements more easily.

Sightless Poms adjust well to the problem, with little trouble to the owners. The suggestions above have been helpful in cases where the owner feels the need to do something to make the adjustment a little less difficult for the dog.

Older blind Pomeranians may be handicapped, but they should be treated, as far as possible, as if they were normal. This means using the earned-petting routine regularly and performing obedience routines learned before the onset of blindness.

Help, My Pomeranian Puppy Has A Lump On Her Tummy: What Could It Be?

This is described as an umbilical hernia. This is a birth defect that is usually quite minor. The lump you are noticing is likely to be a small amount of normal fat that has slipped into the location of the umbilicus (belly button).

The hernia, an opening in the muscle wall of the abdomen, is the result of an incomplete union of the two halves of the body during fetal development. If the hernia stays very small, it will need no treatment. On the other hand, if it gets bigger as the puppy grows, it may allow a loop of intestine to slip through the opening and become twisted. This would cut off the blood supply to the intestine and would require emergency surgery.

Ask your veterinarian to check the hernia at the time of each vaccination booster, about every three weeks. If the hernial opening gets big enough, the doctor will recommend that it be closed surgically. The procedure will require general anesthesia, but it is quite safe and recovery is speedy.

Help! My Pomeranian’s Claws Are Too Long

Claws, or nails, are dead, horny structures on the ends of each of a dog’s toes. The special skin that makes them has a very rich blood supply, and the claws of some young dogs up to two years old have been recorded as growing as much as six inches per week. In older Pomeranians, the claws may grow at half that rate.

Claws are very useful parts of a dog’s anatomy. They can help him to hold objects, will provide grip when he is moving and can even be used as weapons. Of the many nail disorders that may affect Poms, overlong claws and broken claws are the most common.

A dog’s claws grow all the time, and under normal circumstances they are constantly worn down through wear and tear. Overlong claws are caused by insufficient wear and tear, and dogs who are inactive because of age, illness or the laziness of their owners are most likely to suffer from them. The outer two claws on each paw and the dew claws are those that are most likely to be affected. Damage to the claws is often the result of digging or scrambling, and is more likely to occur if the claws are overlong.

Overlong claws will affect the way a dog walks, and will make his feet more prone to other injuries such as sprains. If left untreated, the claws may eventually grow around in a circle and bury themselves into the toe pads, causing severe pain.

If you think that your dog’s claws may be too long, ask your vet, a veterinary nurse or a professional dog-groomer to look at the claws for you. If they are too long, he or she will clip them. If your Pomeranian’s lifestyle means that this problem may recur, ask for a demonstration of how to clip your dog’s claws properly and safely yourself. Many owners are very reluctant to clip their dogs‘ claws from the fear that they may make the claws bleed, or that they may hurt their dogs. However, there is no guarantee that a claw will not bleed even if your vet or a dog groomer clips them, as judging the correct length can be very difficult, especially if the claws are jet-black.

If you do cut a claw and it bleeds, you can stop the bleeding with a styptic pencil. Any pain associated with claw clipping is usually due to the use of blunt or inappropriate clippers, which
squeeze rather than cutting cleanly. Few dogs enjoy having their claws clipped, but those used to having their feet examined regularly as part of routine health-checks will normally tolerate the experience. However, some dogs resent the procedure so much that they have to be sedated.

With a broken claw, if the tip is hanging off but the claw is not bleeding and does not look raw, you may be able to clip it free. The toe may be painful, however, so you should muzzle your dog first and ask someone to restrain him properly for you. If the claw is badly damaged, and particularly if it looks raw or is bleeding, bandage the affected paw. This will stop the claw from moving, and will make your Pomeranian more comfortable until you can take him to your vet.

Abusive Pomeranian Dog Training: It Is Not Necessary!

The myth that puppies need to experience pain, physical discomfort or fear in order to learn persists widely today despite convincing evidence to the contrary. This often leads to ego crushing physical punishment and the trauma of social isolation. The result may be a guilt ridden owner applying such punishments during the Pomeranian puppies most impressionable age, between 5 and 16 weeks.

Clients should be made aware there are so-called “professionals” operating in many communities who still practice archaic correctional techniques. The following case was reported in the July, 1998 issue of Animal Behavior Consultant Newsletter:

An obedience instructor in a training class was demonstrating a correction with a client’s nippy Pomeranian puppy. She stuck her fingers down the pup’s throat when it nipped, causing a gag reflex. She then took the puppy between her hands and shook it. The puppy collapsed. The instructor and owner took the pup to a veterinary hospital, where it died.

Regrettably, this kind of abusive treatment abounds in popular books. Physical punishment can rarely be administered quickly enough to be associated by pups with misbehavior, or with proper consistency. Consequently the owner, who should appear to the pup as a model of consistency, is perceived by the pet as unpredictable. The owner’s homecoming times produce ambivalent behavior as the pup vacillates between joy and hyper submissive “shamed” actions. Most clients are quick to appreciate that their puppy is responding to them, rather than to the fact that a pair of shoes has been chewed up in the bedroom. Interestingly, physical punishment often accompanies the onset of client complaints that their puppy will not come to them when called; understandable, when one considers that the pup has received punishment inconsistently from hands that also try to express tenderness through petting.

Pomeranian puppies who learn that human hands and actions may be dependably associated with pleasure rather than pain seldom exhibit hand-shyness, submissive urination or defensive aggression. Training systems that use social rewards produce more healthy and stable behavior than those employing punishment. This is especially true in pups with highly excitable or inhibitable nervous systems. Accentuating the positive and eliminating the negative in puppy training requires patience and self-control, but the benefits outweigh the heartbreak of vexing behavior problems.

The puppy owners will be better equipped to influence their pet’s behavior if they understand the behavioral effects of health, nervous typology and consistency in handling. Therefore, the veterinarian who spends a few extra minutes to explain these factors will help to prevent early fear imprints and resultant behavior problems that often prompt owners to get rid of their Pomeranians.