I have a Pomeranian puppy, he's 11 weeks old and he's been with me for about a week. Poms are supposedly not the easiest to house train and he hadn't been taught anything when I got him, so I'm trying to be pretty attentive about getting him on track. At the moment he is crated to sleep in my bedroom and is doing pretty well – he takes naps and sleeps through the night without much complaining (I do stay in the room with him until he's asleep for now). When he's awake I have him with me in the kitchen only and i take him out into the garden frequently to pee/poo. He seems to be getting the idea but still has accidents if I don't watch him like a hawk.
I have a couple of questions about scheduling. I have been reading that a puppy should sleep 18-20 hours a day – I've seen recommendations of an hour of awake time, then two hours of sleep. Is this accurate? It seems like a LOT of sleep! I'm a little nervous to put him on this schedule because he is sleeping through the night and I don't want him to start waking. On the other hand he can get a bit wild sometimes and I'm wondering if he's overstimulated and tired.
I'm also wondering about feeding him, whether this should be on a schedule. At the moment he doesn't eat much at any given time so I've been giving him small amounts of food throughout the day, and water whenever he wants it until an hour or so before sleep at night. However he seems to need to pee very frequently, like he mostly won't have accidents in the house if I take him out every half hour, but sometimes he will pee 15 minutes after I've taken him out. I take him out, tell him to do his business (my command for my other dog) and click and treat him when he goes. If he needs to go he will do it pretty promptly but if not he will just play – if he does that should I just bring him back inside?
He can definitely hold it for longer than he often does because he doesn't have accidents in his crate. I know it's very early days but how can I get him to go longer between potty breaks? He is a little tiny thing at the moment, about 3 pounds.
Thanks for any advice anyone can offer!
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