Can anyone help me with my 8 month old Pomeranian and her habit of running away!?

Others will be along who are better at training than I am. 

However -- I must ask you to address two things:

1.  Why can't she go up and down stairs?  By the time she's a few weeks old she should be able to go up and down stairs when taught.  Is it that she's reluctant or is this your own determination?

 2.  This dog needs to go to the vet a.s.a.p. for a **full** exam. I suspect she runs from you because it **hurts** to be picked up!  As a small breed, being in your arms should be heaven for her.  And if it is NOT then you have a serious situation and your first step *must* be the vet. 

Dogs are *extremely stoic*.  Just because she doesn't squeal or scream doesn't mean she's not in pain.  But a vet will be able to address this -- and may need to do some x-rays to see if there is some problem.  You may think she wants to "play" but yet she's learned to respond to a query to go out.  This has morphed into a never-ending cycle but in order to *know* for sure you must get her examined to rule out pain.  Then you work on the avoidance.

If she sees being picked up as causing her pain??  She's going to avoid that situation every single time. 

If there is some problem with her spine then you will need to deal with that.  Either a special sling to enable you to pick her up without bending her spine or similar.

There are simply some things that treats just won't accomplish and if she fears being picked up (which honestly is what it sounds like) then you have some serious desensitizing to do. 

The rest of the folks here will help you address the training issues, but please -- understand that if you have used such negative methods *and* if there is fear and/or pain involved, you will have some serious re-training to do that will involve commitment to helping her.

This is very likely not a case of her being a bad dog -- but rather her either being in pain or being fearful. 

Everything Callie said, but, also, STOP CHASING her.  It becomes a game, sounds like it already has, and she wins.

And, again absolutely everything that Callie said.

I would recommend limiting her freedom. Not in a bad way or as a form of punishment but in a way that will make her feel comfortable.  Does she use a crate?  Dogs do well when you set boundaries.  You can increase her freedome as you build a better trusting relationship with your dog.  She is young and giving her too much at once is overwheling so take a deep breath, take a few steps back in your training and start all over like she has just come home for the first time.

You could condition her to not need the leash.  Start with a leaving longer rope on her in place of a leash or something thick you can cut.  Each day take about a half inch off and slowly shorten the rope each day making the dinstance you need to get to her closer each time untill there is no rope.  Then you can reach for her alone without the need to grab a leash.  It does take time and paitents, it took months for her to develop this habit so it will take a bit of time to reverse it.  It has become a game and she is winning, now it your turn to add some rules to the game.

Honestly?  When I have a foster dog who isn't reliable about coming to me, that pup wears a leash for as long as it takes.

Only the FIRST time down the stairs should be scary.  Once she's done it just once, she should be fine with the stairs.  You can start by putting something really great, be it a fav toy or a super yummy, super stinky treat on the first step down.  Next time make it the 2nd step, and so forth until she begins to realize that stairs are actually kind of cool things.

Renown3286

She can't go downstairs because honestly she never tried. We got her when she was about 12 weeks old and had her about a month before i started training her to go up the stairs. I started with the last step before flat ground then second to last and continued this way until she pleasently surprised me one day by doing the entire staircase. It's a little harder to teach her to go down though because she just stands there and refuses to try. 2.

Any human who is at all infirm will tell you that it is ***FAR*** more difficult to go down stairs than up.  For a dog it's like jumping down a 6 foot drop (it's likely higher than she is).  YOu can jump UP easier than you can cushion a down jump on a hard surface.  I have severe arthritis.  I'd rather climb six flights of stairs than go DOWN one flight because gravity will work against me if I fall and I'd wind up falling the entire length of the stairs. 

Add this to the fact that she doesn't wag her tail??

GO TO THE VET!!  There is something wrong if she's this reluctant.

Renown3286

I've seen her afraid and it just doesn't look anything like it.

It concerns me that you've seen her afraid.  But there is fear or reprisal and that's different than a self-protective fear of pain or discomfort.  you get "angry" and others "aren't as patient" -- *sigh* then you likely DO have a ton of retraining to do. 

Pain is not "fear" usually -- and it may be a sensible dog who won't do something physically that she knows she will fail at.  If she doesn't think she has the strength or can land pain-free then she likely doesn't want to do it.  She may make a 'game' of it to try and reduce the anger she knows is coming. 

and if the only time you make her "stay" is when you want to do something negative to her it's no wonder she doesn't stay.  "stay" and "sit" should be commands she has to respond to 24/7 -- not just when you want to take her out.

We adopted a peke several years ago who was terrified to be held.  She had a lot of arthritis, but honestly I became convinced after having her for a few months that her biggest fear was of being 'thrown' to the floor while being held. 

 Small dogs tend to LIVE to be held.  It is normally the most rewarding, most loving time of their day.  And when a small dog AVOIDS being held and picked up, my first question beyond what's physically wrong is "Who hurt this dog while she was in their arms?"  Did someone throw her or drop her?  There is very likely one incident that framed her entire response to this.  If someone picked her up and scolded her/smacked her for making a mess while they were holding her?  Voila -- you create a dog who does NOT want to be held. or picked up.

It took me years to desensitize Kee to being fearful of being picked up and held.  I had to be super careful to pick her up "levelly" and NOT bend the spine and to support her carefully in my arms.  It was easier for my husband to pick her up than for me.  The conclusion we came to was that a woman likely threw her at some point.  She'd been punished for being on furniture and she'd somehow had a hugely negative experience in someone's arms.

It was extremely sad for a *small* dog to not take comfort in a human's arms.  Ultimately I was able to get Kee past her fear of being held. 

You have part of the solution already.  Stop using the word Potty.  She's learned that this is the start of the "chase me" game.  Try this and do it when she doesn't need to potty, get a toy, sit on the floor, leash out of sight in your pocket, and engage her in a few seconds of play with you sitting on the floor.  Stay happy, stay relaxed. You're training but you're not in "I'm the boss Commander mode".  Snap the leash on without a word and keep the other end in your hand.  Stand up and walk to the stairs with her on the floor and you holding the leash. You're calm and neutral. Don't drag her to the stairs if she's reluctant.  Stop and give her a treat at the stairs. Go back to where you were sitting and playing and with the leash on and you still holding it, sit down and play for a few seconds.  Repeat this four or five times in one session.   Don't make any attempt to pick her up during these sessions.  Never  engage in the game of chasing her again.

  I do believe that this is mostly a game of chase to her BUT she has been punished when she's had an accident during the chase.  So there's an element of fear in it when the humans start getting angry.  This could also be why she eliminates when she's chased.  Stop chasing her and stop punishing her or getting angry.  Sorry to repeat but this is crucial. When a dog is punished unfairly and this is unfair in the dog's mind, you create all sorts of problems.

Don't punish her for accidents, ever.  They are the human's fault.  Spank yourself with a rolled up newspaper if she has an accident. :)   

  To prevent accidents as you retrain her, I would start feeding her in a crate.  When she's finished eating, gently reach in and pick her up,snap on a leash and take her outside for a walk and to  potty. Don't pick her up until you reach the stairs.  When you do pick her up, say nothing.  Pick her up and give her a tasty treat.  Praise her like she's won the Nobel prize as she finishes doing her business outside. 

If you train her to love getting in a crate, using positive methods, you can use this as a way to easily get her on a leash when needed.  This is more than just an issue with housetraining accidents.  What if you need to leave quickly with her for a visit to the emergency room?   What if there is a fire or flood and you need to get out quick? 

If you don't get everyone in the family to quit chasing her and punishing her, your problems will continue to get worse.  Explain to your family that she is not doing this to annoy and anger them.  She's a dog.  She's doing what dogs do.  I suggest that only you work with her on this until you see real progress.   This behavior isn't going to change overnight.  You need to work on it several times a day in short sessions.   There is no time line.  It will take however long it takes.  That will be determined by how often you work on it and how consistent you are with the re training.   You say you tried the leash for 5 days and then took it off and she reverted to the chase game.  She's been practicing this behavior for months and it may take months to retrain her.  If you give up on a method because it's not working fast enough, you will continue to fail.

Next is going down the stairs.  Many dogs have a problem with stairs that are open.  Looks very scary to a dog.  Slow and gentle training sessions will work.  Start at the top stair with her on lead (not being held in arms by you) and you with the tastiest treats you can find.  Make sure she doesn't have to potty before these sessions.   Put a treat on the second step and you go to the third step.  Encourage her to step down and get the treat.  If she won't and is showing fear, don't try to pull her to the second step.   Just keep working on it and she'll gain confidence.  If treats aren't working, try a favorite squeaky toy.  Don't try to get her all the way down in one session.  If you make any progress, say she goes down three steps and then seems reluctant, go back to the top step and get her to go down just one or two and stop for that session.

I always suggest people do some reading up on dogs and how they learn.  Dogs are such a huge part of so many families and we sort of assume that we know all about dogs.  But it's amazing the insight you can gain if you spend the time to educate yourself on why dogs do some of the things that makes us crazy.  Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson is a great book.  Patricial McConnell's book, The Other End of the Leash is another good one.  I'm reading a book now by Sophia Yin called How to Behave so You Dog Behaves. I'm loving it.  These aren't boring step by step method books.  They're meant to help us understand how our dog's minds work and why we fail in training because we don't communicate effectively what we want.  Dogs want to get along and they are superb at it, if we give them fair and consitent training.  Good luck and keep us posted.

Jackie's post is absolutely incredible and 100% right.

JackieG

She's been practicing this behavior for months and it may take months to retrain her.  If you give up on a method because it's not working fast enough, you will continue to fail.

Absolutely.

Renown3286:

From what I can tell, she isn't running in a fight or flight type way, its more of a "oohh yea come and get me if you can kind of way."

Renown3286:

While we are chasing after her to pick her up she ends up unable to hold it any longer and goes in the house resulting in correction. Number 2 she has done damage to herself and our home because of this problem. She knocks her head a lot and jumps off of things that are too high just to get away.

Actually i think that you have failed to read what she is telling you. By the way she runs away from you, getting herself into danger just to get away and ending up on soiling during the chase is a clear indication that she is afraid of humans when this is taking place and I will tell you why. Humans very often approach dogs in a very “unnatural” way, they get to the dog and bend over them to be picked up or petted. For some dogs a human bending over them causes severe anxiety. Imagine someone that is 20 feet tall standing right in front of you and bending over covering you with their whole body. It can be scary without a doubt, very overpowering situation. If you add that most likely you get frustrated because you are afraid time to go to the bathroom is running out then she is seeing a frustrated human trying to get her

Out of fear she ends up soiling herself and to make things worse she gets corrected because of it = you are adding fuel to the fire, no doubt she will run away again next time.

She is definitely not playing chase

You need to approach her in a different way, first she might already know the “steps” you take to get ready to go and probably the first one is you asking her "Potty?". The word might already be a signal for her that the situation she does not like is about to start. Do not say anything. Don’t wait until is time to potty to start the process. Sit down on the floor with a different and NEW treat (she might already relate peanut butter to the same situation), sit down sideways and let her come to you, or grab her favorite toy and do the same. Sitting down sideways from her will lower the overpower situation greatly and will increase the chances of her getting picked up contributing to go out.

If she is all over you when you play with her then you can hold her in your arms at that moment and take her out, come back and continue playing. The whole potty time is surrounded by game time