Pomeranian Training and Behaviour Guide

Pomeranians learn well with reward-based training, but their size changes how you deliver those rewards. Treats need to be tiny, and you need a way to feed near the floor without wrecking your back. Most Pomeranian behaviour problems come from being small in a very large world, so barking, leash pulling and mouthing are common. Adding distance, managing the environment and paying for the behaviour you want usually help more than anything else.

The problems this breed's traits make more likely

Somewhere else to start

What being a toy breed changes about training

Your Pomeranian learns the same way every other dog does. What changes is the mechanics. The place where you want to reward your dog is a long way down from your hand. If you bend over for every single treat, your back gives out before the training does, and you quietly stop practising. That is the real reason small dog training so often stalls.

Fix the mechanics first. Drop treats on the floor right beside your foot. Use a long handled spoon with something lickable on the end. Raise your dog onto a low bench for the first few sessions so the reward zone comes up to meet you. Small dogs also fill up fast, so break treats down to about the size of a grain of rice. You want lots of small payments, not a few big ones.

The second thing that changes is perspective. Everything at your dog's eye level is enormous. People, other dogs, wheelie bins and door frames all tower over a Pomeranian. That matters, because a lot of barking and lunging is really a request for space from a dog who cannot make space alone. Once you see it that way, the fix becomes obvious. Give your dog more room, earlier and more generously than you think you need to.

Pulling on the leash

Pomeranians pull for the same reason every dog pulls. Pulling works. The leash goes tight and the walk carries on, so that pattern gets rehearsed every day of your dog's life. The way through is to flip the rule. A tight leash means everything stops. A loose leash means the walk moves on. At the same time, make the space beside your leg the best place in the world, with treats and praise appearing there again and again.

Start somewhere boring, like a hallway or your own garden. Nobody learns a new skill in the middle of a carnival. A skill learned in the kitchen barely exists on a busy pavement, so once your dog can do it in quiet places, rebuild it outdoors one small step at a time. Plan the route, keep the pace sensible and build in sniff breaks, because an overexcited dog cannot think well enough to learn anything. Comfortable, well fitted equipment matters too, since it takes discomfort out of the picture. Read the full guide to pulling on the leash for the whole approach.

Barking or lunging at dogs and people on walks

This one is very common in small dogs, and it is rarely about being bold. Many little dogs bark first because barking is the only tool they have for pushing something away. There is nothing here to punish. Distance is your main tool. Work at a range where your dog can see the other dog or person and still take a treat and still hear you.

Closer than that, the thinking brain goes offline and no learning happens. Further out, you can teach a simple pattern. Your dog looks at the trigger, then looks back at you, and that earns a reward. Repeated many times, the sight of a dog or person starts to predict good things happening near you, and the big feeling underneath begins to shrink. Picking your Pomeranian up calmly when you get cornered on a narrow path is a fair emergency exit, not spoiling. Feed at your leg or drop treats so the repetitions do not strain your back. There is more in the guide to barking or lunging at dogs or people on walks.

Puppy biting and nipping

A Pomeranian puppy's teeth are tiny, and that is exactly the problem. Families laugh it off, skip the training, then wonder years later why the habit is still there. Run the full programme anyway, the same as you would for a large breed puppy.

Biting is not bad behaviour. It is how puppies explore, play and get through teething. Puppies learn jaw control from littermates, because biting too hard makes the game stop. You copy that lesson at home. Teeth on toys keeps the fun going. Teeth on skin pauses the fun for a moment. Most of the wildest biting comes from a puppy who is overtired or overexcited, so managing sleep and calm matters as much as the training. One extra point for small puppies, try not to grab or scoop your dog up mid bite, because being snatched off the ground can teach defensive mouthing. Punishment is not needed and can leave a puppy frightened of hands. See why puppy biting and nipping happens and what helps.

Mouthing hands during play

When an adult Pomeranian mouths hands, the habit is often years old, because it never hurt enough for anyone to bother stopping it. Mouthing is doing a job. It gets attention, it starts a game, or it lets off steam when excitement spills over. Even pushing your dog away counts as attention, and to a dog it usually reads as wrestling.

So change what pays. Mouthing makes you boring and still. A closed mouth and four feet on the floor make good things happen quickly. Give the excitement somewhere legal to go, with tug that has clear rules and with proper things to chew. Resist the urge to shove your dog off your lap by hand, since that is just another round of the game. Toss a treat away or trade for a toy instead. Everyone in the house has to follow the same rules, or the habit keeps getting paid by somebody. More on this in the guide to mouthing hands during play.

Barking at strangers and the doorbell

From your dog's point of view, alarm barking works. Someone approaches, your dog barks, the delivery driver leaves. That gets rehearsed every single day. For a small dog there is often a second layer as well, real self protection, because every visitor at the door towers over them.

Work both layers. Start pairing the doorbell sound and the sight of people passing with good things, so the jolt of alarm gets smaller over time. Then give your dog a job. Teach the doorbell to mean go to a mat, because a dog lying on a mat eating treats cannot run a barking concert at the same time. Put the mat somewhere with a clear view but out of the traffic by the door. Manage the windows too, or your dog practises barking all day while you are busy. Ask guests not to loom or reach down, and let any sniffing happen when your dog chooses to come forward. The guide to barking at strangers or the doorbell covers it step by step.

How to work through this at home

Pick one problem at a time. Trying to fix leash pulling, door barking and mouthing in the same week usually means none of them get enough practice to stick. Manage the others in the meantime, so your dog is not rehearsing an old habit while you work on something else.

Progress is not a straight line, and dogs are individuals. Some Pomeranians settle into loose leash walking quickly and still take months to feel relaxed about visitors. Others go the other way round. If your dog seems frightened rather than just excited, or if anything about the barking worries you, work with a qualified force-free trainer in person who can watch your dog. If you want to compare notes across other breeds, you can browse every breed guide.

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Questions owners ask

Are Pomeranians easy to train?

Pomeranians learn the same way any dog does, through repetition and rewards, so they are not unusually difficult. The main challenges are practical rather than mental. Your reward hand is a long way from your dog, which makes repetitions tiring and often means people give up early. Small dogs also fill up on food quickly, so treats need to be tiny if you want enough practice in one session. Sort those two things out, start in quiet places, and training usually goes much more smoothly.

How much exercise does a Pomeranian need before training will land?

There is no single number that suits every dog. What matters more is your dog's state of mind when you start. A dog over their excitement threshold cannot think clearly, and an overtired dog gets grabby and mouthy instead of focused. Aim for a walk with plenty of sniffing time, then train while your dog is settled but still alert. Keep sessions short. Several two minute sessions spread across the day usually beat one long one.

Why does my Pomeranian bark at every dog we pass?

Most small dogs bark on leash because they cannot make space for themselves. Barking is their way of asking something large to back off, and it usually works, so it gets repeated. Some dogs bark from frustration instead, because they want to reach the other dog. Either way, distance is the answer. Work far enough away that your dog can look at the other dog and still take food, then reward every time they look back at you. More detail is in the guide to barking or lunging at dogs or people on walks.

Does puppy biting matter if my Pomeranian is so small?

Yes, it matters just as much. The bite may not hurt, so families let it slide, and then the habit is still there years later when it is much harder to change. Puppy biting is normal exploration and teething, not naughtiness, and the approach is the same whatever the size of the dog. Teeth on toys keeps play going, teeth on skin pauses it for a moment. Also avoid scooping your puppy up while they are biting, since being grabbed mid bite can teach defensive mouthing.

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Everything here uses reward-based methods only. Dogs are individuals, so we describe what usually helps rather than promising a result.