126. The Chocolate Labradror Retriever eats newspapers

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

FOLLOW UP ON THE ENGLISH LADY'S CHOCOLATE LABRADOR RETRIEVER.

Tail wagging on the examination table. This Chocolate Labrador Retriever puppy was happy to go to the vet as he went into his plastic crate willingly. As cars are expensive in Singapore, it is not surprisingly to see the English lady taking a taxi to the veterinarian.

I mention about this happy puppy because 2 weeks ago, a 8-year-old, neutered Silkie Terrier stiffened his legs, spitting froth in his mouth when he went into the waiting room for the treatment of ear infection.

"Give him an injection or he will die" the owner shouted as this Silkie had a history of going into fits when visiting a veterinarian. I could recall him having fits many years ago but that was during a thunderstorm. The owner should have stopped entering the waiting room but did so when her turn for consultation was due. So, the dog went into cramps and fits.

I asked the owner to take the dog outside quickly, away from the room. This just took less than a second. But the owner keep saying, "Give him an injection or he will die".

He might not die but why take the risk? I sedated him. He had developed this phobia after neutering at a veterinary premises many years ago, the owner said. This case was so rare that it was my second encounter over many years.

So, it was a pleasure to see this Labrador Retriever so happy on the examination table. A happy lady owner too. He came in for an eye infection. Nothing serious.

"So, how's his house-training?" I asked the English lady. Not much time to talk more.

"He goes outdoors," she said. "No accidents, unless I did not have time to bring him down before midnight."

"You can stop him giving him water after dinner," I suggested. "In this way, he can control her bladder overnight." The lady arched her eyebrows thinking that puppies must be given water 24 hours a day.

"How about paper-training him in the kitchen?" I asked.

"He would swallow all papers," she said. "He is confined to the kitchen only when he misbehaves. Other times, he has the run of the living and dining area."

"Then, the only place is the maid's bathroom for emergencies." This condo has a maid's bathroom at the back of the kitchen. But how she is going to do the house-training, I do not know.

I know that this puppy will be well cared for. I still cannot believe that he can control his bladder for the descent of 19 floors to go to the grass to relieve himself. He is just a 3-month-old puppy and has had waken up from sleep. Rushing down 19 floors in a lift without peeing is incredible but true.

125. Yorkshire lives in a large wire crate

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore



A larger wire crate with a door may be suitable for a Yorkshire Terrier. The clean area is on the lower quarter of the crate. That is his sleeping area. The domestic worker clears his stools promptly. The urine goes to the pee pan or pee tray. He comes out to play, goes to the toilet and sleeps in the crate.

At this age, stools passed may be be once a day, not 4 x per day. Much depends on the dog.

124. RESOURCES - Dog books & others

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

RESOURCES

1. http://www.doggy-dogs-life.com/Dog-Books-Dog-Stories.html
Dog books

123. The Husky rushes to the common bathroom - LUTI

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore



"Why would the Siberian Husky puppy rush to the common bathroom when she is let out from the confined balcony area?" I asked. The owner could not give me an answer. She has the puppy for the past 8 days and had successfully trained her to eliminate on the pee-tray. The pee-tray was put in the left upper corner of the confined balcony area.

No commands, no praises, no rewards. The Husky just went to pee and poop onto the newspapers on the pee tray. Sounds like an intelligent puppy.

Yet, when let out, she would rush to the common bathroom to pee.

Why?

"It must be the urine smell inside the common bathroom," I said.

Yet why would the puppy rush to the bathroom everytime she was let out of the restricted balcony zone? The common bathroom was used by other family members and so it was inconvenient for others if the puppy keeps peeing there.

"What did you do on day 1?" I asked.

"The puppy peed on the common bathroom."

So, it seemed that the solution would be to neutralise the urine smell with vinegar:water 1:3 or with a commercial anti-ammonia preparation.

The main complaint was that the puppy rushed to the common bathroom whenever she was let out of the balcony where she slept. She could now sleep by herself as her whining for the first 2 nights were ignored.

On examination, the Husky had thick pus in her vagina. She had a lower urinary tract infection (LUTI). So, she really needed to rush to the bathroom to pass out the infected urine. Antibiotics should cure her problem.

It would be hard to detect such cases but there was redness of the skin and swelling of her vulva, if you see the picture. The creamy pus inside the vagina was not obvious as the puppy must have cleaned herself all the time. LUTI is uncommon but may be present in female puppies of the larger breeds.

P.S.

1. "The Husky refused to let go of the ball," the lady owner commented.

"The Husky is not bred to retrieve balls and give to the owner unlike the Golden Retriever. This husky considers the ball as a prey and kept biting it or putting it inside her mouth."

2. "The Husky likes to bite my hands," the owner said. Biting is common amongst puppies of various breeds. It is sometimes described as "mouthing".

Say "No biting," I advised.


"She will then bite my feet," the owner laughed. Biting or mouthing in puppies is to be discouraged. It is a means of communication with the owner but the puppy will bite other people when she grows up, not knowing that she becomes a dangerous dog.

122. The 6-month-old Chihuahua shreds newspapers all the time.

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore


As the puppy grows up, his hormones change his behaviour as he matures. Some puppies become hard to paper-train.




This Chihuahua loves to shred newspapers. He rips the newspapers inside his carrier as he was transported to the veterinarian. Was he paper-trained? No. The owner had not much time to paper-train him. Since he shreds newspapers, it was difficult to paper-train him.

Shredding newspapers is quite common with puppies in Singapore. To paper-train the puppy, the owner needs to teach him where and when to go to the toilet. Give commands like "pee here," and plenty of praises and possibly treats.

In this case, crate training may be the solution. There needs to be somebody doing this crate training. Neutralising the urine smell on the floor tiles too.

Fortunately, the small breed does not pass out large amounts of stools. Still, the apartment may be smelly if the puppy is not paper-trained.