toilet training, house training puppies

Community education supported by www.toapayohvets.com

My Photo
Name:
Location: Singapore

A veterinary surgeon at www.toapayohvets.com and founder of a licensed housing agency for expatriate rentals and sales at www.asiahomes.com

Saturday, November 26, 2005

192. Motivating primary school students, a soldier and puppies

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

"Do you give stars to motivate your primary four students to excel in studies?" I asked the teacher.

"No," he confirmed what other teachers told me. "The stars work only for primary one and two students."

"Then how to motivate them?" I asked.

"By making them compete against one another to be the best student."

"What if the students are not interested in studies?" I thought it was not that simple.

"There's nothing the teacher can do," he said. "It is the home environment."

What has this to do with the toilet training of puppies? The home environment counts a lot. This means the time spent by the owner and the owner's good knowledge of how to house-train a puppy or adult dog.

Motivation to do what you want them to is important. How to go about doing it depends on the age of the puppy and the owner being able to spend time training them.



I thank the teacher whose family operates a pet shop. I was there with my elder national service son who had been given an early check out this Friday and half a day's off. I had picked him up from his camp. He came with me as I had to give booster vaccinations to 4 Labrador Retrievers ath this pet shop and later on, we would have dinner with his career mum.

On the subject of motivation to achieve what one wants,
I could not help thinking of what the teacher said about motivation and how the military had effectively applied the principles to my 19-year-old national serviceman.

The military knows what motivates some people like him to get the top physical fitness of soldiers. Top performancers get time off away from the camp. In his case, he was given a half day off yesterday and one hour early to book out of the camp on Friday because he was the "King of the Knoll." He came up first in a 20-km run and was given a gold medal with blue ribbons. What is a knoll? He probably thought parents do not know the meaning. "Well," he explained to mum later, I was "King of the hill."

A knoll is a small round hill. I don't know whether his mum knows or not but I knew what knoll meant. I was in national service 3 decades ago but the hills and physical exhaustion of military training had never been forgotten.

Time out from the confinement and routines of military camp life must be a highly motivating factor for him. The military uses this motivation to get the soldiers to excell in physical fitness. It works for some and not for others depending on their capability and motivation. So, it works for my son to be very competitive in running and obstacle course. Though the over-exertion might kill him and I hope he has some common sense not to go all out to get his asthmatic attack or heart failure.

Back to the teacher whose groomer rationed me to 4 name cards. I collect name cards from pet shops that had wanted me to vaccinate their puppies. I place the cards in my Surgery so that my dog clients can choose and pick them up if they want the services of groomers or pet shop operators. I note that some pet store operators are very miserly with giving away their cards to me.

"By the way, you should use a name-card software to print your pet shop's name cards." His groomer was very reluctant to give me more than 4 coloured name cards as they cost 0.30 cents per card. "The software is available at computer stores. You can print 10 cards in black and white using one thicker piece of paper and a laser printer. In this way, you do not have to worry about the high costs of getting a printer to do it.

It is hard to retail shops nowadays. I do not blame them for trying to save on costs. Qualifying who to give coloured name cards and restricting the number given is not a good idea to create awareness of one's services.

Friday, November 25, 2005

191. 6 ways to toilet train a puppy in Singapore?

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore


Few books write in detail about toilet training. From my research and talks with owners of new puppies at my Surgery, there are at least 6 ways to toilet train a puppy in Singapore.

1. PAPER TRAINING - newspapers, training pads, pieces of carpets/rugs
2. CRATE TRAINING
3. OUTDOOR TOILET TRAINING
4. PLATFORM + PEE TRAY
5. PEE TRAY
6. LEASH to a small area for bigger breeds.

1. 8 WEEKS OLD. Move away from the nest to pass stools. Do not urinate during sleep.
Can control bladder and bowel movement for a few minutes but people must watch the movements to pass stools and urine. (SIGNS: Circling, sniff around the ground in circles). Some can tell owners to remove the stained papers by barking.

2. 16 WEEKS OLD. Can control bladder and bowel movement.
3. 32 WEEKS OLD. 95% of puppies can control bladder and bowel movement unlike human babies (3 or 4 years old).

3. MISTAKES.
3.1 Not anticipating or noticing the SIGNS.
3.2 Letting the puppy "all over the house".
3.3 The instant it has finished eating. Take outside to garden if outdoor training.
3.4 Easily distracted by being taken out to the garden or newspaper. Patience.
3.5 Push the puppy outside and expect it to pee or poo without training and patience.
3.6 Inconsistent training.
3.7 No specific toilet location. Sometimes papers, sometimes outdoors. Beating the puppy. Make it smell its own urine or poo expecting it to understand that it has misbehaved. Roll of newspaper to slap puppy on back or slap the floor. Slap the puppy's face. Still a common method of training amongst Singaporeans who learn this method from older people or friends.

No longer recommended as it makes puppy frightened of owner. Physical punishment said to contribute to fear aggression, submissive urination and other bad behaviour.

3.8 Use of proper floor cleaning detergent to neutralise the dog urine smell. But some owners buy the wrong type which reinforce the urine smell and then wonder why the puppy still misbehaves at the spot.

4. REWARD
4.1 Eliminate on command "Poo here", reward with treats or praises when it performs.
4.2 Clicker method. Whistling method. Electronic collar method have been used.

5. RAINY DAYS,WINTER. Disadvantage of outdoor toilet training. Newspapers best. Confined area e.g. playpen. Recent newspapers, not those kept for long time (rat urine etc). Newspapers at door, then shift to garden.

6. TWO PUPPIES OF SAME AGE. Difficulty. One messes the playpen. The other may try to be clean.

7. PUPPY LEARNING FROM OLDER DOG. Sometimes successful.

8. RECOMMENDATIONS OF LOCAL PET SHOP OPERATORS IN SINGAPORE

8.1 Feed twice per day although many puppy books recommend 3 to 4 times a day.
Feeding twice a day instead of free feeding disciplines puppy and help in reducing stool formation. An 8-12-week-old puppy passes stools 3-4 times a day but pees a lot of times.

8.2 Drinking water not given before puppy sleeps. Helps to control bladder.

8.3 Puppies making noises at night - May want to go to the toilet or ask the owner to change newspapers. Owner sleeping. Unaware. Goes up to beat the puppy for making noises offending neighbours.

9. Successful owners - Less than 7 days. Some puppies associate newspapers well and just move to pee or poo on the newspapers on reaching home. Some don't know and shred papers. Some take more than 2 months. Some never successful because the house is full of urine smells and the older dog just pee or poo on such spots and get beaten.

9.1 Sleeping with the puppy overnight. When it wakes up, bring to the toilet. Owners who do that will find that toilet training within 14 days successful. Take leave. Usually owners don't know about this method.

9.2 Worst case. Use Crate training. Put in small crate for 1 hour for 8-week-old puppy. Take out to playpen with newspaper. Observe. Pees or poos. Back to crate. Next hour, repeat. 2 hours for 12-week old and 3 hours for 16-week-old. Needs time and supervision to be successful.

Hope this information helps.

FEEBACK FROM READERS WELCOME.

190. The alpha female commands the sneezing Cocker Spaniel not to bite the vet.

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

The Cocker Spaniel's back hairs stood up stiff. He widened his lips. His eyeballs rolled upwards. He snapped at the vet's hand and missed. He would bite again if given another chance. He was less than one year old but he hates vets. Hates vets for the injections.

What to do with this Cocker Spaniel's rage? There is a syndrome called Cocker Spaniel's rage. Is this the beginning of such a syndrome?

His owner was tall and above the average build of the Singaporean girl or woman. Fortunately for me. She spoke to the Spaniel firmly but more like a friend. She told me she had kept dogs as a child when Beach Road and Raffles Hotel were next to the sea.

For this Cocker Spaniel, she behaved as the alpha female. However, I asked her to grip the puppy's muzzle with her hand to stop him from sudden bites. She should give a firm command of "No biting" but she did not. She looked at the puppy in the eyes.

She was firm in her disapproval of biting. The puppy was still easy to train. Another few months at the hands of a less strong woman, this puppy would be bite all vets in the world.

The owner behaved like the alpha male, a leader of the pack. The Spaniel had respect for her and so the vet was not bitten.

The dog behaved. I gave him the injection.


From the first day after going to the new home, all members of the family must act as alpha males or females. In the wild, there is always an alpha male or female leading the group of dogs. Without this leader, the dogs would not be able to survive.

When the puppy goes to a human family, he looks for a leader, an alpha male or female. If nobody shows him how to behave or how to toilet-train, he begins to dominate every member of the family, messing up the whole house and biting everybody whenever he is not happy.

So, on the first day home, all members of the family should be an alpha male or female. Unfortunately, only one member may behave in an alpha way and so the puppy grows up not respecting the others.

Thursday, November 24, 2005

189. A two-nozzled water bottle

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore




The puppy is exercised outside the playpen when the owner is free or is able to supervise him. A water bottle with dual nozzle will be good as the puppy may want to drink water while outside the playpen. This playpen has no door, so it is inconvenient to put the puppy in to drink water.

This Cavalier King Charles can be brought to the water (bottle) but you can't force him to drink (to pose a picture for the photographer)!

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

188. Remove the feed bowl after feeding outside the playpen.

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

One excellent tip from my research is that the puppy gets fed OUTSIDE the playpen. The puppy is usually fed twice a day in Singapore. It usually gobbles down the food in less than 5 minutes. The feed bowl is then removed.



So, the playpen will not be crowded with a feed bowl. An owner or two may put in a water bowl instead of a water bottle for drinking. One owner puts in a water bottle plus a water bowl.

A fixed schedule for feeding is important in paper-training. The puppy usually passes stools within an hour after feeding. If the feeding times vary, the passing of stools become irregular.

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

187. Using National Library databases to do research

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

Monday Nov 21, 2005 at the National Library Victoria Street Atrium.
A one-day exhibition from various government departments including the National Library during the excellence awards for the PS21 (Public Service for the 21st Century)movement. A large crowd of young people gathered around the various booths.

The National Library booth interested me. I was eavesdropping on a library officer explaining database searching to a person. Suddenly, his colleague, a young Indian library officer offered to explain to me how to use the database for research asking, "What's your interest?"

I said, "Animal Research." I doubted there were many animal databases for such research.

The library has several database sources for research. This was a rare opportunity for a member of the public to be given explanations on how to use the databases efficiently from a librarian.

The library officer switched on her wireless notebook. I was quite excited as these searches would help in my research on "toilet training the new puppy". I might get new angles or ideas. New information on puppy behaviour and modification. So, I was all fired up.

The lady's enthusiasm was infectious and motivated me to learn more. An excellent library officer. She did some keyboard tapping. Then she said, "I am sorry. The server is down."

I was not surprised and tried not to laugh. I had to control myself. I had experienced the server failing at the 7th floor of the library more than 4 times last 2 months. Till I was afraid of using the computers to key in my articles. After writing, the server would just close down, wiped out my writing and then booted itself again showing the Microsoft Windows. I tried another computer and the same thing happened to me. So, it was once bitten twice shy. More than once bitten.

How could I be unlucky again this time? Early in the morning, the lady was about to teach me how to use the database relevant to my research in animals. The server had to be malfunctioning again.

This was a one-day exhibition. So, nothing could be done for the L2010 (Library 2010 visions of the National Library) education of the public. Fortunately, the 7th floor server did not break down when I typed the draft of this article. I had to be quick in writing this article. Just in case.

186. The bald headed & pimpled stomached Jack Russell puppy

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

"I have been using aloe vera shampoo for the past 2 weeks," the owner said. "Not effective to cure the skin disease." Over the counter medicine is most convenient and least expensive. Sometimes, the owner needs to consult a vet early.

Now this short-legged Jack Russell, a favourite in Singapore's apartment residents, was having a big 7-cm balding top of the head. At the belly area, over 20 bright yellow with green ringed pimples bloomed, like daffodils in the beginning of spring time in Scotland. Most Singaporeans will not know what I am talking about. When spring starts, the yellow flowers which I think are daffodils suddenly bloom in the park grassland.

So, these pimples really remind me of those yellow flowers. Or maybe sunflowers.

I checked the puppy.

"Did he try to escape from somewhere?" I asked the man.

"No," he said. "He was caged inside the playpen all the time. But he always wanted to get out."

"Are there some gaps or holes he tried to go under?". It is unusual for a puppy to get bald headed over a large area, just on top of his head.

The owner thought deeply. "Well, there are large gaps below the play pen fencing. I saw him trying to wriggle out from below the gaps."

So, he had bought the wrong type of fences. Those with large gaps below. Most likely he did not buy the pee tray that was supposed to be below. Hence large gaps existed as the pee tray was absent.

What's the solution to his problem?

A wire crate with door was one solution.

185. The male Schnauzer urine marks the master bedroom

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

"He will just urine mark elsewhere," the husband said. I had advised his wife what to do to prevent this one-year-old
male Miniature Schnauzer from making the master bedroom smelly.

She was to make a solution of 1 part of white vinegar to 2 parts of water, put the solution into a spray bottle. Sprayed the area where the dog urine marked. Use a piece of cloth to clean off. Then throw away the rag.

"Please let me know the results," I said. "It worked for other puppy owners to neutralise the ammonia smell of urine. The dog will not be able to locate the pee area." The thin lady pursed her lips, furrowed her elbows.

Male dogs do urine mark. Some do it outside the house but this one does it inside. I would not suggest neutering as there seemed to be no complaint. The consultation was for the female Jack Russell that had the top half of her body full of "brown" bald patches of 1 cm in diameter in between the normal white hairs. Like a moth-bitten coat. Readers may not know what moths are as they seem to be extinct in Singapore with weekly or monthly insecticide sprays in every housing area and construction sites to eliminate the Aedes mosquito blamed for starting an outbreak of denque fever in Singapore in 2005.

So, how did the Jack Russell get this skin disease?

"I think the skin is normal," the husband said."A change of colour."

"No," I said. "The skin should be white haired like the lower half of the body."

So, what was the cause?

"The other 2 dogs must be jumping onto her back." There was another female, a Boston Terrier. She was heavy. The male Miniature Schnauzer was heavier and weighed around 8 kg. The Jack Russell was also one year old, but smaller.

I advised treatment for the skin condition. As neutering does not guarantee that the male dog would not urine mark the house, I did not mention this procedure. However, if performed early, the problem of urine marking goes away.

184. Time Out. Watch for sniffing, turning, circling, squatting in the paper-training of a puppy.

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

For the first 7 days, watch like a hawk. If the puppy sniffs, turns and circles, bring him to the newspapers. Say "pee here." Praises and food rewards.

Unfortunately, sniffing may not be a sure sign. Some owners spank the puppy, make him smell the urine or poop and bring him to the papers. This is a practice stated during my research on puppy toilet training.



It will take some years of owner education to change to praise and food reward method, called positive reinforcement training.

In this practice of spanking, the owner will note that the puppy will flee and hide under the bed or shelving after having an accident "purposely." The owner thinks that the puppy feels "guilty" and therefore runs away. The puppy just cannot understand why the owner looks angry but can sense fear.

So, better take cover. If there is a single and a double bed, one owner told me that the Yorkshire Terrier hid under the double bed. There, it would be difficult for the owner to grab him. With time, the puppy is trained. But it stresses the owner and the puppy and may take a much longer period of time.

Have a time out. In this method, the owner puts the puppy in a confined area without shouting or spanking the puppy. Clear up the mess. Neutralise the urine smell on the floor. Be vigilant the next time. It is not easy as couples work 8 hours and still have to work hard to toilet train a puppy.

Some can do it. Some have less patience.

Catch him before he pees on poops. Watch for signs of sniffing, turning, squatting and circling. Success in paper training depends on your observation of puppy behaviour.

183. The Cavalier King Charles puppy prefers to poop far away from eating area

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore



Many first-time owners are not aware of the instinct of almost all puppies to pee and poop away from their eating and sleeping area as they are clean creatures.

If the owner locats the water bottle or feed bowl at incorrect positions, the puppy will have little space for the toilet. For example, in the picture, the water bowl is located in the correct position. If located to the extreme right, the puppy has limited toilet area as he also eats in that area.

Most Singaporean puppy owners are advised by sellers to remove the feed bowl within 10 minutes. Or feed outside the playpen area twice or thrice a day. Seldom is there advice to stop drinking after 8 p.m. Taking away the water helps the puppy to control his bladder overnight, but it is troublesome if you use a water bottle.

If the owner does not change soiled papers immediately, some puppies whine or bark. Others have no choice but to be soiled and require bathing every day. Shredding of newspapers is a common complaint. Chew toys may or may not help as the puppy is home alone for 8 hours in some cases where couples work.

182. Soft towel or a T-shirt as a bed for the Cavalier King Charles

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

Some puppies appreciate a soft bed to sleep on. A towel, T-shirt, puppy carrier with a T-shirt inside or a basket may be a bed. However, some puppies chew on the fabric or urinate on them.



The owner needs to spend time training the puppy on day 1. If the owner does not change the soiled papers frequently especially after pooping, the puppy will have no choice but to be dirtied by stepping on the stools and urine.

For first-time owners, the main complaint to me during the toilet training research is that the puppy steps on its stools during week 1. This is because there is not much space and the owner is not aware of the need to change soiled papers immediately.

Monday, November 21, 2005

181. Controlled 10-minute feeding for toilet training

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

Singapore pet shop puppy sellers recommend twice per day feeding of puppies. I observe that this schedule seems to be all right for most puppies. They alway gobble down their food fast, says most owners.

In the wild, dogs gobble food fast to avoid being preyed. They go back to their den to regurgitate the food to give to their mates or pups. So, it is not surprising that most puppies eat very fast. Give small amounts, 3 times per day, at ground level, to prevent stomach bloat and torsion in big deep chested breeds like German Shepherds.




Most buyers are working couples. However, some thin puppies or small breeds like the mini-Maltese, Pomeranian, Yorkshire Terrrier and Chihuahua may need three feeds per day as they do not eat much or are too fussy.

In toilet-training, the feed bowl is taken away after 10 minutes. This prevents puppies from being too choosy.

Some owners feed the puppies outside the crate and let them poop before returning them to the crate. Then the owner goes to work.

180. Water bottles are cruel for puppies?

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

Pet shops in Singapore selling puppies usually recommend water bottles for puppies. There are concerns from animal welfare people that the use of water bottles is a cruel way of providing water to the puppy.

Puppies kept confined in a crate sometimes play with the water bowl wetting themselves and the crate. Skin diseases may present on wet skin. More work needs to be done to clean up or dry up the puppy. Bowls get chewed. The playpen or crate may not have much space for water bowls.



In such situations of limited living space, a water bottle seems useful. Each puppy owner has to decide what they want to do. A water bottle or a water bowl?

Sunday, November 20, 2005

179. The 14-year-old girl does not know how to toilet train the puppy

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

It is easier said than done. Teenagers find it hard to toilet train the puppy.
Don't know how to toilet train the mini-Maltese

This is common situation. There is no Singaporean book on what to do after the puppy is purchased. There are many puppy books written by Westerners on sale.

"My 14-year-old daughter (slim child) bought the puppy while I was in Hongkong," the mother said. "Now, I need a veterinary health check as the pet shop guarantee money back if this mini-Maltese is not healthy."

"You mean she went to the pet shop and just bought the puppy without parental consent?" I asked the mother, around 40 years old, migrated to Singapore 15 years ago. However, the Hongkong accent was still present.

"No," she confirmed. "Her dad gave permission over the phone."

The veterinary check was all right. There was pus in the right ear canal. I phoned the groomer of the pet shop and he agreed to clean up the ears. Still, I had to teach the young lady how to clean the ears. No ear powder, put 10 drops of ear ointment and so many things to do.

Mum wanted the puppy to go to the toilet in the backyard. At night, it is kept in a cage in the kitchen as it might be too cold outside. But how to train this puppy to do its business when required?

The pet shop sold them a cage but no instructions on toilet training. It is too time-consuming to do the explanations and many employees just do not really know the different situations. A packet of puppy training pad (like the pampers for human babies) was bought. This is the pet shop's recommended method.

In this case, the intention is to have the puppy's toilet area outside the house. Yet it is free to roam inside the house. It messes the house. How to make use of what is bought to build a kennel for the mini-Maltese and keep the inside of the house clean?

It is too time consuming for me to explain to every new puppy owner as each situation is so much different. Puppy behaviour must be understood. It takes a lot of time to borrow books from the library and to surf the internet to get the information for various situations.

178. A 4-month-old Golden Retriever

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

A puppy and a senior dog.

Young working couple.

2 complaints:
1. The Golden Retriever puppy 4 months, male, pees and shits everywhere in the house.
2. He whines when confined in a small area. Therefore, the wife lets him out.

What to do?

1. Older dog (Sheltie, 13 years old) paper trained in a toilet. Younger pup does not adopt his habit but nips him. Wants to play.

2. Whines when confined.

Solution:

1. Confine in kitchen by leash (if somebody is around) or by baby-gate if not at home. Danger of being strangulated if tied up by a leash. Newspaper with urine smell in kitchen area, small area.

2. Treats given if successful.

3. If retractable leash used, lock up the leash at a certain length.

4. Ideally, should take leave for 4 - 7 days and train puppy on crate training.
At 4 months, Golden Retriever can hold urine for around 3-4 hours. Keep inside crate for 3 hours. Take out of crate to pee area every 3 hours and observe.

Spray urine smell on newspaper in toilet area near the crate. Near living area as the puppy is a social creature.

Eats 2 x per day and take away food after 15 minutes. Withhold water after 8 p.,m

Anti-ammonia cleaning of floor tiles. Vinegar 1 part to 3 parts water or commercial odour removal from the pet shop.

Owner (male) slaps buttock but says no effect. Puppy gets "excited". Actually it is frightened of the male owner for causing pain.

177. A rusty wire crate flooring - inflamed groins for 15-month-old Jack Russell

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore



Small skin problems are best resolved early because dogs tend to lick and lick till the whole skin becomes "crocodile skin".

In this case, I spotted inflamed groin and scrotal skin of this 15-month-old Jack Russell.

"Something irritates his skin," I said. "Does he lie on wet floors, toilet floors with chemicals?"

"No," the owner had not noticed such inflammation. The Jack Russell was crated 8 hours a day as the owner had to work.

"You can't let him out in a small room, like the kitchen?" I asked.

"Not possible," he said. "The Jack Russell chews everything."

I could feel sorry for the poor dog. But at least he has loving owners who bothered to take him for his annual vaccination and check up.

"Does he chew the wire crate?" I asked.

The owner shook his head. It was surprising. The Jack Russell used the crate as his den. However, he had no bed and would pee on either the left or right corners of the crate.

"The redness in the inside of his thighs and the scrotal skin show that he has had been licking these areas for some time. Bacterial infections and black pigmentation will set in if the problem is not resolved."

The owner could not tell me what caused this problem.

Fortunately, I had been going around pet shops and could imagine that the wire crate flooring must be rusty. Wire crates do not last long.

"Put non-slip rubber mats on the rusty wire flooring. Neutralise all dog urine smell by washing the crate thoroughly," I suggested. "He may not chew the mats. At least his lower body will not contact the rusty flooring." It was the most economical solution I could think of.

The owner wanted to buy a new crate. That would be best for this dog who loves to be photographed. He even went close to my camera lens as I took his pictures from one end of the examination table. The table was wobbly, the lighting was not perfect. Out of 10 pictures, only 1 could be used though. At least he would have a comfortable crate. He pees inside the crate during the 8 hours but usually poop outdoors when taken out in the morning and evening. So, I hope he is able to lie down on a selected area.

One way is to place his water bottle at one end instead of in the middle, as was done by the owner. In this way, the dog would, by instinct, always keep his eating and sleeping area clean and pee on the other half of the crate.

176. Digging your garden

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

A natural behaviour in some breeds.

Solutions:
1. Provide a digging pit best. Fill it with sand. Bury his favourite treats at different depths. Top up the treats sometimes.
2. More rewarding activities like games or chew toys to distract him.

175. Toilet-training on your garden

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

The lawn or garden grass show brown patches. This is due to the nitrogen content and concentration of hte dog's urine onto grass.

Solutions:
1. Products like Lawn Rescue from www.pet-and-garden.com (UK) to neutralise and dog's urine. Some pet shops in Singapore claim that a product drank by the dog daily will not cause burning of the grass.

2. Take the dog out for frequent walks
3. Train him to relieve himself in a certain area.
4. Teaching him to pee and poop on command.
5. Douse the area with water (a filled watering can available).

174. Home breeder's success - Paper training at 3 weeks old

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

One home breeder who works in a pet shop told me how he paper-trained his puppies so that they are sold as "paper-trained" at 3 weeks.

The dam and puppies are housed in a confined space. At one far corner, there are newspapers for the paper-trained dam. The puppies will ape what the mother does. At 3 weeks of age, they will also not soil their eating and sleeping area. They go to the papers. In this way, they have become paper-trained before sale at 8 weeks.

He finds that the puppies invariably goes to the papers at the buyer's house, causing great satisfaction. No toilet-training problem after sale, he said to me, having bred over 60 puppies.