238. Carrot & Cudgel for a puppy Cocker Spaniel. An adult Cocker Spaniel Rage

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore



"She spanked the puppy on top of his head," to my amazement when the fidgety Cocker Spaniel wanted to leap off the consulting table, shooting like a golf ball high up in the greens, as if trying to get out of a danger situation.

The Cocker Spaniel seemed to be having a veterinary consultation table phobia as he was quiet when he was in the waiting room. I don't know if he had a bad experience earlier. Excellent condition. Very well groomed. No dirty ear canals, glossy coat. One or two pimples in his thigh. The working couple were the internet generation, in their late twenties. No children. Researched a lot on the internet.

I was thus surprised that the slim lady owner with black-framed glasses were not aware that the spanking of the top of the head might cause brain bleeding or damage.
I advised against spanking on the head.

The carrot and cudgel treatment to modify this Cocker's Spaniel behaviour seemed to work in toilet training. It took 4 weeks to paper-train him. He would invariably bark after peeing on the papers in the toilet, waiting for a treat to be given.

I assumed he would do the same for after pooping. No, he would just eat his poop if the owner did not stop him fast enough.

"How to stop his poop-eating?" the young lady asked. "The internet research offered no solutions."

"Nobody has a sure way to stop this habit," I said. "Taking away the stools quickly seems to be the only recommendation."

I continued, "You could try giving him slices of pineapples inside his food. When he eats stools, he may not like the taste of pineapples, according to some owners. I don't guarantee it will work."

The young lady said, "The puppy disliked pineapples when I first gave him. He would ask for apples and other fruit."

Could the pineapples really work in this case? I asked her to let me know.

The other method is to put a can of coins on top of the door or someplace in the toilet. When the puppy opens his mouth to eat stools, the can drops on the floor. He stops eating the stools. Using loud noise to modify his behaviour. Or use a water pistol to squirt water into his face when he is about to eat stools.

"You may need to install a video cam," I guessed. "Otherwise the puppy would know you are the one making the can drop."

These ideas were from other dog owners or from dog books. Too troublesome. Wait for pineapples. The owner presently spanked him when he ate stools. The interesting behaviour is that the puppy never asked for treats in the toilet after pooping. Only for peeing.

So, is there some idea on how to resolve this coprophagia problem? The owners work, so it is hard for them to stop this behaviour.

On writing this report, I think there is one way in this situation.

As the puppy is fed twice a day, and he usually poops within 30 minutes after eating, why not bring him downstairs to the grass and let him poop downstairs. Give him a treat. Exercise him. He will then forget about eating his poop as he breaks out of his bad habit.

BITING PEOPLE. The puppy bit me when I restrained him on the consultation table. This puppy may bite people when he grows bigger and stronger if not trained. I just neutered a 2-year-old male Cocker Spaniel this morning. The owner did not accept my advice to neuter at 9 months of age. He just got bitten on his finger when the Spaniel was moody.

So, he wanted to euthanase it. His wife did not want him to do it. The seller, a dog breeder advised him to give the dog a last chance. To ask me to neuter him.

This was a dog he could not handle for tranquilisation. He would not allow him to be muzzled. So what to do?

My veterinary assistant Annie did not say much but her eyes widened and her heart must be beating furiously as I asked her to handle the dog for me to tranquilise. I would never let her be bitten but she had got to learn how to handle fierce dogs if she wanted to be a good veterinarian when she set up practice in her country. What should she do?

I taught her the secrets without her getting bitten. We seldom have such cases. Still, her heart must be beating furiously. The dog was tranquilised. She put him on the operating table and put a gas mask onto his face.

"You cannot anaesthesia the dog wearing the muzzle," I said to Annie. I let her do without spoon-feeding so that she would be able to learn. I took off the muzzle. The dog was too weak to bite anybody. The dog was neutered. The owner took the chance to ask us to clip the nails. Annie clipped the nails. Some nail bleeding but not serious. The owner trimmed the matted ear hairs on his left ear.

The dog stirred. "Put on the gas anaesthetic," I told Annie. I did not want the dog to spring up and bite the owner. Ideally he should just let the dog groomer do everything.

He hesitated in engaging the groomer. I said, "This dog would need a tranquiliser to be groomed in the future and it would cost you at least $50.00. Now, he is knocked out, it is best you let the groomer cleaned his ears and clipped his matted hairs."

In the end, I phoned the groomer and brought the rates down to $55.00 from $60.00 for him. The groomer would shave the whole body, squeezed the oil gland, no bathing (as the dog was neutered today). He drove his van to the groomer. I went to check on the groomer 15 minutes later.

The groomer started clipping his back first! "How about the face?" I asked him. "You ought to clip the face first as the dog has been tranquilised." The dog lifted up his head and looked at us.

The groomer had no intention of clipping the face but he should. I presumed he did. An Elizabeth collar was given to the dog to prevent him licking his operation wound.

I hope he would not bite his family members. "No guarantee," I said to the owner so as to prevent misunderstanding. "If you had neutered him at 6 months of age, he might not be so ferocious or moody. Every member of his family got bitten."

"Last chance for him," the owner said. I hope this dog could settle down. The reason he did not bite outsiders was that the owner warned everybody not to pat him or go near him.

What a day. Could the young puppy grow up to be this older one? With a Cocker Spaniel Rage?