339. Paper training a Golden Retriever in a HDB apartment

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore



"I wish to make an appointment to vaccinate my dog at your clinic on Monday," the tall fair slim pet shop girl said. Monday was her day off.

"Why don't I vaccinate your dog at the pet shop since I do come over?" I asked.

"No," she said. I did not ask why but would guess that she would not want to expose her dog to infections of other dogs.

"How old is the dog?" I asked.

"Over a year. I bought her when she was 6 months old, from the pet shop."


What a coincidence on this sunny and bright Friday afternoon. I had been asked how an older Golden Retrieve can be toilet trained in an apartment. See blog 338.

How did she do it and how long it took?

"CONFINEMENT" she said. "Use newspapers. Spray the toilet training aid onto the newspapers." She must have done a lot of research.

"Smack his back lightly and tell him to go to the papers when he eliminated on the floors of the kitchen. Somebody monitored him closely. It took one month to paper-train him."

"Why not buy the pee pan with grille top?" I asked her. The pet shop had such sets, aluminium and non-rusty, selling at $150 each.

"The HDB kitchen is so small" she told me. "There is just no space to put it down." Most kitchens are very small, so she was practical.

"You didn't beat the dog?" I enquired.

"No," she waved her hand. "A light smacking on his backside when he misbehaved."

Her training worked. But it took one month. As she worked full time, I presume she did not have much time to toilet train. One month is about the average, I think for paper training a puppy part-time or after working, in my survey.