*425 picture - Triangular floor plan for toilet training
Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore
A fine Sunday morning.
A young couple with a Shih Tzu came in for vaccination.
Shih Tzu, female, 14 weeks.
With owner for past 3 weeks.
Fed 2x/day. Wolf down food.
Poop 2x/day but after around 2 hours. (Distraction by owner after feeding. On day 1, she pooped within 30 minutes. Should have waited for her to poop before playing with her. Working couple. Puppy home alone.).
Water bottle.
Triangular floor plan.
Backyard of executive condo.
2 walls and 2 sliding panels of fences to make a door (Good idea as this is floor plan is space saving. The sliding panels can open to permit the puppy to go in and out. Saves money on buying 4 panels as the 2 walls are 2 panels in place).
Pee pan cum wired flooring + pee pan (pee pan complex, PPC).
90% of the time, the puppy will eliminate on the PPC. Sometimes just outside the PPC.
"Sort of miss the target," the young man told me.
"Most likely, the puppy is trying to avoid the soiled wire flooring if the owner is not around to remove the poop," I guessed. The puppy would poop around 2.5 hours after breakfast. So, the owner would be at work and could not clear the poop. The puppy eats poop.
Owner picks up the poop.
Other times, anywhere in the apartment (let out to roam at day 7, too early).
Word commands:
If the owner sees the puppy looking at them, they say "Shish, shish". She goes to the PPC. They say "Good girl."
That is good. But insufficient motivation. A food treat will be better.
"But the food treat is hard," the owner said.
"Food treats can be anything," I said. "A small piece of dog food or bread."
At the early training stage, use food treat. Some puppies are not highly motivated by praise alone.
WHAT TO DO WITH THE POOP-EATING PUPPY?
Many ideas from various books and the internet. I have this idea for the owner.
1. Give the puppy a fixed schedule so that the puppy poops within 30 minutes of feeding.
(No distraction by playing).
2. Confine the puppy again in the backyard.
3. Feed and don't play with him till she poops.
4. Once she poops, reward with treat and praise. This treat distracts her and she may forget the poop.
5. Let her out. If she has not pooped, do not let her out.
"Will she get out of the poop-eating habit?" the lady asked.
"Not likely from my other cases." I said. "They eat poop when adult."
6. Confine to bigger area but no more free roaming of the apartment, without supervision. Watch for signs of elimination. Put her back on the PPC.That means, increase her free space, room by room till she is fully PPC-trained.
7. Neutralise floor urine with vinegar:water 1:2.
"She likes to eliminate on the floor mat," the young man said.
"Soft areas are preferred toilet areas," I said. "Neutralise it with vinegar:water,"
8. "I use air freshener to spray on the accident areas," the young lady said.
"This is one method to mask the urine smell," I said. "But does it work?"
She shook her head. So, it is vinegar:water method to neutralise.
9. "How about the newspapers?" the young man asked.
"She is not paper-trained," I said. "She is PPC-trained. Later you may have to replace the PPC when it is rusted."
"The PPC is made of plastic," the young man replied. "It will not rust."
"If the puppy chews on the plastic, it will expose the metal and rust," I mentioned this in passing.
"The disadvantage of the PPC is the need to pick up the poop. If the puppy is paper-trained, the papers can be removed, I said.
"But the floor tile is still stained by urine and poop," the lady said.
"Yes, that is where the pee pan can be used," I replied. "Put the newspapers on the pee pan."
Does this article sound too technical for the readers? I don't know. The owners promised to e-mail me a few pictures of the housing of the puppy. It was a very happy chat with the young couple." The waiting room was getting crowded. I took some pictures of this puppy for my case study.
SOMETHING WRONG WITH BLOGGER.COM. Unable to upload pictures for all newer blogs. Will have to switch to another blog.
A fine Sunday morning.
A young couple with a Shih Tzu came in for vaccination.
Shih Tzu, female, 14 weeks.
With owner for past 3 weeks.
Fed 2x/day. Wolf down food.
Poop 2x/day but after around 2 hours. (Distraction by owner after feeding. On day 1, she pooped within 30 minutes. Should have waited for her to poop before playing with her. Working couple. Puppy home alone.).
Water bottle.
Triangular floor plan.
Backyard of executive condo.
2 walls and 2 sliding panels of fences to make a door (Good idea as this is floor plan is space saving. The sliding panels can open to permit the puppy to go in and out. Saves money on buying 4 panels as the 2 walls are 2 panels in place).
Pee pan cum wired flooring + pee pan (pee pan complex, PPC).
90% of the time, the puppy will eliminate on the PPC. Sometimes just outside the PPC.
"Sort of miss the target," the young man told me.
"Most likely, the puppy is trying to avoid the soiled wire flooring if the owner is not around to remove the poop," I guessed. The puppy would poop around 2.5 hours after breakfast. So, the owner would be at work and could not clear the poop. The puppy eats poop.
Owner picks up the poop.
Other times, anywhere in the apartment (let out to roam at day 7, too early).
Word commands:
If the owner sees the puppy looking at them, they say "Shish, shish". She goes to the PPC. They say "Good girl."
That is good. But insufficient motivation. A food treat will be better.
"But the food treat is hard," the owner said.
"Food treats can be anything," I said. "A small piece of dog food or bread."
At the early training stage, use food treat. Some puppies are not highly motivated by praise alone.
WHAT TO DO WITH THE POOP-EATING PUPPY?
Many ideas from various books and the internet. I have this idea for the owner.
1. Give the puppy a fixed schedule so that the puppy poops within 30 minutes of feeding.
(No distraction by playing).
2. Confine the puppy again in the backyard.
3. Feed and don't play with him till she poops.
4. Once she poops, reward with treat and praise. This treat distracts her and she may forget the poop.
5. Let her out. If she has not pooped, do not let her out.
"Will she get out of the poop-eating habit?" the lady asked.
"Not likely from my other cases." I said. "They eat poop when adult."
6. Confine to bigger area but no more free roaming of the apartment, without supervision. Watch for signs of elimination. Put her back on the PPC.That means, increase her free space, room by room till she is fully PPC-trained.
7. Neutralise floor urine with vinegar:water 1:2.
"She likes to eliminate on the floor mat," the young man said.
"Soft areas are preferred toilet areas," I said. "Neutralise it with vinegar:water,"
8. "I use air freshener to spray on the accident areas," the young lady said.
"This is one method to mask the urine smell," I said. "But does it work?"
She shook her head. So, it is vinegar:water method to neutralise.
9. "How about the newspapers?" the young man asked.
"She is not paper-trained," I said. "She is PPC-trained. Later you may have to replace the PPC when it is rusted."
"The PPC is made of plastic," the young man replied. "It will not rust."
"If the puppy chews on the plastic, it will expose the metal and rust," I mentioned this in passing.
"The disadvantage of the PPC is the need to pick up the poop. If the puppy is paper-trained, the papers can be removed, I said.
"But the floor tile is still stained by urine and poop," the lady said.
"Yes, that is where the pee pan can be used," I replied. "Put the newspapers on the pee pan."
Does this article sound too technical for the readers? I don't know. The owners promised to e-mail me a few pictures of the housing of the puppy. It was a very happy chat with the young couple." The waiting room was getting crowded. I took some pictures of this puppy for my case study.
SOMETHING WRONG WITH BLOGGER.COM. Unable to upload pictures for all newer blogs. Will have to switch to another blog.
posted by Photography by Sing Kong Yuen | 6:35 AM
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