429. *Woman afraid of the biting and growling Shih Tzu puppy.

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

"Shih Tzus with white collar are intelligent," the mother with two pre-teen daughters said. "But my husband likes him."

"The coat colour is not a sign of intelligence in a dog," I said. "This Shih Tzu with the black face and dirty brown coat. Most Singaporeans avoid buying this colour. He is intelligent as he bites you and your daughter. He has dominant leadership quality at such a young age.

The Shih Tzu is only 10 weeks old, but he also climbs on the woman's leg, bites and growls at them.

The mother is scared of his "bad temper" as he bites and growls at her.

WHAT'S THE SOLUTION?
1. Be assertive. Say loudly, "Puppy, NO biting".
This does not work.

2. Time Out.
Never heard of this method.
If the puppy bites, put him inside a dark room for 3 minutes. Wait 5 minutes.
Take him out. If he bites, repeat. Sometimes you need to do it for 20 times.
If the puppy persists even after 5 minutes, keep him in longer time.
Consult the professional dog trainer if the puppy cannot be trained.

3. Pick up the puppy by the scruff of the neck, look into his eyes and say loudly, "Puppy, NO biting." I demonstrated.
The woman dared not do this.

4. Muzzle holding. A strong lady demonstrated to me this method. Grip the muzzle. Spank the muzzle and say loudly "Puppy, NO biting!" It worked for her Miniature Schnauzer.

5. Neuter at 6 months of age? Too late?

This puppy was paper-trained by the home breeder. So, no complaints as he eliminates onto the newspapers. But he is wanting to be the boss, I said to the lady. What can she do? Can a professional dog trainer really solve her problem? Will she pay for professional training?

Now, if there is a proper puppy training school, this will be a good case. Sometimes, it is the branding and the infrastructure that gives confidence to the puppy owner to pay for training.

Mark Richman, Any other ideas?