437. Steps on poo, overturns water bowl. Golden Retriever in front yard.

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

"Must wash the puppy's legs everyday," the first-time lady owner said. "He steps onto the poo in the playpen everyday when he greets us. He poops two times per day as he is fed twice a day. But it is too late to remove the poop."

The puppy was purchased one week ago and is now pee pan-trained. He does not eliminate anywhere. Puppy diapers below the newspapers were placed on the pee pan. The puppy just went to eliminate there.

The pet shop had recommended the diapers. The owner might have misunderstood. For the first few days, she placed the diapers outside the pee pan, intending for the puppy to use them as a bed. The puppy shreds them. When she replaced the diapers with floor mats, the puppy could not shred them. The diapers were then positioned under the newspapers and onto the pee pan.

"I do not want the puppy to destroy my garden. What should I do?"

"You will have to take the puppy outside twice a day, after feeding in the next 2-4 weeks," I said. "Pick up the poo and put it into the garbage bin. With this routine, the puppy's pee and poo will not kill the grass in your garden.

"If not, you may need a bigger pee pan."

Is there a solution in preventing the puppy from stepping onto his own poo?




I can think of 2 solutions.

1. A toilet training routine. Immediately after eating, take the puppy and the pee pan out of the playpen. Monitor the puppy till he poos. This puppy poops within half an hour after eating (the Gastro-Colic Reflex).

2. The Pee Pan to be relocated to the bottom half of the playpen. The front half will be the floor mats and the water bowl.

I think of solution 2 when I analyse the floor plan now. At that time, I did not advise the owner as I did not think of it. There were other clients waiting for their dogs to be treated.

I hope these solutions will benefit readers.