toilet training, house training puppies

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Location: Singapore

A veterinary surgeon at www.toapayohvets.com and founder of a licensed housing agency for expatriate rentals and sales at www.asiahomes.com

Thursday, February 09, 2006

268. The Cocker Spaniel still pees outside the papers

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

"You have a good puppy toilet-training website," the owner of a Cocker Spaniel puppy repeatedly told me. I vaccinated his puppy at the pet shop in West Singapore.

"Information from other sources usually advised puppy owners to bring the puppies outdoor." the owner said. I did not contradict him.

"How did you do toilet training?" I asked.

"Cover the room with newspapers 100%, then slowly remove to one small area."

"Did this work?"

"No," the young man said. "He stills pees on the tiled areas."

I thought he had read all the 300 cases of the puppy training weblog and might have picked up some tips from 300 new puppy owners.

"Did you confine the puppy to a small area?" I asked. The puppy was kept inside a wire crate with door and pee pans below. He also peed and pooped inside the playpen.

The outdoor area was covered with newspapers 100% at first but now much lesser area was covered. The puppy went to the tiled area because it had urine smell. The owner did not neutralise the floor or did not effectively do it. I told him about the solution of using vinegar:water 1:3.

"How big is the room?" I asked.

"About 100 sq ft," the young man said.

"The room is too big." I said. "The ideal method is to enclose the crate with 3 panels of fences from the front. I demonstrated to him from a high crate inside this pet shop. "Put newspapers in this extended outer area."

The theory is simple. In this case, the reduction of newspapers did not work because the owner did not neutralise the urine smell on the exposed tiled area. Or maybe the room was simply too large an area. He probably had no time to train the puppy.



>

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

267. Let the Maltese know that the apartment is her DEN. Not eliminate everywhere.

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

This Maltese was so good looking and clean. I had some time. So, I asked the Indian family how they toilet-train this gentle 14-week-old Female Maltese with clear eyes and clean white paws.

"Just pee and poop everywhere in the apartment for the past one month," the father said. "The puppy has a crate with door and pee pan below. But she just poops in the cage as well as in the apartment!"

Normally, puppies would keep the crate clean if it is their den. In this case, the puppy had freedom to roam the whole apartment. So, she does not know her toilet location.

MAKE SURE THE PUPPY KNOWS THAT THE APARTMENT IS HER DEN.

"Now that the puppy is still easy to toilet train, get her confined to a small area. Buy 4 pieces of fences to stop her roaming when not under supervision. Neutralise all floors including her crate thoroughly with vinegar:water 1:2. Put newspapers outside the crate. Feed her outside 2 X/day.



Presently, the puppy is given feed at all times. The feed bowl is left inside the cage. Sometimes she eats, sometimes not or eats overnight.

Watch for signs of turning, squatting, whining. Pick her up and put on the soiled newspapers (with urine smell). Say "pee pee". On success, give praises and treats.

She drinks a lot from the water bottle. Withhold water after 8 p.m.

I hope the family understands what I am talking about. If this puppy is not paper-trained or crate-trained, she will produce lots of pee and poop as she grows and make the apartment smelly. It is much harder to train an older dog as their mind is less trainable. Now is the right time. Better late than never!

266. E-mail follow up on Case 265. Success in pee pan training

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore


> E-MAIL TO DR SING, FEB 3, 2006

Dr Sing,
>
> thanks for your help!!! my silkie had already know
> to
> pee in her pee tray. i took one week's leave to
> monitor her, and reschedule her ( confine her in the
> guest toilet longer and give her a specific timing
> to
> come out to play). she is now more obedient too, and
> stop jumping around like before. This morning when i
> point to her pee tray and say "pee pee" she
> immmediately pee on the tray and i let her out to
> play. But she still wont go back to guest toilet to
> pee unless i bring her.




E-MAIL REPLY FROM DR SING, FEB 4, 2006

Dr Sing wrote:

> It will take time for her to go the the guest toilet
> automatically depending on the motivation for the
> puppy.
>
> Did you give her "treats" as rewards when she pees
> on the pee tray? Praise and treats usually work very
> well. Some owners told me that the puppy waits and
> barks to get the treats on success.
>


E-MAIL TO DR SING, FEB 5, 2006

<...@yahoo.com> wrote:
yes, i did give her treat and praise her, and i know
it takes time for her to go to the toilet
automatically. There is one morning when i need to
wash the toileT. I let her out and put her pee tray
just beside the toilet door, I saw her pee in the
tray.
And from that moment i am very sure that she
recognise the pee tray.

E-MAIL REPLY FROM DR SING, FEB 5, 2006

Incredible but true success story due to you taking leave to train the little one. The pee tray has the urine smell. So the puppy now uses it as a toilet. Can you e-mail a picture of her inside her housing plus pee tray?


E-MAIL TO DR SING, FEB 7, 2006
From: "..."

Please see attached the pictures. I didn't use
newspaper but floor mat and wash it everyday, because
she will shred newspaper, and i find it very hard to
stop her from shredding. The pee tray is at the
entrance and she sleep behind near toilet bowl.

cheers
...

Monday, February 06, 2006

265. E-mail No. 3. Follow up on Case 254.

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore


E-MAIL REPLY FEB 6, 2006

It will take time for her to go the the guest toilet automatically depending on the motivation for the puppy.

Did you give her "treats" as rewards when she pees on the pee tray? Praise and treats usually work very well. Some owners told me that the puppy waits and barks to get the treats on success.




<...@yahoo.com> wrote:

Dr Sing,

thanks for your help!!! my silkie had already know to
pee in her pee tray. i took one week's leave to
monitor her, and reschedule her ( confine her in the
guest toilet longer and give her a specific timing to
come out to play). she is now more obedient too, and
stop jumping around like before. This morning when i
point to her pee tray and say "pee pee" she
immmediately pee on the tray and i let her out to
play. But she still wont go back to guest toilet to
pee unless i bring her.

Cheers
...



Dr Sing wrote:

> Some puppies sleep on "bed" and the pee tray is now
> a bed for her.
> She does not pee on the pee tray, if I am not
> mistaken. Is this correct?
>
>
> ...


> Dr Sing.
>
> Yes, she only pee around 5-6 times a day. I think I
> will re-schedule the puppy's routine. Once succeed,
> i
> will let you know, but why is she sleeping on the
> pee
> tray since dog don't like soil their bed? Is there
> any
> way to prevent her from sleeping in the tray?
>
> Thank you so much.


>
> Dr Sing wrote:
>
> > Thanks for e-mail.
> >
> > The puppy is toilet trained outdoors twice a day
> > during week days. So, she is used to this routine.
> > When you go to work, she pees on the bathroom
> floor.
> > When you are home in the evening, she has already
> > eliminated outdoors. A 5-month-old puppy can
> > generally not need to pee for around 4 hours. Is
> > that what your puppy is doing?
> >
> >
> > To make her pee on the pee tray is difficult.
> > However, neutralise all urine smell in the
> bathroom
> > as advised in earlier e-mail. Confine her to a
> small
> > bathroom area of 3 feet x 3 feet with the pee pan
> +
> > soiled urine newspapers when you want to train her
> > to pee on the pee tray. No coming out of the
> > bathroom for the first 2 weeks (too late for you?)
> >
> > If the puppy is out, you need to monitor for
> signs,
> > say "pee pee" when you put the puppy on the pee
> > tray, praise for performance. All these take a lot
> > of time in the evenings.
> >
> > As for the weekend routine, the puppy's toilet
> > training schedule is upset. For the first 2-4
> weeks,
> > new puppy owners should have confined the puppy to
> > the small area to toilet-train. No outing to the
> > parks. A fixed schedule of feeding and exercise 7
> > days a week for at least 2 weeks is a key to
> > success. Withhold water after dinner.
> >
> > Let me know if you succeed in pee tray training,
> let
> > me know. Indoor and outdoor toilet training may be
> > too much for your puppy as you do not give her a
> > fixed timing, especially during weekends! So,
> > expect 4 - 8 weeks to succeed!
> >
> > > >
> >
> > ... wrote:
> > Hi Dr Sing,
> >
> > Thank you very much for the quick reply. My puppy
> > was > > vaccinated by you when she is still in the pet
> shop.
> >
> > My puppy's daily schedule: (Weekday)
> > wake up – 7.00am
> > 1st feeding – 7.30am
> > go downstair - 7.50 am
> > playing - 8.30 - 9.00 (play a while at home)
> > sleeping - after i leave for work, most of the
> time
> > she sleep. ( i on classical music for her whole
> day
> > so
> > that she won't feel bored)
> > 2nd feeding - 7.30pm
> > go downstair - 8.00pm
> > training (sit, come, stop...) - 9.00pm (at home)
> > Play until 12pm then sleep
> >
> > My puppy's daily schedule: (Weekend)
> > wake up - 10am
> > 1st feeding - 10.30 am
> > During Weekend, we will bring her out longer to
> > nearby
> > park. and basically she will have free roam for
> the
> > whole day when at home. She will sleep underneath
> > sofa
> > and then wake up to play again, there is no
> specific
> > time of playing and sleeping.
> > 2nd feeding - 8.30pm
> > Sleeping - 1.00am
> >
> > Thank you very much again for the help and wishing
> > you
> > a happy chinese new year...
> > gong xi fa cai
> >
> > Cheers
> > ...
> >
> >
Dr Sing wrote:> >
> > > 1. Some puppies take a much longer time to
> toilet
> > > train because the owners are not free. Some take
> 2
> > > months.
> > >
> > > 2. Three weeks of part-time toilet training is
> not
> > > sufficient. I presume you work the whole day, so
> > you
> > > did not have much time to toilet train her.
> > >
> > > 3. As each case differs, I can only speculate
> > that,
> > > in your case, you confused the puppy by putting
> > her
> > > into a guest bathroom with lots of urine smell.
> > >
> > > 3.1 The guest bathroom is a big space from the
> > > puppy's point of view. She would have found a
> > place
> > > to pee and poop by herself in the first 7 days
> (in
> > > most cases) if you had not introduced a pee tray
> > > with urine smells.
> > >
> > > 3.2 But you want her to pee in the pee tray as
> you
> > > had sprayed the housebreaking
> > > urine spray. The bathroom is full of urine
> smell.
> > > So, the puppy got no particular toilet area.
> > >
> > > Try the following:
> > >
> > > Neutralise the urine smell in the toilet floor
> and
> > > toilet bowl with vinegar:water 1:2 thoroughly
> and
> > > daily.
> > > Make the pee pan the only place with urine
> smell.
> > I
> > > presume you put newspapers onto the pee pan?
> > >
> > > 4. After accidents, many puppies do not
> understand
> > > why you put her onto the pee tray. Lots of
> > > repeitition and hard work to make her
> understand.
> > >
> > > Watch for signs of turning, squatting and
> sniffing
> > > and bring her to the pee tray. This is easier
> said
> > > than done.
> > >
> > > 4.1 Neutralise the urine smell in the accident
> > areas
> > > too. Watch for signs of wanting to pee, carry
> the
> > > puppy to the pee pan. Say "pee pee". If she does
> > > that, praise a lot and/or give a treat. Repeat
> > many
> > > times. For your case, 3 weeks of part-time
> toilet
> > > training is not enough.
> > >
> > > 5. Distractions. When you are there, the puppy
> > wants
> > > to socialise with you. So she controls her
> > bladder.
> > > Especially if you have had brought her outdoors
> to
> > > pee and poop.
> > >
> > > 6. Let me have a schedule of the puppy's daily
> > > activity, e.g. time to wake up, go downstairs,.. SEE CASE NO. 254 FOR MORE INFO.

264. Chinese Crested screamed trying to poop. Vet "not good"

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

"The vet said she is constipated, but she had not responded to treatment and X-rays."

A cube of well formed glistening brown stools plopped onto the consultation table. The other vet had done a good job but it would be difficult to convince the owner.

This was because the puppy still strained to pass stools. So, what was wrong with this Chinese Crested Female, 14 weeks old?

I checked the anal area. There were small ulcers on the anus. What caused them? Painful ulcers stopped pooping. Stools accumulated worsening the situation.

"How's the puppy's toilet training?" I asked.

"Within 2 days, paper-trained," the lady owner told me. When she placed the puppy onto a piece of newspapers, the puppy peed onto the papers.



That demonstration was most impressive. 2 days to paper train a puppy from the pet shop was very good. My only explanation was that the puppy had been paper-trained in Australia before export to Singapore.

Now the problem was painful pooping leading to constipation. In such cases, owners should follow up with the vet the next day and not wait long. Stools accumulate and cause painful stomach in very small breed like this Chinese Crested dog.

It is not that the first vet is "no good." The prescription of laxative was given by the first vet. The puppy pooped on my examination table with a "plong" sound.

Such constipation with anal pain needs follow up, preferably a feedback the next day. A phone call is all right. In this case, the owner saw me 2 times. Certain nursing and treatment methods must be complied with for the puppy to recover. I believe the puppy has recovered after 3 treatments (including the first vet's).

263. Mouthing by puppies

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

"The puppy likes to bite me. Some bites can be painful. What should I do?"
A very common question.




Do a web search on BITE INHIBITION for ideas on how to moderate the mouthing.

For the record, any time a dog puts it's teeth on you in any way after the age of 12 weeks, it is not in play. It is ALWAYS posturing and positioning and dominance related, no matter how much it looks like play. This is how dogs figure out who is who in the hierarchy without injuring each other.

Along with the positive help you will find when you look up BITE INHIBITION (look specifically for articles by Ian Dunbar), I offer some firm discipline for mouthy puppies as well.

I take them (GENTLY GENTLY WITH PUPPIES) firmly by the loose skin under the chin, look them directly in the eye, and say NO TEETH in a low tone of voice. I wait for submissive indications, such as the puppy looking away, licking his tongue out, ears back flat, raising a paw, and then I release the dog.

No making up or saying you are sorry. The leader figure deserves respect.

I would urge you to seek out a puppy training class in your area to help the pup learn the basics, and also for socialization.

262. Food aggression & toilet training 9 month old Beagle Cross Lab

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

9-month old Cross bites 4-year-old child for touching his chew toy.


QUESTION

I just got a new dog and we found out he is protective/aggressive when he has a bone to chew on. I haven't seen him act like this with his food, but haven't really tested him either. He was just laying on the floor chewing on a rawhide bone and when my son tried to pet him he growled and snapped at him. How do I get him to not be like that? Thanks.

ANSWER

How old is your son?

My son is 4 1/2 yrs old.

How old is the dog? Can you give me some background on the dog?

He is 9 mths old. He had lived inside with a few smaller dogs for awhile. But has been tied outside for alittle while when I got him. I now have him inside.

I would first suggest obedience training in a public class so that the dog learns who the boss is. I'm hoping it's you.

No more tasty chew toys for awhile. What is he like when he eats his food? Can you put your hand in his food bowl while he is eating? No, don't put your real hand there! Put the handle end of a broom into his food while he eats............what happens? Details please.

I haven't really seen him eat much since I brought him home. When he does decide to eat I will use a broom handle and check what he does.

Remember, you bought that toy for him, you buy that food for him. Those things are not his, they belong to you. When you want to take it away from him, it is yours for the taking.

This is not going to be a quick fix, we have to stay in touch, ok?





I will definitely stay in touch. I am hoping this dog does not end up being more than I can handle right now. I had open heart surgery about 3 weeks ago and am not allowed to life much weight or drive yet. (i drove to get him, but that's cause he was close). The previous owners did say if for any reason it doesn't work out I can take him back. But I am hoping I can get this worked out. I am also having probs with the housebreaking. I'm not sure how long he has been outside, but one of the first things he did when I brought him home was poop and pee in the living room. Now, a few hrs later he decided to pee in the other room. I am also working on him with staying off the couches. He obviously has not had much, if any, training. I cannot afford to go to a formal dog training class right now, but can work with him myself. thanks.



Your son is too young to help himself and may not understand not to touch the dog when the dog has a toy. When you can't supervize their play, you need to put the dog in a crate, or in another room, or behind a baby gate.

In a house full of dogs at his previous home he has had to "fight" for anything that could belong to him. Because the other owners did nothing to intervene they did a really good job in setting him up to guard his resources, that has now become a dangerous habit. Grrrrrrr! to the previous owners.

Thanks. My son is actually very good with animals, but of course is a 4 yr old. I have explained to him that we can't pet the dog when he has a chew toy. He seems to understand that very well, but of course I will always supervise their time together. Better safe then sorry. Since I have had my heart surgery I am supposed to do a lot of walking so he will help give me a reason to get off my butt and do my walking. We live in the country with lots of open fields and back roads, so their are plenty of places for me to walk him. He's a real sweetie and I want things to work out so we can keep him. I will hand feed him and work on training him too. I know a lot of the basics of training the normal stuff like sit, heal, lay, etc. So I will start with that. I also need to get him a halti. He tends to pull a good bit on the leash. Thanks.





Just as a side note. My own Border Collie, Stoan, resource guards. Not from humans but from other dogs. I can take anything away from him any time I want to.

He doesn't like it when other dogs approach to investigate his stuff at our club building. These are things that belong to he and I that I store at our building when we have classes. He doesn't like certain dogs approaching him when he's in his kennel at the club building. He doesn't like it when other dogs approach us when I'm wearing my bait pouch. A human can approach our stuff, and dig around in it, but not that person's dog.

Stoan's behavior towards other dogs is normal, and he's just talking doggy to them, but I'm working hard to tone down this behavior as well.

One more command for your dog. Teach him to readily give up his toys or chew bones, by asking him to accept a food treat in exchange, when you want to take the toy away from him. BUT, if you do this, you have to win. If he growls, or snaps, and you walk away, he's won. You have to find some means of distraction so you can get that toy. My thought is that, if an adult can take away the toy without the rude response then it only means that the dog sees your son as a puppy, the lowest on the totem poll in the pack. Has this dog grown up around children? See, if the dog succeeded in scaring a child away from his toy at any time, then the dog had just won the first round. He thinks humans scare easy, especially the small humans.


His breeding is Lab, a playful, very strong, family-oriented breed, and Beagle, a head-strong clown that is obscessed with food. With his nose to the ground the Beagle is always looking for something. Hunting down his "prey" and gobbling it up.

I hope you're up to the energy level that this cross breed will demand

If you want to, you can hand-feed him his meals. This will teach him that the food belongs to you. Teach him to sit before he gets a meal. Adopt the, "no free lunch" training method. Anytime he wants something, toy, food, walk, go outside, he has to do something on your command to have it. Simplest commands would be sit, or down.


I would be very careful. As has been said this dog could be very dangerous to you and your child.
This dog has to get over the food aggression...


I gave him a plastic chew toy today. He wasn't too happy about my trying to get it from him, but he didn't growl at me. I told him give and took it out of his mouth. He let me take it from him pretty easily. I haven't had my son go near him when he has this toy yet

I finally got him to eat some of his dog food. He will eat it out of my hand just fine, but for some reason doesn't want to eat it out of the bowl. Why would he be acting like this? He is ending up being a very interesting dog, lol.

Sunday, February 05, 2006

261. Was the "clever" mini-maltese paper-trained in 4 days?

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

Is there such a puppy? Just spray some urine smell on newspapers. She pees and poops on day 2 after purchase. After that paper-trained 100%.

"She goes to eliminate on the newspapers in the midst of playing with the children," the gentleman said. "After her business, she continues playing."

This 3-month-old female mini-Maltese was paper-trained within 4 days successfully. I was impressed.

So easily impressed? Was this inborn intelligence?

Feed bowl left in left front side crate. 3 times a day, the owner throws away the uneaten dry puppy feed. Put in fresh ones.

The puppy poops 2-3 x a day. Will not poop overnight in the crate which is her sleeping area. She waited till the morning. She was taken out to the papers to pee and poop.

The water bottle was attached to the right side. The crate door was locked unless somebody was at home to take the puppy out.

There was something missing in this toilet training method, I thought.



So easy to toilet train her? She was from the pet shop and was used to the crate floor plan. She would have peed onto the pee pan below and pooped inside the crate.

On further asking, the owner said that for the first week, the maid (domestic worker) too the puppy out 3 hourly, to the newspapers.

Close monitoring and training the mini-maltese result in 100% success in paper training.

260. Puppy shitting a lot? Distraction?

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

E-MAIL. PUPPY THIN, SHITTING A LOT.

<...@hotmail.com> wrote:

Hi Dr Sing,

Just went to u last week for my dog's (name of dog) vacination. The last time u mentioned he's thin and should be fed more. But how much more? The dog shop owner suggest about 3 small scoops a day...but i ve been feeding him twice a day so total abt 5-6 scoops a day. Is it because the quality of the food do not suit my dog so he cant absorb the nutrients? and i notice he still shits quite a lot...altho it has decreased slightly after changing to this current brand (name of dry dog food).

Is this normal ?

Regards,
...

REPLY TO E-MAIL

Your puppy passes a lot of stools?

SHITTING A LOT - POOR QUALITY DRY FOOD?. Some dry puppy food may not suit a puppy in that he produces a lot of stools. Stools may be poorly formed and loose. Premium dog food usually produce less stools unless the puppy is allergic to them.

PUTTING ON WEIGHT. Much depends on the puppy's appetite and other food. If you feed treats and home-cooked food, the puppy may look forward to such food. He may eat less as he hopes to get his choice food. Since such food is not eaten regularly, he does not put on weight. Small breeds are sometimes very smart. They know if they do not eat the dry puppy food, they get the owner to give them their "home-cooked" people food. However, some owners go and buy different brands. The puppy become picky and not eat much, expecting to be hand-fed. The busy owner buys various brands. Still the same "not putting on weight". However, if hand fed, the puppy eats. If not, will not eat or nibble a bit. If the food is left the whole day, the puppy takes its time to eat. Each case is different, so it is hard to say why your puppy is not putting on weight.

SHITTING A LOT - DISTRACTION? How do you do the toilet training? Do you use newspapers? Do you play with the puppy after feeding, distracting him from passing stools? Puppies usually pass stools within 30 - 60 minutes if not distracted. If you have distracted him, he passes a bit now and then. So, it seems to you he has shitted a lot (of times). Am I correct?

NO FIXED FEEDING AMOUNT. Feed according to the puppy's appetite and exercise. Deworm him. There is no fixed formula to make a puppy put on more weight. Some just love eating. They put on weight. Most control their eating.

TWO TIMES A DAY FEEDING. If the puppy eats two times a day compared to four times a day, he may not put on weight if he has insufficient amount. As you have increased the amount, you need to wait a week around 2 weeks before you know.

How many times he passes stools a day? Is he housed in a crate? What are the feeding times and exercise times? Let me know the toilet training schedule. Pl e-mail me 3 pictures of the playpen or housing of your puppy. Happy New Year.