toilet training, house training puppies

Community education supported by www.toapayohvets.com

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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

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

304. Trial and error in toilet training the 2nd puppy?

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

A middle-aged lady wanted to have her Westie puppy, male, 4.5 months old vaccinated. She purchased 5 days ago. An aluminium tray enclosed the playpen. Her older dog of 5 years had died of meningitis. It used to pee and poop ocasionally in the apartment.

"How you toilet train the puppy?" I asked. After all, she had experience of a first puppy.

"He just pee and poop everywhere in the apartment," she said.

"Why not confine him in the playpen for 2 weeks?" I asked.

"The Westie whines at night and this may upset neighbours, " she said. "So, the Westie sleeps on the bed with the children. He pees and poops on the Aluminium tray's newspapers sometimes. But poops and pees everywhere in the apartment."

"The important aspect of toilet training is to confine the puppy for at least 2 weeks," I said. "Otherwise he will not be paper-trained."

"I didn't know that," the lady said. It would be good if all puppy sellers give buyers an instruction manual. She appreciated the advice which included neutralising the soiled floor tiles with vinegar:water 1:2.

A good book will be very useful for all puppy owners. How to use this Aluminium pee tray and playpen set up effectively?

Even with prior experience, it is still a difficult thing to know how to paper train an apartment puppy!

303. The ankle biter

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

"See the wound on my ankle," the lady owner in her forties, put up her left foot. Several small red marks. One big one-cm scratch. Bite wounds from a 3-month-old Jack Russell puppy. Not serious wounds. Blemishes.

"What can be done?" she asked me.

What can I advise? A 1.5 kg puppy against a 60 kg woman. Who is in control?

"Puppies do nip people's feet," I said. "You need to distract them and discourage such biting."

I remember the word "ankle biter" when I read the Times Magazine article on e-bay. The CEO of e-bay was reported to say that the Chinese competitor aspiring to be China's e-bay was just an ankle biter. Now, I understand what she meant.