438. The Pekinese terrorises all maids of a Hillview Condo

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore


"All the maids in Hillview Condo quickly carried their dogs whenever they see our Pekinese let loose in the condo," the mother said.

"Why?" I asked. A small male Pekinese of less than 5 kg can terrorise all the maids of a leafy condo in Upper Bukit Timah Road. It is as if elephants are afraid of a mouse.

"The Pekinese just rush to all dog, bark at them and pounce onto them," the mother of the grown up daughter told me. "He also pees on my son's bed and everywhere in the apartment."

"But he does not urine mark in my home," the married daughter said. "I told you to cane him whenever he misbehaves, but you just talk and reason with him."

"I just do not beat dogs," the mother replied.

So now, the dog has to be neutered.

"Will he be better behaved?" the mother asked.

"Generally, yes," I said. "However, the urine marking may or may not disappear after neutering as you have waited over 1 year to do it."

"Oh," the daughter said. "He urine marks for the past 3 months only. My mum looks after my dog as I was not free."

I inspected the Pekinese. Rough scales on the armpits and the coat. He had a thick woolly luscious coat but beneath the hairs, rings of bacterial and fungal infections blossom.

The neutering had to be postponed. The dog was clipped bald and treated first. It is important that the dog be checked daily for skin infections under the thick coat. Normally owners will brush the top half of the dog and there will be no skin problems there. But the lower half and bottom part are usually neglected.

"Can the neutering be done today?" the mother asked.

"I will not advise doing it. What if the skin bacterial infections get into the operation area and cause illness? No, I rather not operate."

It is best to be safe than to face unpleasant conseqeunces of illness after surgery, due to expediency to make money or solve a behavioural problem.

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.

436. A super puppy salesman - an offer that can't be resisted.

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

"I don't keep dogs as there is a lot of work involved...cleaning up the poo and pee. My wife is afraid of dogs...Now, she likes this dogl.And my Miniature Schnauzer sleeps beside me, covered with a blanket.

"Do you think she ought to be covered by the blanket? My wife did not think she needs the blanket. The room is air conditioned.

My elder son was with me as we were in the dog owner's car going to view an executive condo in North Singapore. He insisted that we go there to view the property he was selling. I told him it was in the wrong location. Still we went.

In the car, he was a machine-gun that never stopped firing.

"I had been to all pet shops in Singapore," he said. "At the second last, I asked for discount but the Seller would not give me a freebie. He said the selling price of the Miniature Schnauzer (in 2004) was $1,500. He was selling me for $1,200. So, I said I would think about it, meaning I would not return back!

"So how did you manage to buy this Schnauzer?". I had just vaccinated her in my Surgery as he came for the annual vaccination.

"From a super intelligent puppy salesman at the pet shop," he said. "He made an offer I cannot refuse. I believed he was an "A" level graduate but he was really great at sales."

"A great salesman does not need to be a graduate," I said. "In fact, I believe the average graduate may not be that hungry to sell. This puppy salesman must be able to sell to you. What offer he gave to you --- the offer you could not resist?"

Maybe I could learn something. So could my son Daniel who had just completed his National Service and had come to work part time before going to the University. He had been a quiet listener sitting at the back of the car.

Daniel had commented to me that this dog owner always called him "Daniel."
"By addressing you by your name, he is using a recommended sales and marketing technique. You pay attention and remember him, rather than not naming you. He knows his business of real estate selling."

So, what was the offer that could not be resisted?

"It is my greed," the dog owner surprised me with his candid confession. Another aspect of the sales and marketing technique which the puppy salesman had applied successfully.

He continued, "The puppy salesman gave me the puppy at $900. Free crate, free urine spray, few chew toys, free third vaccination."

I thought this was a loss maker.

The dog owner elaborated, "The puppy salesman took out all 8 Miniature Schnauzers from the crates. Put them on the floor so that I could see all at one time. They ran all over the floor but this one came to greet me. That was the one I chose."

Giving the prospective buyer choices without high pressure sales talk was another sales and marketing technique. When there was interest, offer the freebies.

So, did the puppy salesman lose money in this case?

No, as the dog owner recommended four friends to buy puppies from him. In return, he gave this dog owner dinners at the Indonesian restaurant.

"Though I live near 3 pet shops, I always drive to his petshop to buy my dog food." the dog owner told me.

So, with 4 referrals, this puppy salesman sold 5 puppies and had after-sales income from dog food and grooming.

Knowing the needs of the prospective customer was what made him so successful. He did sell all the 8 puppies within 2 weeks when many pet shops found it hard to sell 3 puppies a month in 2004. But you don't need to be a graduate to be a top salesperson.

Black Pom - present from a good son

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

44. Dad, a cockroach near my computer?

6.30 am.

This teenager woke up, started his video games in which teenagers hop onto a box, do a few twists and the music goes boom, boom, boom. At the same time, he opened his few books, took a pen and papers to revise for his A level Physics examinations in a few days.

"Dad, where's your box," he came to my computer room.
"What box?"
"Your box to trap a cockroach."
"Son, you can take any box," I can't imagine when I taught him to trap a cockroach using a box.
"Just use a rolled up newspapers and give it a knock. When it is stunned, just remove it."

The 18-year-old, about to join the National Service full time was clueless.

I went to his bedroom. The cockroach was hidden between the wall and his computer as he shifted the desktop to the left, giving me 25 cm of width. I rolled up the newspapers, swung it down. Missed or did the cockroach survived due to his flattened body?

The cockroach wriggled in 1 cm of grey cottony dusk at this uncleaned corner of his computer table and the wall.

"So disgusting," the son said. "Where did it go?"

In that tiny space, the cockroach had vanished. Could it be under the fancy desktop which was shaped like a spaceship?

"Lift up the desktop," I asked the young about-to-be soldier. I wondered how he could survive more dangerous creatures like enemies with bayonets, during combat?

The cockroach appeared from under the desktop and rushed to the far corner of the wall. I smacked it with the roll of newspapers. Poor aim. It disappeared down the small gap onto the floor. Still strong.

Jason shifted the table out. There it was at the far end. Too difficult to reach it. This was when I discovered the thick over 2 cm thick cottony fluff of dust. He had not moved this table for years.

Nothing could be done as this table was heavy. I called the domestic worker to help clean up.

In the meantime, the cockroach made a mistake and crawled out. The boy got him and flushed him down the toilet.

So much for parental teaching. I guess I had failed to teach him how to handle a cockroach without being disgusted.