460. Paper-training a Chow Chow puppy

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

TOILET TRAINING SOLUTIONS: Chow Chow, Female, 2.5 months, apartment

Complaint:
50% success as the Chow Chow pees on newspapers in the pee pan when confined in the kitchen. She sleeps there. However, she will not poo in the pee pan or in the kitchen for some time after eating. When released to the living room or a spare bedroom, she poops. Why can't she poop on the newspapers on the pee pan and in the kitchen? Mum had to follow the puppy with newspapers in an attempt to get her to poop on newspapers. If newspapers are put over the poop areas in the living room or spare bedroom, the puppy pees onto the papers only.



Discussion:
1. Insufficient toilet area. Pee pan was too small for the fast growing Chow Chow. Its width is twice the body width of the Chow Chow (observed from above).

2. The soiled newspapers were not promptly changed. So she did not poop onto the soiled papers and now is used to pooping on tiled floors.

3. The dry kitchen is small and the sleeping area and den for the growing Chow Chow appears to be small. So the Chow Chow does not want to poop on the floor since she sleeps there. She controls her bowel till being released by the owners out of the kitchen to the living room. The owners wait for over an hour and let her out. So she goes to the living area or spare bedroom to poop. Now she is conditioned and used to pooping on the floor tiles. Therefore, it is difficult to re-train her to poop onto newspapers. Carrying newspapers to catch her poop while she is passing stools will not train her to be paper-trained as she does not associate this act with what the mother wants.

4. Signs of elimination. Owners not around sometimes, so they did not carry the Chow Chow to the newspapers in the pee pan to poop. When the mum is around, she holds the newspapers to catch the poop. This is an incorrect way of paper-training.

Solutions:
For the next 2 - 4 weeks, confine the Chow Chow inside the spare bathroom with the fence barrier at the door entrance. Do not shut the door. Pee pan with newspapers at one corner. Chow Chow will have no choice but to poop on the tiled floor at one corner and sleep at the other end.

Try covering floor 100% with newspapers if you wish to try paper-training the Chow Chow to poop on papers. Reduce the papered area to the location where the Chow Chow poops. After 2-4 weeks, allow the puppy freedom when she is 100% paper-trained.


JAN 20, 2009
Chow Chow came onto heat. Refused to use the pee pan now, according to an e-mail from the owner.