toilet training, house training puppies

Community education supported by www.toapayohvets.com

My Photo
Name:
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, November 19, 2009

469. Confusing the Golden Retriever puppy

ONE OF 4 CASE STUDIES IS RECORDED HERE TO EDUCATE FIRST-TIME SINGAPORE PUPPY OWNERS ON THE USE OF THE FLOOR GRATE + PEE PAN IN TOILET TRAINING OF THE PUPPY

CASE STUDY 1: CONFUSING THE GOLDEN RETRIEVER PUPPY

From: <...@yahoo.com.sg>
Subject: Golden Retriever Training
To: judy@toapayohvets.com
Date: Friday, December 19, 2008, 8:28 AM

Dear Dr Sing:

I sincerely hope you can provide me with your expert advise.

I got a Golden retriever puppy on last Sunday, 13 Dec 2008. It is of 3 months age. I placed it in a cage ( 4 sided chrome wire with a top and a wire grating below with a pee tray ). I placed it in my planter area in the kitchen. There is a toilet just 2 metres away. There, I placed newspaper on a separate pee-tray and placed the "urine-smell" chemical on it. My wife and I took turns and wake up twice during the night to bring it there to pee and poo. Meal times are at 7am and 7-8pm. Water bottle is removed at 11pm. After each meal, we bring the puppy there.

I am glad that within 2 days, by Tuesday, 16 Dec 2008, the puppy knows where to go to do its business.

PUPPY IS USED TO THIS ROUTINE FOR 2 DAYS. IT KNOWS THE TOILET LOCATION AND KNOWS WHAT TO DO. IT HAD POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT FROM YOU. THEN YOU START ANOTHER ROUTINE. YOU SHOULD HAVE GIVEN IT 2 WEEKS TO BE FULLY TRAINED BEFORE SWITCHING TO ANOTHER ROUTINE.

Then we bought a baby gate and sealed off a section of the kitchen ( The sealed area is for the puppy. The cage and toilet is there too. ) The questions are:
1) The puppy now does not want to go back to the cage to sleep. We need to "force" it back in. We still wake up to bring it to the toilet. Why does the puppy "hates" its cage now?

PUPPIES PREFER FREEDOM TO RUN AROUND. IT ASSOCIATES THE CAGE WITH BEING LOCKED UP AND NEGATIVE FEELINGS.

2) We intend to let the puppy free roam the sealed section and the cage unlocked. So it can walk around and go to the toilet by itself.

PUPPY WILL TAKE TIME TO GO TO THE PROPER TOILET LOCATION.

Now the puppy goes and tear the newspaper in the toilet and eats them. Is it safe? How can we make the puppy go to the toilet with the newspaper and not tear and eat them?

PAPER SHREDDING IS THE MOST COMMON COMPLAINT from puppy owners. There is nothing much you can do. Some owners do tape the newspapers to the floor, edges of pee pan etc. Not safe if the puppy eats lots of newspapers.

3) We noticed the puppy tends to step on its urine or poo if its not cleared immediately) and walks all over its area thus dirtying the area.

STEPPING ON STOOLS IS ANOTHER COMMON COMPLAINT from puppy owners. Possible cause could be insufficient space or that the puppy is not particularly clean due to previous confinement in the cages in the pet shop or breeder's place.

Thus, I removed the wire floor of the cage and placed it on top of the newspaper and pee-tray in the toilet and secured it with cable-tie (At least it will not step on its own urine. But if it steps on the poo, no choice). This is done as I do not want the puppy to tear and eat the newspaper.

ANOTHER NEW ROUTINE USING THE GRATE (WIRE FLOOR) SERVES TO CONFUSE THE PUPPY.

But worse off, it now refuse or "is scared" to go to the toilet to do its business.

PUPPY PROBABLY GETS SCOLDING/SPANKING FROM YOU when it does not step on the Grate to pee and poo. Grate may be too small, too dirty and does not feel right to the puppy.

I tried the same routine again, command it to go, coax it and praise it when its there but the puppy just refuse to do its business on top of the wire floor with both soiled and new newspaper below it with the pee-tray.

GRATE + PEE PAN METHOD you are using. First, you need to confine the puppy such that it has no space but to go to the grate to eliminate. A clean place to sleep and eat. I presume your puppy has a lot of space and so does not need to go to the grate to eliminate.

THE FLOOR OF THE KITCHEN AND NEARBY AREAS IS FULL OF SMELLS OF URINE AND POO. Did you manage to neutralise the smells? White vinegar: water 1:3 with a piece of cloth (not mop which is full of urine smells) to wipe whole floor. Mop needs to be free of urine smell if you want to use mop.

I experimented by removing the wire floor and it goes back to pee but now choose to poo on the kitchen tiles. Why does the puppy refuses just by adding the wire floor. Must I toilet-train it again?

THE GRATE (WIRE FLOOR) is NOT accepted by this puppy. I suspect it is too small, not frequently cleaned when soiled and the puppy does not know how to use it.

Too much space to roam around for the first 7 days and no ROUTINE for the first 7-14 days. You keep changing toilet location, toilet and sleeping areas and the puppy is just confused.

What are your recommendations? Your help is greatly appreciated. I look forward to yr earliest reply.

YES, YOU NEED TO START ALLOVER AGAIN. Confine for 14 days. Neutralise smells and a fixed routine. Not all puppies are comfortable with the grate and pee pan method. If you want to use the grate and pee pan method, put puppy in one area e.g. bathroom. Put urine smell into the pee pan. Other floor area has no urine or poo smell (not always possible). Floor area to sleep is restricted to a small area. Baby gate can be put outside bathroom door. After 14 days or less, let the puppy out to the kitchen (baby gate outside the kitchen door). Then more and more free areas as the puppy goes back to the bathroom grate. Obviously, you need to keep the soiled grate clean.

Unfortunately, the cleanliness of the puppy to sleep and eat in a clean area depends on its upbringing by the Seller. If it has been forced to sleep in dirt, it will step on poop. Generally, you will note that the puppy will prefer a clean sleeping and eating area and a toilet location further. However, if you give it a lot of space, it will eliminate anywhere except its eating and sleeping area.

Hope above suggestions help.





P.S

Case Study 1 is recorded here as a draft owing to lack of time. This case and the other 3 case studies of the floor grate + pee pan method are updated and are at:
http://www.bekindtopets.com/dogs/20081234Golden_Retriever_Toilet_Training_ToaPayohVets.htm

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home