toilet training, house training puppies

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

Friday, November 13, 2009

466. Retraining an adopted 9-year-old dog

On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 9:41 AM, <...@yahoo.com> wrote:

Dear Dr. Sing;

I adopted a 9-year-old BorderCollie/Aussie mix from a family five weeks ago. She is a wonderful dog and easy to make her behave. However, she seems to only want to poo on lawn or cut grass. I have a large yard with a lot of brush in the back, and all gravel in the front. She doesn't seem to poo in the yard, but holds it until we go for walks at the park, which isn't every day. She pees anywhere just fine.

Can you give me some ideas on how to get her to do her business on other surfaces besides grass?

Sincerely,

Owner in Nevada




--- On Wed, 10/28/09, Kong Yuen Sing <99pups@gmail.com> wrote:


From: Kong Yuen Sing <99pups@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: re-train 9-year-old rescue dog

Dear ...

Thank you for e-mail. Your dog is conditioned (used) to poop on grass and therefore soft feel and smell of the grass are important factors for his elimination process. Now you need to replicate similar environment.

Please let me know if the following procedure works:

1. In your backyard, clear some area of brush (bushes?) to create a level patch for pooping. I presume you prefer your dog to use the backyard.
2 Create a level ground area 3X or more as a pooping ground.
3. Scatter some grass and soil (with poop smell) onto this flat ground area. You get such samples from his previous poop area in the park.
4. Bring your dog to this area. You need to know when your dog normally poops. Is it after meals, as for most dogs? Is it twice a day?
5. Say "poop here" or some firm commands.
6. Rewards (food treat and praises) on success.
7. You need to persevere and be patient. It may take 2 weeks on daily training. Training is never easy.
8. Pl let me know if this method is successful and e-mail me his picture for my record.



On Fri, Nov 13, 2009 at 2:42 AM, <...@yahoo.com> wrote:

Hello Dr. Sing,

I have had some success with your suggestion on how to get my new dog to poop on different surfaces. I have brought home her poop from the park whenever I could find it, and put it in my yard where I wanted her to go.

When I put it down, I call her over and say 'good girl, good poop' and so on. The first time, she acted ashamed so I have petted her and reassured her that it was okay. After that, she just looks at it and quickly turns away, but I saw her pooping in the back yard yesterday for the first time, so we have some success.

I want her to go in the front yard too, on the gravel, because sometimes the back is too muddy, but so far she hasn't done anything there. The poop I put out there is dry now so I may have to put fresher stuff there.

But she has recently developed bad breath and her poop is very smelly. Could this be from holding it? The poop I've seen is formed properly, a good color and texture, not hard like constipation. When I got her 8 weeks ago, she had been eating commercial food but I have converted her over to the fresh food that I also feed my other dog (raw meat and bones, potatoes, rice, cereal grains, and fermented vegetables that I make myself). She seems to be doing well on it. There was a 4-day period when we didn't go to the park that was about the same time her breath went bad. (Her teeth have been checked and are fine.)

Apart from the poop and bad breath issues, she is settling in well, has become more confident around me and my other dog, is accepting the rules, and so forth. She is a very nice dog in every way.

Thanks for your help.

Owner in Nevada


November 13, 2009

To: ...@yahoo.com>

It is a pleasure to get your feedback as I seldom get feedback from the time-pressed puppy owners of Singapore. There does not seem to be sufficient time here in busy Singapore. In reply:

1. Bad breath in newly adopted older dogs. In your case, possible causes are:
1.1 Gum ulcers and infections due to stress. You may dispute this "stress" issue as what is so stressful about a dog with no worldly problems as in people? Eat and sleep. How can that be stressful? Some dogs do get stressed by changes of environment and ownership and develop mouth ulcers.

Open the mouth and check. Has your vet examined the dog's mouth and submandibular glands?

1.2 High meat diet does cause bad-smelling stools. I have complaints from some puppy owners of commercial dog food causing bad-smelling stools. Such brands have higher percentage of meat. As for bad breath, it is possible too that your dog's stomach gas is passed out from the mouth or there is a stomach infection (gastritis due to stress possibly).
A course of antibiotics from your vet may resolve the problem.

1.3 Stool eating. If your dog enjoys eating his stools, the smell of breath will be that of his stools. You need to monitor this. He may eat stools in your absence.

2. Pooping in the frontyard gravel. The same principles of smell, oral command and praises you applied to training her to poop in the backyard apply. Initially, you may need to lay some grass patches on the gravel to simulate the "softness" of ground which the dog has had been used to. Choose a corner of the frontyard to be the elimination area. Otherwise the dog does it everywhere and you will be angry.

3. Is it possible for you to post a picture of the dog for case study recording purposes? Best wishes.