How to train a puppy to pee on the plastic grate?
Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore
Feb 13, 2010
Dear Dr Sing
I find your work on puppies' toilet training very interesting and informative, really enjoyed reading many of the pet owners' testimonials!
I am trying to train my puppy to pee on pee tray since I brought him home on 04Feb.
I have stayed home since 04Feb & have kept puppy confined to his playpen. Please see attached photo.
Puppy's daily schedule:
7am & 7pm: Feeding Time (he finishes all his kibble within 5 mins & I will remove bowl)
* Water in bottle available from 7am to 8pm only.
5pm - 5.30pm: Play Time (I let puppy out to play only in the balcony, floor area approx. 10 feet by 5 feet)
* I am trying to teach him not to nip my toes/jump on me, by walking out of the balcony whenever he does that.
Puppy poops twice per day on most days (at times, he poops only once in the morning):
1st time shortly after breakfast (around 7.30am)
2nd time not regular (it can be during playtime, shortly after dinner, or no poop at all)
Puppy pees every 2 to 3 hours.
Most of the time, puppy poops on pee tray & pees on paper. Initially, I have the playpen covered 100% with paper.
Now I have reduced paper coverage by 50%. I place the pee tray over paper to prevent him from shredding them.
He likes to sleep on the uncovered tile area.
The problem with puppy peeing on paper is he will step all over his urine. I want to keep his paws clean so I prefer for him to learn to pee onto pee tray if possible.
I encountered three scenarios:
1) I see puppy sniffing/circling the ground, I place him onto pee tray & say "pee here".
Result: He DOESN'T pee, jumps off pee tray & pee-ed on paper.
2) Puppy too fast, I catch him mid-stream, placed him onto pee tray & say "pee here".
Result: He HOLDS his pee half-way, jumps off pee tray & continued pee-ing on paper.
3) Puppy too fast, I catch him after he has pee-ed (especially on occasions where pee volume is small).
I still place him onto pee tray & say "pee here". (hoping it will still help him to reinforce the training)
To encourage puppy to pee onto pee tray, I spray commercial ammonia solution onto pee tray & have tried placing tissue soaked with his own urine under pee tray's mesh. I also tried removing all paper (except pee tray) but he pee-ed onto the floor, so I had to place the paper back.
For accidental poo/pee on tiled floor, I will clean floor with commercial cleaner that eliminates poo/pee odor. I will also clean the floor under the paper where puppy has pee-ed on before replacing with fresh papers. My point is, I try to remove any pee/poo odor within the playpen area EXCEPT those on the pee tray. But have been unsuccessful so far.
Is there anything I have omitted or not doing correctly? I am aware that I need to confine my puppy for 2 to 4 weeks before I may see results. However, I would like to ensure I am doing the right thing to start off with. Based on your extensive experience, are Shih Tzus more difficult to toilet train, especially on pee tray? Would greatly appreciate your advise!
Before signing off, I would like to wish you & your loved ones, a Happy & Bountiful Year of the Tiger with Good Health & Great Wealth!
Thank You & Best Regards
Name of owner
E-MAIL REPLY FROM DR SING
Thank you for your e-mail and New Year Wishes.
It is good that you provided a photography of the puppy housing. Shih Tzu puppies are no more difficult to toilet train than other breeds.
In your case, the puppy has had been paper-trained to pee on the papers and to poop on the "plastic grate (pee tray)". But you want him to pee and poop on the grate. As each puppy is different, my following suggestions may or may not work in your puppy.
1. "Cleanliness freak" is a common observation of many puppy owners. Your puppy wants to avoid the pee tray for the following reasons.
1.1 The tray is soiled and you do not wash it after he has pooped. You may have removed the poop using tissue papers, am I correct? But the puppy can smell the poop. So he does not want to step onto the pee tray to pee as he will dirty himself.
1.2 The pee tray is too small in area relative to the Shih Tzu, as I can see from the picture. Once he poops on it, he has no clean space to pee on it. I presume he poops on a corner as the positioning of the tray is such that he has only the rightmost corner to poop.
1.3 The playpen has a lot of space for the puppy to pee. So why should he use the pee tray? He soils his paws because you do not change the soiled papers immediately and there is insufficient space for him to pee on other newspapers as you have reduced the covered area. Puppies at this age pee a lot and owners need to change the papers many times if they don't want soiled paws. Soiled paws inside a crate or playpen is a common complaint of puppy owners as the papers cannot be changed promptly in practice. Therefore, the grate is much preferred by many puppy owners. The plastic grate is an attractive set compared to the usual metallic wire grates (picture, below) which also sold in many pet shops.
Proposal:
One possible solution is to buy a grate (pee tray) that covers 50% of the playpen, leaving 50% for sleeping and eating area. There are such grates (plastic or wired) available in Singapore's pet shops. In this situation, the puppy has to use the pee tray since he has no alternative. Obviously, you must ensure that the pee tray is kept cleaned at least 3x per day.
I hope this suggestion works. Best wishes for the new year.
Updated info at www.toapayohvets.com
Feb 13, 2010
Dear Dr Sing
I find your work on puppies' toilet training very interesting and informative, really enjoyed reading many of the pet owners' testimonials!
I am trying to train my puppy to pee on pee tray since I brought him home on 04Feb.
I have stayed home since 04Feb & have kept puppy confined to his playpen. Please see attached photo.
Puppy's daily schedule:
7am & 7pm: Feeding Time (he finishes all his kibble within 5 mins & I will remove bowl)
* Water in bottle available from 7am to 8pm only.
5pm - 5.30pm: Play Time (I let puppy out to play only in the balcony, floor area approx. 10 feet by 5 feet)
* I am trying to teach him not to nip my toes/jump on me, by walking out of the balcony whenever he does that.
Puppy poops twice per day on most days (at times, he poops only once in the morning):
1st time shortly after breakfast (around 7.30am)
2nd time not regular (it can be during playtime, shortly after dinner, or no poop at all)
Puppy pees every 2 to 3 hours.
Most of the time, puppy poops on pee tray & pees on paper. Initially, I have the playpen covered 100% with paper.
Now I have reduced paper coverage by 50%. I place the pee tray over paper to prevent him from shredding them.
He likes to sleep on the uncovered tile area.
The problem with puppy peeing on paper is he will step all over his urine. I want to keep his paws clean so I prefer for him to learn to pee onto pee tray if possible.
I encountered three scenarios:
1) I see puppy sniffing/circling the ground, I place him onto pee tray & say "pee here".
Result: He DOESN'T pee, jumps off pee tray & pee-ed on paper.
2) Puppy too fast, I catch him mid-stream, placed him onto pee tray & say "pee here".
Result: He HOLDS his pee half-way, jumps off pee tray & continued pee-ing on paper.
3) Puppy too fast, I catch him after he has pee-ed (especially on occasions where pee volume is small).
I still place him onto pee tray & say "pee here". (hoping it will still help him to reinforce the training)
To encourage puppy to pee onto pee tray, I spray commercial ammonia solution onto pee tray & have tried placing tissue soaked with his own urine under pee tray's mesh. I also tried removing all paper (except pee tray) but he pee-ed onto the floor, so I had to place the paper back.
For accidental poo/pee on tiled floor, I will clean floor with commercial cleaner that eliminates poo/pee odor. I will also clean the floor under the paper where puppy has pee-ed on before replacing with fresh papers. My point is, I try to remove any pee/poo odor within the playpen area EXCEPT those on the pee tray. But have been unsuccessful so far.
Is there anything I have omitted or not doing correctly? I am aware that I need to confine my puppy for 2 to 4 weeks before I may see results. However, I would like to ensure I am doing the right thing to start off with. Based on your extensive experience, are Shih Tzus more difficult to toilet train, especially on pee tray? Would greatly appreciate your advise!
Before signing off, I would like to wish you & your loved ones, a Happy & Bountiful Year of the Tiger with Good Health & Great Wealth!
Thank You & Best Regards
Name of owner
E-MAIL REPLY FROM DR SING
Thank you for your e-mail and New Year Wishes.
It is good that you provided a photography of the puppy housing. Shih Tzu puppies are no more difficult to toilet train than other breeds.
In your case, the puppy has had been paper-trained to pee on the papers and to poop on the "plastic grate (pee tray)". But you want him to pee and poop on the grate. As each puppy is different, my following suggestions may or may not work in your puppy.
1. "Cleanliness freak" is a common observation of many puppy owners. Your puppy wants to avoid the pee tray for the following reasons.
1.1 The tray is soiled and you do not wash it after he has pooped. You may have removed the poop using tissue papers, am I correct? But the puppy can smell the poop. So he does not want to step onto the pee tray to pee as he will dirty himself.
1.2 The pee tray is too small in area relative to the Shih Tzu, as I can see from the picture. Once he poops on it, he has no clean space to pee on it. I presume he poops on a corner as the positioning of the tray is such that he has only the rightmost corner to poop.
1.3 The playpen has a lot of space for the puppy to pee. So why should he use the pee tray? He soils his paws because you do not change the soiled papers immediately and there is insufficient space for him to pee on other newspapers as you have reduced the covered area. Puppies at this age pee a lot and owners need to change the papers many times if they don't want soiled paws. Soiled paws inside a crate or playpen is a common complaint of puppy owners as the papers cannot be changed promptly in practice. Therefore, the grate is much preferred by many puppy owners. The plastic grate is an attractive set compared to the usual metallic wire grates (picture, below) which also sold in many pet shops.
Proposal:
One possible solution is to buy a grate (pee tray) that covers 50% of the playpen, leaving 50% for sleeping and eating area. There are such grates (plastic or wired) available in Singapore's pet shops. In this situation, the puppy has to use the pee tray since he has no alternative. Obviously, you must ensure that the pee tray is kept cleaned at least 3x per day.
I hope this suggestion works. Best wishes for the new year.
Updated info at www.toapayohvets.com
posted by Photography by Sing Kong Yuen | 7:42 AM
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