404. Barking causes & messy dogs

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

6 categories of barking.
1. Attention seeking
2. Separation anxiety
3. Lack of activity
4. Exciterment
5. Offensive threat - brave dominant dog.
6. Defensive alarm.

Messy dogs

1. Dog not properly trained or managed.
2. Not healthy
3. Overly excited
4. Marking
5. Anxious (fearful, stressed)
6. Submissive urinator.

403. Problem behaviour - note taking to solve problem

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

Few Singaporeans take notes. But documenting a behaviour problem is easier if you take notes to find out the possible causes of the problem.

1. When does the puppy pee and poop?
2. How long does he pee and poop?
3. Where does he pee and poop?
4. Who is present when he eliminates?
5. What solutions have you tried?

E.g.

1. barking at 1 am and 4 am. The new puppy may want you to change the soiled newspapers. You may think he wants attention.

2. Peeing outside the edge of the newspapers. You have not changed the soiled papers. The puppy wants to be clean. So, no choice but to pee and poop outside the edges of the paper. Increase paper area or put more papers in another place if you work 12 hours a day.

3. Scratching the crate. The puppy may want to rush out to go to the bathroom as he wants the crate to be clean. You expect him to pee inside the crate. However, given a choice, he may want to make this crate his den (privacy, clean).

4. You lock the doors. So he cannot access the newspapers. Pee onto the bedroom floor. You do not neutralise the smell. So you blame him for being vindictive.

5. Not pooping on the newspapers but on floor tiles. Some puppies do not poop on newspapers soiled with urine.

6. Distractions during and after feeding. The puppy poops a bit but gets distracted by you as you play with him before going to the office. He poops some more later.

7. Supper and tea time. Too many feedings. Poops more frequently than 2 -4 times for the new puppy.

8. "Knows he has misbehaved, so run away when I come home". The puppy sees your angry face when you go home after 12 hours at the office. He knows you are going to spank him for newspapers shredding and dirtying himself. So, he runs away. You think he knows he has misbehaved. He is avoiding the pain of punishment. Just change the papers without shouting and the puppy will not be afraid of you.

402. FOLLOW UP CASE 145. Paper trained Maltese X Golden Retriever in 2 months

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

FOLLOW UP by telephone call.
Sat Sep 23, 2006. Spayed.

Extremely attractive Maltese X Golden Retriever, female, 13 months old.
Paper-trained now. Eliminates on newspapers put near the playpen in the living room.
Poops 2x/day. Fed 2x/day. Pee a few times.



Saturday, November 12, 2005
145. MalteseXGolden Retriever prefers floor below sofa
Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

"She prefers to pee on the floor below the sofa," the lady owner said. The puppy is let out of the playpen whenever she is home. The playpen is to the right of the sofa but at the corner of the living area.

After 2 months, the puppy is 70% paper-trained.

Reasons:
1. The playpen is too small as it doubles up as sleeping area or den when the owner is not at home. This is a bigger puppy.

2. The feeding area (lower left) and the newspaper toilet area (upper left) is too close to each other. So, the puppy prefers to go to the sofa area to use as toilet to keep her den clean.

3. She barks to ask for soiled papers to be changed but sometimes the owner is not at home but is aware of this behaviour.



4. The strong urine smell on the floor below the sofa needs to be neutralised with vinegar:water 1:2 or some commercial floor cleaner. Otherwise, the puppy keeps going there. Sofa probably needs to be cleaned as well.

Some puppies need more space to be successfully paper-trained. 2 months, 70% paper-trained. It is hard to do that if the sofa area attracts the puppy or the playpen is just too small as this breed requires bigger toilet area (more newspapers) .

401. Daniel and the Lions?

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore


The 10-year-old chocolate Poodle sprung his neck at every human being within 1 metre of his private space. Baring his sharp canine teeth. You don't have to touch him. Attack is his best form of defence.

"He was abused," the lady told me. "The Filipino vet at the other surgery wanted me to put him to sleep. The previous owner wanted him to be sent to the animal shelter if I do not adopt him."

What to do with this alert biting canine?

Daniel, the new vet had to learn by being hands on. If I told him what to do, he would not learn. "Go and restrain this case. Do not let Anna do it otherwise you would not gain the experience of handling biters." I said. It was like throwing Daniel to the Lions. In this case, it was a poodle that could sink its strong yellow fangs into his hand if he does not know what to do.

The poodle bit the lady owner now. Biting the hand that fed him. Daniel furrowed his forehead. The lady owner was the particular type and had complained that old man receptionist had thwarted her attempts to telephone me. Whether that was correct or not, I could not know as the receptionist denied the allegations.

So now we had two parties to handle. If the handling of this case is bungled, Daniel would get bitten and this would be the last time we would ever see them.

I gave Daniel a few seconds. What to do?

"Muzzle him," I advised. Daniel pulled out a green muzzle. The owner went out of the consultation room, sat on a chair in the waiting room and muzzled the poodle.

"You have given her the incorrect size of the muzzle," I said quietly to Daniel.

"It is all right," he decided after he hesitated.

"It is ridiculous," I said to him. "The owner would complain."

Inaction. Indecision. Inviting complaints.

"How come the muzzle covers my poodle's eyes?" the lady complained. "Would the eyes be injured?"

See what I anticipated? I had to apologise that the incorrect size of the muzzle was given. I went to the drawer and fished out the "S" size muzzle.

This mentoring of new vets is part of teaching. The new vet learns from being hands on. There is no other way.

Fortunately, Daniel was not thrown into the Lions' den as in the biblical story. It was a "ferocious" miniature poodle. But the reputation of the vet depends on how he restrains fierce dogs, without him and the owner being bitten.

Once muzzled, the poodle was quieter. The fire was still in his head. He would not permit examination of his body as the owner had complained of itchiness returning to the chest.

"Hair had grown profusely where there were bald patches on his chest 4 weeks ago," the lady said. "Now he is scratching his chest again."

How to restrain the poodle now?

"Hold the scruff of the neck," I advised Daniel. I could not afford any more hands-on experience in order not to antagonise the lady. I took over the case and had a long chat with the lady with ten poodles.

As I don't get many ferocious dog cases, it was important that Daniel be given the chance to be hands-on, under mentorship. Can this subject be taught in the Vet School? A fierce robotic dog to train vet students?

400. ROOM - Stool eating American Cocker paper-trained in 3 weeks

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

Freckled face. American Cocker Spaniel, F, 19 weeks old.
Consultation was for a cut below the right eye.
"Not serious," I said. "How long it takes to paper train her?"

"3 weeks," the slim pre-school teacher said. "During the first week, confined her to the kitchen and the nearby shower room. Cover whole floor with newspapers. Reduce to 1.5 area of the Straits Times. At the end of 3 weeks, she just pees and poops on the newspapers in the shower room by herself."



Sounds easy?

1. Feed twice per day.
2. Water bowl.
3. Baby gate at kitchen entrance so that the puppy can see family members. She will not feel isolated as puppies are social animals.
4. Change soiled newspapers immediately. After breakfast, afternoon and at night.
5. First week, treated by vet for kennel cough and watery stools. Took about 1 week to recover.
6. Taken out of above areas when owner is around to supervise her. Owner works.

PROBLEM
1. Will eat stools when the owner is not present.
2. When the owner is around, the owner says "No, No,". So the puppy does not eat the stools.
How to solve this stool-eating problem?

"I know it is difficult to stop the puppy eating stools. If not stopped at this age, the puppy will eat stools all the time.

"Some suggestions are:
1. Put pepper or chilli powder on the stools but not in the view of the puppy.
This was not practical.
2. Pineapple strips added to the food. Stools passed out with pineapple smell may deter the puppies?
3. Tiger Balm ointment instead of pepper or chilli?
4. Noise distraction. Throw a can with coins when the puppy eats stools?
Not practical as the owner is not around.
5. Water spray. Water pistol shot at puppy when she eats stools? Not practical.
6. Commercial anti-stool eating feed powder. Some owners claimed that success is possible when the powder is fed. So, I did not recommend it.

7. Any new inventions from Singaporeans?

No apparent solution for older dogs. For puppies, I suggest a crate with wire flooring. The stools drop through the gaps in the wire flooring to the pee pan below.

I guess the only solution is to take leave 7 days (when you have the new puppy) and train it 24 hours. Clear the stools immediately. Give a routine for the puppy in toilet training and exercise. Such time spent may be worth it. But few first-time puppy owners do that.

399. Routines, quality time and the N-1 formula for your puppy

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

DRAFT

A TYPICAL EXAMPLE OF A ROUTINE BY A WORKING COUPLE WITH PUPPY HOME ALONE.
Example taken from No. 397

My puppy's daily schedule: (Weekday)wake up – 7.00am

1st feeding – 7.30am
go downstair - 7.50 am
playing - 8.30 - 9.00 (play a while at home)
sleeping - after i leave for work, most of the time she sleeps. ( i on classical music for her whole day so that she won't feel bored).


2nd feeding - 7.30pm
go downstair - 8.00pm
training (sit, come, stop...) - 9.00pm (at home).

Play until 12pm then sleep







My puppy's daily schedule: (Weekend)
wake up - 10am

1st feeding - 10.30 am

During Weekend, we will bring her out longer to the nearby park and basically she will have free roam for the whole day when she is at home.

She will sleep underneath sofa and then wake up to play again, there is no specific
time of playing and sleeping.

2nd feeding - 8.30pm

Sleeping - 1.00am


COMMENTS ABOUT THE FIRST 3 WEEKS

For the new puppy, the routine is too flexible for his stage of development.
At 5 months old, he is able to control his bladder for 4 hours but he is being toilet trained.

When the owner leaves him after 1-2 hours waiting for him to pee, he pees on the bathroom. But not when the owner is outside the baby gate waiting for him to eliminate. He was brought outdoors and might have eliminated outside. So, he could hold his urine till the owner gave up to go to sleep.


1. During weekends, he is permitted him to roam the whole apartment - pee and poop anywhere as he is not yet toilet trained.

2. During weekdays, he is home alone during office hours. Accidents happen.
Sleeps on pee pan in the bathroom during weekdays? Why?

3. Pee and poop outdoors affect his toilet training routine at home. He has eliminated in the evening walk during the weekday at 8 pam.

After going home, the owner waited 1-2 hours outside his bathroom for him to pee in the bathroom. They get disappointed. When they leave to go to sleep at around 12 midnight, he pees in the bathroom.

This case shows that the N-1 formula works.N= age of puppy in months (5 months old).
N-1= 5-1 = 4

The 5-month-old puppy pees around every 4 hours. Assume he pee when brought downstairs during weekdays at 8 pm. He might have eliminated downstairs.

Went home at 9 pm. Owner waited 1-2 hours for him to pee inside the bathroom (and the pee pan) from 9 pm - 11 pm.

No elimination.

When owner goes to sleep at 12 midnight i.e. 4 hours after going downstairs, he pees.

*398. Dr Sing's Puppy Book - Toilet Training (Draft)

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore


PART I
Introduction. Dr Sing's Be Kind To Pets Community Education.
Children, first-time puppy owners and younger vets.

Chapter 1
What is Toilet-Training?

Chapter 2
The Toilet-Training Equipment. Positioning of the Equipment

PART II
Chapter 3
Training with knowledge. Take 1 week leave.

Chapter 4
Training strategies for first-time puppy owners
Blank slate v. rebellious adolescent
Positive and negative reinforcement training
Restricted zone
Urine and stool smell

Chapter 5
Communicate clearly. Speak Good English Movement?
Body language of the owner.
Are you the leader of the pack? Nipping, growling, food protection.
Body language of the puppy.
What's in it for me?
Pleaasure - Praises and treats,
Pain - cane, spanking, scruff of the neck
Training sabotaged by children, grandparents, neighbours, domestic workers

What is Crate Training? N-1 formula.
Feeding two times per day
No water after 8 p.m
Not more than 6 hours confinement
Water bottle, special water bowl for Cocker spaniels
Neutralise smell of urine
Mask smell of urine
Clutter space
Noisy plastic sheet
Electric mat?

PART III

2 BASIC METHODS - Paper training, crate training or outdoors?

The Playpen
The Playpen + aluminium Pee Pan
The Crate
The Crate + Pee Pan
The bathroom
The shower room
The kitchen
The living room
The bedroom
The outside corridor for big breeds
The balcony

The leash
The Pee Pan
The Pee Pan + Puppy Training Pads.
The The Pee Pan + Grille top.
The Puppy Training Pads (diapers)
The Foot Mat
Newspapers
Combined methods

Plastic sheet to protect the marble floor
The Puppy Potty Training Spray

PART IV
Outdoor
Outdoor and indoor

PART V
Investing in the Equipment.
After buying the Equipment.
Shredding newspapers, diapers.
The puppy potty training spray is ineffective?
The mop
Vinegar: water
Baking powder
Clutter
Repellant
Male dogs showing regression?
Submissive or excitation urination
Eating poop

PART VI
Alternatives strategies
Accidents
Crate training.
Seeking professional help.

PART VII
No water after 6 p.m
No distraction 1 hour after eating
Cleanliness freak?
Two puppies.
A puppy and an older dog.
Diarrhoea within 2 days of purchase
Coughing within 2 days of purchase
Older dog

PART VIII
Success stories
High rise and large breeds
Pee pan training success
Newspaper training success
Crate training success

The single girl took 1 week's leave
Sleeping next to the confined puppy for 7-14 days

Failure stories.
Rug still attractive to the puppy.
Two cases involving the professional puppy trainer
The HDB and the AVA

The proactive role of the pet shop puppy seller/breeder
48-hour guarantee
The Chihuahua, mini-Maltese and Yorkshire Terrier

Teaching young children ( years 8-14) and youths (years 15-35) responsible pet ownership.
Parents - what can you do? Role model
Teachers & Principals - what can you do?
The Foreign Domestic Worker - educated - what can you do?


PART IX
Glossary
Acknowlegements & References
Resources for the Singapore puppy owner.
Index
About Sinpets
About The Author


Foreign Domestic Workers - www.mom.gov.sg/Legislation
www.twc2.org.sg Transient Workers Count Too
H.O.M.E Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics
www.youth.sg

www.ava.gov.sg
"Under the Animals and Birds (Dog Licensing and Control) Rules, all dogs above 3 months of age must be licensed for rabies control." - Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore

*397. Final Research Report: Pee Pan training the Silkie - Dr Sing's email advices

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

TOA PAYOH VETS
toapayohvets.com
Focus: Small animals - dogs, cats, hamsters, rabbits
Date: 18 September, 2006
Toa Payoh Vets Toilet Training Research Report No. 253
(Puppy Training Blog No. 253)
http://puppytoilettraining.blogspot.com/2006/01/253-e-mail-no1-silkie-will-not-use-pee.html


This BE KIND TO PETS community education report is for first-time puppy owners in Singapore is representative of the problems of the time-pressed Singaporean working couple.
We hope this real case study is much more interesting than a manual
for first-time puppy owners living in city apartments.

This webpage:
http://www.sinpets.com/stories/20060918PeePanTraining_ToaPayohVets.htm

Silkie Terrier puppy will not pee or poop onto the
pee pan in the guest bathroom. Why?

JAN 26, 2006 E-MAIL:

Dear Judy,

I bought a 5-month-old Silky Terrier 3 weeks ago. We toilet train her from the first day at our home. We confine her in the guest bathroom with her toy, bed and pee tray.

Whenever she had "accidents", we will bring her to pee tray but she still does not get the idea that the pee tray is her toilet. She will sometimes sleep on her pee tray although we put her urine there.

Now we even sit near the guest bathroom to wait for her to eliminate, but she will hold for as long till we leave in about 1 to 2 hour's time.

Then she pees on the floor or her bed immediately. We really don't know what to do with her. We bring her out every morning before we going to work and in the evening after work. She will poop outdoors but she will also poop and pee in the house when let out of the guest bathroom to play.

We bought puppy potty training spray from the pet shop, but it no useful. Please help!!!!

Thank you very much.

Regards


JAN 25, 2006 E-MAIL REPLY:

To: <...@yahoo.com>

1. Some puppies take a much longer time to toilet train because the owners are not free. Some take 2 months. Three weeks of part-time toilet training is not sufficient. I presume you work the whole day, so you did not have much time to toilet train her.


2. As each case is different, I can only speculate that you have confused the puppy by putting her into a guest bathroom with lots of urine smell.
The guest bathroom is a big space from the puppy's point of view. She would have found a place to pee and poop by herself in the first 7 days (in most cases) if you had not introduced a pee tray with urine smell.
But you want her to pee in the pee tray as you had sprayed the puppy potty training spray spray. The bathroom is full of urine smell. So, the puppy got no particular toilet area with urine smell to use as her toilet.
The puppy potty training spray available from the pet shop may not be useful because some puppies dislike the pungent smell.

Other puppies have been toilet trained successfully using this spray.
Neutralise the urine smell in the "accident" areas too.

Watch for signs of wanting to pee, carry the puppy to the pee pan. Say "pee pee". If she does that, praise a lot and/or give a treat. Repeat many times.



For your case, 3 weeks of part-time toilet training are not sufficient for success.
Distractions
When you are outside the guest bathroom after a hard day's work, your puppy just wants to socialise with you. So she controls her bladder for the 1-2 hours you distract her.

Especially if you have had brought her outdoors to pee and poop after coming home.
E-mail to me a schedule of the puppy's daily activity, e.g. time to wake up, go downstairs, feeding, playing, sleeping so that I can advise further.
Try the following:

Neutralise the urine smell in the guest bathroom floor and toilet bowl with vinegar:water 1:2 thoroughly and daily.

Make the pee pan the only place with urine smell.

I presume you put newspapers onto the pee pan?

4. After "accidents", your puppy does not understand why you put her onto the pee tray. You need to watch for signs of wanting to pee or poop and put her onto the pee tray before she eliminates.

Lots of repetition and hard work is needed to make her understand.

COMMENTS ABOUT THIS CASE.

Knowing the history of how the puppy was housed would be useful. If she was kept in a Singapore pet shop, the ideal housing would be a wire crate with wire flooring and door. The pee tray would be below the crate. When the owner works, the puppy is kept confined in the crate. When the owner is back, she is let out in the guest bathroom but nowhere else, for the first 2 - 4 weeks. This depends on whether she is using the crate as her toilet.

If she does that within a week, almost all toilet training problems are resolved. The puppy will just jump into the crate to pee and poop.

But the puppy was housed in a guest bathroom. So, she was given a larger space to roam. She did not know exactly where she should go to the toilet since she was also taken outdoors to pee and poop.

Probably there was no fixed time going outdoors too as the owner is busy working. In this case, the puppy would rather not pee or poop while the owner was around as this was the time to socialise and play with the owner when she is back from work. The dog is a pack animal and needs company.
How to toilet train the Silkie in this case? Get a fixed schedule of outdoor exercise, feeding and spend time monitoring the puppy.

Confine the puppy. In this case, the Silkie Terrier was confined in the guest bathroom.

Neutralise the urine smells. Accidents will occur.

Watch for signs of sniffing, turning, circling to prevent "accidents". Put the puppy onto the pee tray before the puppy pees or poops.

Praise and/or treats on successful performance.

In many cases I encounter during my research of 300 puppies in Singapore, there is no fixed schedule for feeding, exercise and toilet training for the puppy.

The owners are busy working or are not aware that there must be fixed times for feeding and outdoor exercise.

So the toilet training can be successfully completed in the shortest time.

E-MAIL TO DR SING, JAN 26, 2006

...@yahoo.com> wrote:

Hi Dr Sing,

Thank you very much for the quick reply. My puppy was vaccinated by you when she was still in the pet shop.


My puppy's daily schedule: (Weekday)

wake up – 7.00am

1st feeding – 7.30am
go downstair - 7.50 am
playing - 8.30 - 9.00 (play a while at home)
sleeping - after i leave for work, most of the time she sleeps. ( i on classical music for her whole day so that she won't feel bored).


2nd feeding - 7.30pm
go downstair - 8.00pm
training (sit, come, stop...) - 9.00pm (at home).

Play until 12pm then sleep
My puppy's daily schedule: (Weekend)

wake up - 10am

1st feeding - 10.30 am

During Weekend, we will bring her out longer to the nearby park and basically she will have free roam for the
whole day when she is at home.

She will sleep underneath sofa
and then wake up to play again, there is no specific
time of playing and sleeping.

2nd feeding - 8.30pm

Sleeping - 1.00am


E-MAIL FROM DR SING, JAN 26, 2006


Dr Sing wrote:

Thanks for e-mail.

The puppy is toilet trained outdoors twice a day during week days. So, she is used to this routine. When you go to work, she pees on the bathroom floor. When you are home in the evening, she has already eliminated outdoors as you brought her outdoors.

A 5-month-old puppy can generally not need to pee for around 4 hours. Is that what your puppy is doing?

To make her pee on the pee tray is difficult because of the conflicts of too many urine smells and the timing. She may not need to urinate till 4 hourly while you waited outside the guest bathroom waiting for her to do it.

However, neutralise all urine smell in the bathroom as advised in earlier e-mail. Confine her to a small bathroom area of 3 feet x 3 feet with the pee pan + soiled urine newspapers when you want to train her to pee on the pee tray. No coming out of the
bathroom for the first 2 weeks (too late for you?).

If the puppy is out, you need to monitor for signs of wanting to pee or poop. Say "pee pee" when you put the puppy on the pee tray, praise for performance. All these take a lot
of time in the evenings.

As for the weekend routine, the puppy's toilet training schedule is upset. For the first 2-4
weeks, new puppy owners should have confined the puppy to the small area to toilet-train. No outing to the parks. A fixed schedule of feeding and exercise 7 days a week for at least 2 weeks is a key to success. Withhold water after dinner.

Let me know if you succeed in pee tray training, Indoor and outdoor toilet training may be too much for your puppy as you do not give her a fixed timing, especially during weekends! So, expect 4 - 8 weeks to succeed!

E-MAIL TO DR SING, JAN 28, 2006

Dr Sing.

Yes, she only pee around 5-6 times a day. I think I will re-schedule the puppy's routine. Once succeed, i will let you know, but why is she sleeping on the pee tray since most dogs don't like soil their bed? Is there any way to prevent her from sleeping in the tray?

Thank you so much.

E-MAIL FROM DR SING, JAN 28, 2006

Dr Sing wrote:

Some puppies sleep on the "bed" and the pee tray is now a bed for her. She does not pee on the pee tray, if I am not mistaken. Is this correct?

REVIEW
In retrospect review on SEP 19, 2006, the puppy sleeps on the pee tray because the owner had placed a foot mat onto the pee tray. It is more comfortable and cleaner than the soiled areas of floor tiles of the guest bathroom. The owner had not taken leave to toilet train the puppy at that point of time. So, the whole bathroom floor is soiled, from the puppy's point of view. The cleanest place is the pee pan with the floor mat (see picture).


E-MAIL TO DR SING, FEB 3, 2006

Dr Sing,

thanks for your help!!! my silkie had already know to pee in her pee tray. I took one week's leave to monitor her, and reschedule her ( confine her in the guest toilet longer and give her a specific timing to come out to play). she is now more obedient too, and
stop jumping around like before. This morning when i point to her pee tray and say "pee pee" she immediately pee on the tray and i let her out to play. But she still will not go back to guest toilet to pee unless i bring her.



E-MAIL REPLY FROM DR SING, FEB 4, 2006

Dr Sing wrote:

It will take time for her to go the the guest toilet automatically depending on the motivation for the puppy.

Did you give her "treats" as rewards when she pees on the pee tray? Praise and treats usually work very well. Some owners told me that the puppy waits and
barks to get the treats on success.

E-MAIL TO DR SING, FEB 5, 2006

<...@yahoo.com> wrote:

yes, i did give her treat and praise her, and i know it takes time for her to go to the toilet automatically. There is one morning when i need to wash the toilet. I let her out and put her pee tray just beside the toilet door, I saw her pee in the tray. And from that moment i am very sure that she recognise the pee tray.

E-MAIL REPLY FROM DR SING, FEB 6, 2006




Incredible but true success story due to you taking leave to train the little one. The pee tray has the urine smell. So the puppy now uses it as a toilet. Can you e-mail a picture of her inside her housing plus pee tray?


E-MAIL TO DR SING, FEB 7, 2006

<...@yahoo.com> wrote:

Please see attached the pictures. I didn't use newspaper but floor mat and wash it everyday, because she will shred newspaper.

I find it very hard to stop her from shredding. The pee tray is at the entrance and she sleep behind near toilet bowl.

cheers
toapayohvets.com

396. The pet shop girls wanted to kill the young vet

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

"The young vet held the Miniature Schnauzer puppy's chest with one hand, twirl it 360 degrees, flick it upside down and downside up, left to right and right to left..." the pet shop girl No. 1 complained to me as I was at the pet shop vaccinating the puppies. "As if it is a can of Coca Cola. This is a live creature."

"He did not even have the courtesy to speak to me directly," the pet shop owner said from behind the tall counter, "but to my staff when he asked about the puppy. One left hand on his hip, like a 'yaya (arrogant person)'".



Fortunately for me this owner did not notice that I had my left hand on my hip as the tall receptionist counter blocked her view. I quickly removed my hand so as not to appear a 'yaya'.

"We are so stressed," pet shop girl No. 2 emphasized. "The puppy was stressed by the poking and swinging around as the vet examined it for his friend. We were more stressed and wanted to hack him to death!"

I wished that the Australian vet school teachers had lectured on how to behave and examine a pet shop puppy on behalf of a friend at the pet shop. It would be good for new vets when they go out on their own. I never had such lectures but then that was 30 years ago.

"We all learn from experience," I said. "What I normally do is to introduce myself to the owner of the pet shop and seek his permission to examine the puppy on behalf of my friend, the prospective buyer. It is best not to examine the puppy at the pet shop because there are no proper facilities available.

In this case, the puppy was not purchased. But ill feelings were generated. This vet would be banished from the pet shop.

I suggested further, "From this experience, you may need to have a "No veterinary examination at our pet shop" notice. I pointed to the "Goods Sold are not exchangeable or reurnable notice" placed high on the reception counter wall.

There was no reply from the 3 ladies. "Maybe, a notice saying that puppies are to be examined only after purchased, at the veterinary premises. I mean, if every prospective buyer brings a vet to examine the puppy every day for the next 30 days, all your puppies would be stressed out by handling. Some may fall ill and this does happen."

"Let me put a chapter of how to do a puppy examination at the pet shop in my book," I said. The pet shop owner nodded her head "Thank you."

The 3 ladies had cooled down a bit. There were pet shop clients around. I had to do some disaster damage for the veterinary profession by listening. As I left, the girls shouted "goodbye Dr Sing," so loudly that I did not know where to hide.

In conclusion, it is best to seek permission from the shop owner prior to pre-purchase examination. Get an examination table to do a good job. Except for very close friends, I will not do such examinations at the pet shop.

Why?

Common sense?

If the prospective buyer does not buy the puppy, there is ill will created and my name gets blackened. If the buyer finds that there is something wrong with the puppy through a second opinion, the lack of proper facilities to do a good veterinary examination at the pet shop opens a possible litigation for the first vet.

I wish all vet schools would have conducted such lectures to the final year students. But there are so many things that need to be taught. So, I doubt any professor will do this lecture.

*395. Follow-up. The chihuahua is not fully house-broken?

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

FOLLOW UP ON SEP 2006

INTERVIEW:
Chihuahua, F, 16 months old.
Came for annual vaccination.
Busy undergraduate

Week 1 after purchase:
Playpen + newspapers when not supervised.
Bedroom at night.
See signs - circling, sniffing - put on newspapers in the kitchen and toilet.
Not successful in paper training.

1 year later:
Not successfully paper trained.
Pee on few favourite spots and newspapers. Pees in back yard patio sometimes.
One favourite spot is the floor mat in front of the bedroom door.

Poops 2-3x/day. Anywhere on the floor of kitchen and backyard.
1 am before sleeping.
30 min after breakfast and after dinner.

ADVICES
1. Confine to playpen after eating, for 1 hours. The dog poops on the newspapers.
2. Maybe get a pee pan so that the puppy poops on the newspapers on the pee pan.
3. Floor mat - neutralise with vinegar:water 1:3.
Bedroom floor, door and all floors neutralise the smell of dog urine.
Use cloth, not mop as mop may contain urine smell. Unless mop has been thoroughly washed.
Put a pee pan + newspapers on the same location as the floor mat?


REPORT

"Is she paper-trained?" I asked the slim and attractive engineering undergraduate as I vaccinated her 16-month old tricolour chihuahua.

"My dog pees and poops anywhere," her shiny shoulder-length hair swayed sideways as she shook her head. "She has a few favourite elimination spots. One of them is the floor mat outside my bedroom door.



"I removed the mat and put newspapers in its place. She usually pees on the newspapers there. Sometimes on the backyard floor."

"Where does she poop and how often?" I asked.

"3 times a day she will poop anywhere on the kitchen floor. Around 30 - 60 minutes after breakfast and dinner and at 1 a.m."

Many owners have not been able to paper-train the small breeds. Now, the dog is fully grown. Is there any solution?

"Know the elimination times. Confine her in the playpen till she poops. Neutralise the urine smell with vinegar:water 1:2 all the floors of the house, esp. the favourite spot in front of the bedroom door. Use a piece of cloth and thoroughly neutralise the urine smells on the floor and the bedroom door.

"Buy a pee pan from the pet shop. Put the second sheet of the soiled newspapers on the pee pan. Put the pee pan in front of the bedroom door to get the dog used to the pee pan.

"Only allow the dog out when she has pooped on the pee pan. Praise and give treats when she has performed.

I REVIEWED MY CASES. THE FOLLOWING SUCCESS FROM ANOTHER OWNER USING PEE PAN INSIDE THE PLAYPEN LAYOUT PICTURE WOULD BE SUITABLE FOR THIS CHIHUAHUA.






Easier said than done. This girl would need to spend a few days to confine and train the dog. But a hectic academic and social undergraduate life might give her time. Many owners of small breeds all over the world can put up with the mess as the smell is not as strong as those from the big breeds. Their noses would not have been so sensitive. But friends would detect the smells. As for the chihuahua, the whole house smells of urine. Dogs have very strong sense of smell. So, she just eliminate anywhere.


FIRST REPORT ON SEP 2005
Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore

The young lady has the Chihuahua for only one week. In the playpen, she puts a cushion on one side and newspapers on the remaining side. The water bowl will be nearer the sleeping area near the cushion. Lots of chew toys. The chihuahua shreds the newspapers. But she will never soil the sleeping area even when the cushion has been removed for washing. She eats all food in less than 1 minute. Fed twice per day.

"Should she be beaten if she does not behave, as recommended by my friends?"



"Beating makes the puppy frightened of you," I said. "You need to spend time to toilet-train her." I hope she has time as she seems to be a very busy young lady.