Tuesday, September 11, 2007

**5. Draft 1. Cavalier King Charles poops in the study room despite spanking

Sep 11, 2007 NLB 7th floor 5.43 p.m

"My puppy will suddenly poop in the study or kitchen if I don't observe her. In the playpen, she will go to the newspapers to pee. But when we let her out, she will pee outside the playpen. I spank her but she still poops in the study just today. This cannot be permitted as the study is smelly!"

A slight trembling small-sized 4-month-old female Cavalier King Charles was brought in for vaccination. Tricolour with 3 black spots on her muzzle made her look sadder.

Lady owner who participates in dog forums to gain knowledge, late twenties, 5-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter, home-maker, husband working. No table food. No food treats unless it is for training. She is strict on this routine but she said: "Sometimes the husband will give the puppy a treat on coming home from work!"

Apartment: Executive Apartment with large balcony for playpen. No rain comes in.

Playpen: Top left 1/3 basket bed, Right 1/4 newspapers, Water bowl bottom left.




Duration: 6 weeks with the owner.

Purchase from pet shop at Thomson Road. Slatted flooring.

FIRST 7 DAYS AND NIGHTS

1. Strict confinement in the playpen. "Hardly comes out of the playpen," the lady said. "She comes out 1 hour to play. I watched for signs of elimination and put into playpen. Not allowed to come out of the playpen till she has pooped. By day 7, the puppy is paper-trained."

But after 7 days, the puppy is let out. She follows the lady owner everywhere. Needs human company all the time.

2. Whining for first night. Ignored. Puppy slept without much trouble in the playpen.

3. At night, still sleep in the playpen as she is not paper-trained.

FROM WEEK 1 TO WEEK 6 (PRESENT)

Main problems are pooping in the kitchen and study room (morning) up to now. "Thorough cleaning with Dettol has no effect," the lady said. In the evening, will poop on the newspapers in the balcony.

Feeding 3x/day. Breakfast, lunch sometimes and dinner. Dry food with some puppy milk. Feed bowl inside playpen. 3 tablespoons dry food per meal. Chew bones are dried chicken jerky not the soft meat balls which cause diarrhoea. Milk does not cause diarrhoea in this puppy.

Poop 3-4 X. Overnight,after breakfast at 7 am, lunch time (irregular) and after dinner. He poops 30 - 60 minutes later, not shortly after meals. After lunch, poops on balcony newspapers (new ones) or kitchen and the study. After dinner, poops on the newspapers in the balcony (new ones). Sleeps at 11 p.m.

Pees- many times. Papers are changed "hourly".

WHAT ARE THE SOLUTIONS?

1. In my opinion, the puppy just wants a clean place to poop or pee. Why did she poop in the study room despite "spanking"?

The one full page of the Straits Times would be soiled overnight. The daughter would take the puppy out of the playpen after breakfast, assuming she had had pooped. The poo was overnight. The puppy would rush to the clean same spot in the study or kitchen to poop!

What's the solution?

1. Overnight, the playpen newspapers are soiled. There is a need for a 2nd toilet location for the puppy as she is growing up. A newspaper on the pee pan in the kitchen bathroom would be ideal.

"Shut the study room. The puppy would go to the kitchen," the lady said. "The puppy likes to pee outside the playpen in the same area."

2. Increase the newspaper coverage inside the playpen from 25% to 50%.

3. Neutralise urine smell with vinegar:water 1:3. Stool smells are not neutralised similarly.

4. Wakes up, change soiled newspapers. Daughter feeds her and let her out. This is where the puppy seeks the study or balcony to poop if unsupervised for 1 minute!

CONCLUSION
Puppy is 50% paper-trained in the sense that she pees on newspapers in the balcony. However, she does poop on newspapers too but not all the time. Sometimes inside the forbidden areas in the study and the kitchen.

The best solution may be a 2nd toilet location - a pee pan with newspapers in the kitchen bathroom area. Increase the paper area as the puppy is growing bigger and eliminates more. She wants to be clean.

No distractions after feeding but it seems this is not possible with 2 kids around. So the puppy poops much later after the excitement of playing with the kids. Feed 2x/day to regulate the bowel movement so that pooping is reduced to 2x/day after food.

The owner supervises the kids. She is very strict with the kids playing rough with the puppy. The 5-year-old used to pull the puppy's tail or ears and was taught not to do it. The kids are discouraged from encouraging the puppy to bite and jump, or giving table food or hand feeding. She did not take leave to go overseas so that the puppy can be properly trained.

COMMENTS

It seems to me that the puppy would be successfully paper-trained in 14 -28 days if she has had provided a 2nd toilet location esp. after the puppy wakes up and as she changes the newspapers. Open the playpen and let the puppy run to the 2nd toilet location.

This is a fascinating case study.


Owner promised to e-mail to me a picture of the housing.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I don't like the idea of a puppy being smacked. Seems to me the dog needs regular walks and more exercise

Anonymous said...

I agree Janet.
The puppy should be supervised AT ALL TIMES when he/she is not they should be in a crate. Not one with food and a toilet in it, the owner should realize in buying a puppy there is more to it than them doing what you want when they want.
This dog needs lots of love and affection, you will also need to get up every three to four hours during the night to let him/her outside and say a keyword, praise heavily when they do there business and back to the crate to sleep.
Smacking your dog as it went in the study is disgusting smack yourself for not paying attention to the dog and for having no idea how to raise one.
In fact prob best you take the dog back from your blog it sounds like you are a cruel task master.
A dog will generally not go toilet where they sleep, and why you would be encouraging that they do is beyond me.
If you want them to go outside start training them outside its really not that tricky.
Change your ways quickly do not want to hear of another tortured neglected soul.
Bitch