Grate + Pee Pan - Hygiene Problems?

--- On Sun, 11/16/08, wrote:


Subject: House training of puppies
To: judy@toapayohvets.com
Date: Sunday, November 16, 2008, 11:47 PM

Judy,

I read the blog about toilet training of puppies in house, using Crate and Pee Pan, while they sleep and eat on one side, but wee and poo on the other side. Will that generate any hygiene issues as they have to do all business in one small area?

Thanks




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Re: House training of puppies
Thursday, November 20, 2008 8:47 PM
From:
"David Sing"
View contact details
To:
alice...@yahoo.com
In a healthy puppy living alone, there is usually be no hygiene problem, from experiences of many owners in Singapore. The soiled pee pan below the grate is washed regularly at least once a day. If the puppy is sick, there will be a need to seek vet treatment.

Too late to toilet-train 6-month-old?

DRAFT

On 10/23/08, ...@gmail.com

Hi Judy,

I read your highly informative article on toilet training for puppies.

I'd just like to know if the methods will still work with a 6 month
old puppy who's been with us and spoiled for nearly 3 months now?
During the 3 months that he was with us, we let him run around the
whole apartment and he gets to sleep in our bed or by the bedside if
he's not clean. We have a wire grill with a tray with a puppy diaper
inside in our bedroom and also another one outside our room. If he's
in the room he's supposed to go to the tray in the room, if he's in
the apartment while we're out at work, he's supposed to go to the
tray outside our room since we close the doors to our room when we
go out. We seemed to be making progress when he regularly goes in
the general area of the two trays. Most of the time he goes NEXT to
the tray rather than ON it but we were thinking that he's learning
slowly and soon he will go ON the tray only. However, recently he's
been going in all different places where he didn't used to go
before! And he still goes NEXT to the tray most of the time.

I regret not reading your article when we first got our puppy. We
were so taken in by his cuteness I think we spoiled him and couldn't
bear keeping him in a cage. So, after 3 months of being spoiled, can
we still apply these methods and get results? Do we have to modify
the toilet-training techniques in any way? Also, we are out of the
house during office hours, does this affect his toilet training?

I'd appreciate any advice that you could provide.

Thank you very much for your time and kind attention.

Regards,

xxx



REPLY

David Sing wrote:

1. I am Dr Sing from Toa Payoh Vets. Thank you for your email.
2. Are you staying in Singapore?
3. Can you e-mail a picture of the grill + tray?
4. What is the breed and gender of your puppy?
5. The methods of confinement and routine (of food, exercise, sleep) should work for your puppy who is 6 months now.







E-MAIL TO DR SING
On 10/30/08, ....@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Dr. Sing,

2. Yes, I am staying in Singapore.

3. I've attached the pictures in this email. We will be moving to a new place on November 15th with almost twice the space. Do let us know if we should get a larger play-pen for Nike. I was thinking of getting two more of the long fence links to make the play-pen a square with the long fence links for sides but then I realized that the long fence links will not connect properly with the two existing long fence links. Any suggestions?

4. Nike is a male Shih Tzu at around 6mo old.


E-MAIL TO DR SING

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Re: Query regarding toilet training
Friday, October 31, 2008 7:39 AM
From: Dr Sing

To:...@gmail.com>

-----Inline Attachment Follows-----

1. Thank you for your 2 pictures.

2. In reply, increase his confined area every week by 50 - 100% depending on your resources.

3. My suggestion will be to confine your dog inside a bathroom when you move to a new place. Use the existing panels of fences like a "baby-gate". Put the grill and tray at one end (with his own urine smell on the puppy diaper) if you want him to be trained this way. If you do not have a spare bathroom when you are at work, you do need a bigger playpen when the dog is home alone.


4. CLEAN INSTINCT OF DOGS.
The reason he eliminates outside the diaper is that he is a very clean dog (by instinct) and does not want to step onto the grill.
4.1 I presume you don't wash the grill and tray once a day or regularly. Therefore he does not want to step onto it whenever possible. To get the dog to use only the grill and tray method, the grill and tray must be cleaned as often as possible for very clean dogs.

5. As to his eliminating outside his tray, the most likely explanation is that he has matured. The male hormone testosterone has made him want to urine-mark. Some dogs do mark by passing stools here and there too. Neutering him early (around 6 months) will usually stop this habit.

6. NEUTRALISATION OF URINE SMELL IN YOUR APARTMENT. Some owners find that vinegar:water at 1:3 is effective as the dog can't detect those non-approved areas. Your mop must be free of dog's urine smell too.

7. WATCH OUT FOR SIGNS OF ELIMINATION - sniffing, turning. This is difficult as the dog now urine-marks.

I hope I have answered all your questions. Let me know how you progress.

21. Case study - Follow-up on Case 20. Pom toilet training behaviour

On 6/25/08, David Sing wrote:

3 pictures much appreciated. Is the Pom paper-trained 100% now?

--- On Tue, 6/24/08, <....@gmail.com> wrote:

Subject: Re: Paper training a Pom
To: drsing_98@yahoo.com
Date: Tuesday, June 24, 2008, 6:00 AM






--- On Wed, 6/25/08, ...@gmail.com> wrote:


Subject: Re: Paper training a Pom
To: drsing_98@yahoo.com
Date: Wednesday, June 25, 2008, 1:05 AM

Hi Dr Sing,

My pom is still not totally trained. He is quite mischievious. While in the crate, he knows that he need to shit & pee in the newspaper. But he will purposely do it on the tray w/o newspaper. Moreover, if i let him out & he feels like peeing, he will just do it on the floor.
I can see that he can control his bladder really well as once i brought him to a friend's house, he control his bladder for 3 hrs.

He is still the same. I need to bring him to the crate & ask him to pee before he does that. He won't go there on his own.
Still trying to train him.

Regards,
Name of owner





Re: Paper training a Pom
Wednesday, June 25, 2008 9:54 PM
"David Sing"
To:
...@gmail.com>
You are progressing quite well. Remember it takes 2-4 weeks of training. Since you don't train full time, toilet-training may take as long as 12 weeks. But I believe that you should achieve success within 4 weeks. You just can't vary your routine e.g. bringing the puppy to your friend's house as it gets distracted and of course, confused.

You just need to give the puppy a same daily routine. I think it is hard for you but it is just like "focus" to succeed in life. For example, many successful business people/top students focus on their activity. They also work very hard (perseverance).

We see them very wealthy/top in their cohort of students. Behind their wealth/academic excellence, there is much hard work (time spent in learning etc) and focus (no distractions).

If you do not focus, it may take as long as 3 months to get the puppy toilet-trained as from my interviews with some dog owners. If you want fast results, spend time and focus. No other way unless the puppy is very intelligent and knows what it takes to make you very happy.

I thank you for a most beautiful picture of the Pom looking at the camera. That is the best of the 3 pictures. I notice there is a ramp for the Pom to come down from the crate. That is where you make a mistake of buying a high floor crate.

To answer 2 interesting and common complaints of yours (in bold letters):

1. If you were a puppy, will you want to climb a steep ramp to get into the crate to pee and poop when it is so difficult and steep to do it? This is a common complaint of other owners with such a crate. There is no solution except to change to a low floor crate.



2. It is good that I see your puppy's housing from your picture.
Most likely, the puppy considers the newspapers as his bed. Now all puppies want to be clean. Why pee and poo on his own bed inside the crate? So, he does it on the other half of the crate, onto the wire floor and into the tray!

That means your paper-training is very difficult as the puppy now eliminates on the wire flooring. Most likely a grate + pee pan set will be needed. See such cases in my website.

Thank you once again for your pictures.

20. Case study - Toilet-training a 3-month-old Pom in Singapore

Thursday, Jun 12, 2008

THIS CASE STUDY ILLUSTRATES THE COMMON SITUATION ENCOUNTERED BY MANY FIRST-TIME SINGAPORE PUPPY OWNERS --- Puppy coughing and peeing and pooing everywhere. With 3 pictures supplied by the owner, it is easier to give advice as each puppy lives in a different environment and housing.

On further examination of the pictures, the crate seems to be of a higher level than the other type and the puppy (if short-legged like Chihuahuas) may not be able to hop back into the crate to pee and poop. Therefore, it will not be possible to get the puppy to eliminate inside the crate. Half of the crate is covered with newspapers and the other half is the sleeping area. The puppy has started to eliminate on the newspapers and should be paper-trained if the owner confines the puppy inside the crate when she is working and let him out when she is at home.

She still has to place some newspapers with the puppy's urine smell outside the crate as the puppy is too smart to get inside (knowing he will be locked up - as usual - as he knows that will be the case in the morning when the owner is going to work). Keeping the crate inside the kitchen is a good idea as the kitchen's tiled floor is easier to clean. Also, confinement to the kitchen is important in toilet-training success. Confinement needs to be for 2-4 weeks till paper-training is successful as this is what the owner intends to do.

In getting the puppy to eliminate inside the crate, no paper must be used on the crate wire flooring. However, the owner needs to clean up the wire flooring promptly and she has to work. The wire flooring permits the puppy's urine to flow onto the floor. If the puppy poops soon after eating, the poo is promptly removed and the flooring cleaned with tissue paper. If the puppy poops many times, it is not easy to use this method unless the puppy's sleeping area is outside the crate. This is done by extending the crate area by using 3 panels of fencing outside the door so that the puppy has a bigger clean area to sleep and play while using the inside of the crate as the "toilet". This is a much more complicated way to train and needs more time and attention.



Some solutions are proposed by Dr Sing Kong Yuen of Toa Payoh Vets.



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Paper training a Pom
Wednesday, June 11, 2008 8:13 PM
From:
This sender is DomainKeys verified
"David Sing"
View contact details
To:
"...@gmail.com>
Thank you for your pictures. I don't see the newspapers covering half of his crate. Can you send me the latest pic.

Almost all puppy owners have the same conclusion as you --- the puppy refuses to get back into the crate if let out. This is what the other owners think --- the puppy knows that he will be locked up again.

It is good to confine the Pom inside the kitchen. From your 3 pic that your toilet training and can advise the following:

1. NEWSPAPERS OUTSIDE THE CRATE so that the puppy can run to it to pee and poop. He is not so stupid as to run inside if he knows you are sure to lock him out. There should be some of his urine smell on the newspapers you put outside the crate (2nd piece of soiled newspapers to be put outside the crate. In some pet shops, a water bottle with dual nozzles is sold so that the puppy can drink from outside the crate as well as inside. In your case, I don't know whether you are using water bowls or water bottles. If you use water bowl, place another bowl outside the crate as part of the paper training when you are at home.

2. OPEN THE CRATE DOOR so that the puppy can run into the crate to pee and poop. Some owners are successful in this way and do not need newspapers outside the crate.In such cases, the newspapers must be REPLACED promptly with clean ones. If you are working, your mum or somebody may do it. In this way, the puppy is paper-trained quickly.

3. If the crate has a high level such that the Pom cannot jump into it, then you need to use a ramp. But I see from your picture that your crate is not that high.

Re: Taking jab with a limp
Wednesday, June 11, 2008 1:24 AM
From:
"....@gmail.com>
Add sender to Contacts
To:
drsing_98@yahoo.com


Hi Dr Sing,

Here are 3 pic of my boy..





DRAFT



Anyway, i am still trying to train him to potty. Started to train him on Last Saturday. Placed newspaper covering half of his crate. He knows how to poo on the newspaper while in crate after 2 days. I am trying to train him potty while he is around the house. Confined him in the kitchen only, with his crate nearby. However, he still doesn't seem to know where to potty when he is out.. He is afraid that if he goes into his crAte, i will lock him up, thats what i feel.

Anyway, i am still trying.. teaching him everytime i knock off.. hope he can potty real soon.

XXX

On 6/11/08, David Sing wrote:

Can take vaccination if he is eating well and is normal. Limping is not a problem.

--- On Tue, 6/10/08,

From: ...@gmail.com>
Subject: Taking jab with a limp
To: drsing_98@yahoo.com
Date: Tuesday, June 10, 2008, 1:28 PM


Hi Dr Sing,

Thank for your advice.. YYY has recovered!

Anyway, he hurt his leg... falling from a table.. have a sprain... can he actually take his 3rd vacination with his limp?

Please advise me.


XXX


On Sun, Jun 8, 2008 at 7:40 AM, David Sing wrote:

Kennel cough includes infection of upper respiratory tract ie. nose area. Try and clear his nose. If he does not recover, check with your vet.




--- On Fri, 6/6/08,


From: ....gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Enquiry for new puppy owner
To: drsing_98@yahoo.com

Date: Friday, June 6, 2008, 4:30 AM


Hi Dr Sing,

However, my dog does not cough, he only sneeze like 2 times a day and keep sucking air into his nose in a hard way(like having a nose block) all the time. I thought the symptom for Kennel cough is cough?
He has this symptom for 3weeks already. He has seen a doctor earlier on.. about 10days ago and under medication for 10 days. However, i did not see any improvement from his sneeze & sucking in air.

Is it because i place him in the crate all the while and nv clean the wire grill thoroughly or clear his pee tray as soon as he pees?

I have stop the medication for him. He is still as active as usual & eating very normally.
Please advise me.

XXX




On 6/6/08, David Sing wrote:

Looks like he has not recovered from his kennel cough and viral infections of his breathing system. You need to wait till he recovers fully before vaccination. This may take a few weeks in some cases.

If he has no problems breathing or if the environment is not dusty/too cold, let him recover by himself. If he has problems, see your vet.

--- On Thu, 6/5/08,

From: ...@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Enquiry for new puppy owner
To: drsing_98@yahoo.com
Date: Thursday, June 5, 2008, 2:28 AM


Hi Dr Sing,

I was really busy.. working till the wee hours at work... I will send you the pic by Sunday..

By the way, i have a question for you. My 3mth pomeranian has been sneezing & kind of always forcing air out of his nose. Sometimes his nose is wet.. like have a cold.. I heard this is common for dogs with 1 out of 3 having this symptom. Is it true & is it normal?

With this symptom, can he take his 3rd vaccination where he suppose to take really soon?

Or is it there anything causing my puppy to have allergy? Should i let him wear a shirt?


Hope to hear from you soon.


XXX

On 5/30/08, David Sing wrote:

Thank you for your reply. In Singapore, many Pom are fed 2x per day according to the common recommendations of pet shop/breeder puppy sellers and they seem to do well, in my research. The puppy eats till it feels full and so the exact amount varies with the puppy's behaviour.

In the restricted feeding method, if the puppy eats all in 5 minutes and asks for more, you will have to add another 10 - 50% and see if he is still hungry. If he is, that means you need to give more. Check on its belly. A few puppies eat till they are bloated (swollen abdomen) as they seem to be gluttons and such puppies should not be overfed.

In the free feeding method, the puppy is given the food in the food bowl and it eats whenever it feels like eating. Certain puppies do not gulp down their food at one go as if they are not interested in eating. In such situations, the owner may leave the food throughout the day and observe that the puppy finished the amount at the end of the day. Mini-Malteses, Chihuahuas, Yorkshire Terriers and Pomeranians may be puppies with little appetite. In such breeds, 3 or 4 x feeding per day is advised as they faint or become comatose due to the lack of blood sugar.

Therefore, much depends on your puppy's appetite and energy to know how much to feed. Usually the seller's recommendation and the weight of the puppy is your guide.

If it is OK with you, please e-mail 3 pictures of your puppy inside the crate for my case research.

Best wishes.



--- On Thu, 5/29/08,

From: ...@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Enquiry for new puppy owner
To: drsing_98@yahoo.com
Date: Thursday, May 29, 2008, 7:55 AM


Dear Dr Sing,

Thank you for your prompt & elaborate reply. I will definitely try it out & hopefully everything turns well.

I am actually unsure about how much should i feed my puppy. He is a male pomeranian of 3 mth to day. How to know how much food he needs? Is three times a day enough?


Regards,
XXX


On 5/29/08, David Sing wrote:

Your email has been forwarded to me. I am Dr Sing from Toa Payoh Vets. Please see reply/some advices below.

--- On Wed, 5/28/08,

From: ...@gmail.com>
Subject: Enquiry for new puppy owner
To: judy@toapayohvets.com
Date: Wednesday, May 28, 2008, 3:36 AM

Hi Judy,

I have lots of doubts and burning questions to enquire about my new bought male pomeranian of 3 mth today.

Being a 1st timer in keeping a puppy, i am really at a loss how do i discipline, toilet train etc etc with my puppy. I just got him on 17 May 08 which is last last Sat. What i did is i placed him in a crate/ playpan ever since. He poo, pee, eat, sleep in the crate itself.

I wanted to make him toliet train in the crate where he is supposed to pee/ poo there.

THIS TOILET TRAINING TAKES SOME 2-4 WEEKS OF CONFINEMENT IN THE CRATE. IT WILL NOT HAPPEN OVER A FEW DAYS.


I feed him 3 times a day and his water bottle is always there for him. This crate is like the one in the shops where he steps on a wire grill and the newspaper is below the wire grill. Something like this below.

Active training, rubber mat as toilet location. 10 days successful. Toa Payoh Vets

He don't normally poo after his meal, and it takes like 4-5hrs later before he poo. He does poo also in every morning.

SOME PUPPIES POOP WITHIN 30 MINUTES AFTER MEAL BUT NOT ALL. THERE COULD BE DISTRACTION FROM YOU OR YOUR FAMILY DURING FEEDING TIME. SO THE PUPPY 'FORGETS' TO POOP.

IN MY OPINION, do not pay attention to the puppy during meal time but it is hard for the first-time owner and her family not to do it. Normally, the puppy eats everything fast within 5 minutes. Is that what your puppy does?

The owner should then remove the feed bowl. Or remove the feed bowl after 10 minutes whether the puppy has had eaten or not, but be aware that the puppy has not been sick. This method encourages eating all food at one time and pooping after eating. If the puppy is given food all day long, then expect pooping to be many times.

In your case, the puppy probably is distracted by many admirers and has no "privacy" to poop after meals. Feed him inside a quiet corner if you want success. I know it is not practical advice.




I tried to observe him for signs of going to pee, poo. It is kinda hard since he poo at weird hours. For peeing, i can't see any signs of indication that he is going to pee. He just pee whenever he wants as in there is really no signs of him going to pee..

SIGNS OF PEEING - Many owners complain of quickie pee. They can't see signs of the puppy wanting to pee. When the puppy book says "look for signs of wanting to pee (squatting, sniffing and turning around etc)" and bring the puppy to the newspaper or the CRATE as in your case, it means that the puppy is supervised and monitored in an outside area where the puppy has never peed or pooped BEFORE. If the floor if full of urine smells (which you can't smell but the puppy's nose is very sensitive compared to human noses), then the puppy simply let go her urine. USE WHITE VINEGAR:WATER 1:3 TO WIPE THE FLOOR/ FLOOR GRATE OR GRILL TO NEUTRALISE PUPPY URINE SMELL.).


I intend to let him out, prob sleep in my room after he is toliet trained..ie. he will go back to him crate to pee/ poo when there is an urge. However, how am i going to toliet train him when he actually sleeps and spend most of his time in the crate, only to be let out when i am at home at about 7pm after work?

TOILET TRAINING NEEDS 24-HOUR TRAINING FOR THE FIRST 7 DAYS , ACCORDING TO FEEDBACK FROM MY CLIENTS. Since you are not free, it will take much longer than 4 weeks to toilet train the puppy in the crate.

ONE OPTION IS FOR YOU TO KEEP THE PUPPY IN YOUR BEDROOM WHEN YOU SLEEP. CHANGE SOILED NEWSPAPERS EVERY TIME THE PUPPY PEES. REDUCE THE NEWSPAPER AREA TO THE CORNER (WHERE the puppy usually pees on). This will happen after a few days of observation. Once you reach this stage, then keep changing papers so that the puppy has a new paper.

IF NO NEWSPAPERS ARE PLACED as you want him to pee onto the pee tray, ALWAYS WIPE THE WIRE FLOORING (Vinegar:Water at 1:4) with tissue paper to keep it clean. The puppy will want to be clean too and pee in a corner usually.


In addition, he will run real fast immediately i release him around my hse to every corners, licking every edges and biting shoes, floor rugs... I make real loud noise, he still does it.

EVERY PUPPY DOES THIS. THEY LOVE FREEDOM AND ATTENTION. CHEWING, LICKING. THE BEST IS TO RELEASE THE PUPPY TO AN AREA ENCLOSED BUT WITHIN THE CRATE. In this way, the puppy may or may not go to the crate to pee and poop. Then after 2-4 weeks depending on your progress, release the puppy to a room, then 2 rooms and so on.


Another problem i am facing is... He seems really brave & not afraid of lots of things. He is very hyper and always barks in the morning. Waking my whole family up where they feel really irritated by this. I yelled and scolded "No" to him, beat him with my hand, used rolled newspaper and even hitting the floor really hard to scare him, however, after 5seconds after my action, he will be barking once again.

SHOUTING AND MAKING NOISES OR USING ROLLED NEWSPAPERS ON THE FLOOR JUST SHOW THE PUPPY HE GETS WHAT HE WANTS. He barks for attention. You respond.

THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM. One solution is the TIME-OUT. That means the puppy in the crate is put in a place or room where he get NO attention every time he barks. This time out takes around 10-20 minutes. Do not shout or pay attention to him. Put him inside the quiet room. Cover his crate with towels so that he can't see anything for 10-20 minutes. Can you do it? It takes owners with certain forceful personality to do it and the puppy respects this type of owner.

Every time he barks, it is time out for him. So, depending on the intelligence of the 4-legged, he will learn that if he wants company, don't bark.




What should i do? What do you think there is other things like routine stuff, disciplinary things, training that i need to do right now to discipline him?

U NEED TO BORROW SOME BOOKS FROM THE LIBRARY REGARDING OBEDIENCE TRAINING. NOW, THE BEST OBEDIENCE TRAINING IS TO GIVE COMMANDS LIKE "SIT" BEFORE YOU FEED HIM. THIS is the time to do it. But how to do it when this puppy just want to play with so many spectators and family members --- I can't advise you. Usually, a couple with no family members has greater success in obedience training. Sometimes, neighbours will pop in to admire the new puppy. They cause havoc to your obedience training. Something like grandparents "spoiling" the grandchild?


By the way, he just caught a slight cold.. under medication now... and the vet said he got mites in his ears. So i am treatin him... Since he is only slightly sick, he behaves very normally.. still hyper & very active.

HOPE HE WILL RECOVER.


Please advice me on what i should do. Thanks alot.


EVERY PUPPY IS DIFFERENT. IN CONCLUSION, I GUESS YOU HAVE A BIG FAMILY AND IT IS GOING TO BE TOUGH FOR YOU. GIVE THE PUPPY A ROUTINE- FEEDING TIME, PLAY TIME, NIGHT SLEEP TIME, CHANGING NEWSPAPERS/WIPING OFF THE URINE FROM GRATE FLOOR EVERY TIME (IF YOU MUM WILL HELP WHILE YOU WORK) WHEN THE PUPPY PEES. Remove poop promptly.

A 3-month-old puppy pees every 2 hours (N-1) formula where N=age of puppy. Uncountable number of peeing. Pooping is usually 2-3 times for the Singapore puppy if there are no distractions and the feeding is not all day long in the feed bowl.

I HOPE YOU HAVE GOT SOME USEFUL ADVICES. Basically, it is the routine and the time you spend in training. Time out is a very useful tactic but few Singapore owners are aware of it.


Yours sincerely,
XXX

PS: He seems happy in the crate, he will play by himself with the plastic dog bone, balls i have for him in his crate.. He is not afraid of the crate.

19. Case study: How to get the adult dog to go to the appropriate toilet location?

Jun 1, 2008


Dog: Shih Tzu X Maltese
Male neutered, 2 years

PROBLEMS: Pees and poops in the living room. So smelly. Despite scolding and warnings to go to the bathroom, he still did it. So the owner took him outdoors and now he seldom eliminates inside the apartment. Unfortunately, he became infested with ticks despite the use of Frontline.


"The Frontline cannot prevent ticks," the couple in their mid 30s asserted. "My dog is full of ticks, his room is full of ticks and we don't know what to do?"

"Some ticks are said to be resistant after several uses of Frontline" I said. "There is the Frontline Plus and other brands and you can make your dog wear booties when he goes outdoors so that ticks will not attach themselves into his paws. Check his paws when you go home from the daily outdoor exercise to eliminate...."

"We just want your groomer to clip our dog bald and get the anti-tick injection," the couple was fed up with the ticks. "We want our dog to stay inside the apartment so that he will never be infested with ticks! But he just will not go to the bathroom to pee and poo.

"Now, the pet shop owner recommended that we put the ticks inside the hot water. Is there a way to get rid of all the ticks inside the apartment? Especially in the dog's room and under the bed of the maid?"

Small ticks started appearing on my consultation table. I was wondering whether there is a solution to his two problems - ensuring that his dog and his apartment can be tick-free. Is there a solution to every doggy problem?

SOLUTIONS:

1. SOLUTION 1. Getting rid of ticks inside the apartment.
"You can use insecticides to spray onto the corners and areas where the ticks are. But you may poison your dog if he licks the insecticide.

I will recommend that you remove the dog from the apartment, e.g. boarding somewhere after clipping his coat. The ticks will come out of the cracks and hiding places to look for the dog to suck his blood. You will see them on the floor. Get the maid to vacuum all the ticks on the floor and wall. It is easier than catching or sweeping them and putting them into hot water."

"How long must I board the dog?" the man asked.

"2 days but more than 7 days will be better," I said. "It is a matter of costs."

"How long can the ticks survive without the dog to suck blood?" the man asked.

"This is a tough question as the exact number of days is hard to say," I replied. "I expect the small ticks not to survive more than 7 days if they don't have blood to suck, from my observations with other owners. Your dog will be given an anti-tick injection that will last for around 3 weeks. I need to do research on the survival of small ticks without access to the dog."

1. SOLUTION 2. Getting the adult dog to go to the approved toilet area.

"Your adult dog purposely goes to the living area to pee and poop because that area has a strong smell of urine and poo despite your maid's mopping," I said. "He has had been using this area since puppyhood. You need to start toilet-training again, as if he is a puppy."

The wife asked: "How do I do it?"

"Confine the dog to the bathroom for 2-4 weeks. Install a baby-gate so that he can see you but cannot climb out. If you want to use a pee pan and newspapers onto the pee pan, put the pee pan at one corner. Away from his eating and drinking and sleeping area which may be nearer the baby-gate. Over time, you will notice that the dog will eliminate in one corner far away from his eating area."

The couple did not say anything.

"How big is your pee pan?" I asked. "If it is too small, your dog will pee or poop outside the pee pan. Its length should be 2x the length of the dog!" I used my consultation table which is around 3.5 feet long to demonstrate that his long-bodied Shih TzuXMaltese will need this length.

The couple had to think hard.

"Does your dog shred newspapers," I asked. The wife thought so but the husband did not agree.

"If he does not shred newspapers, then put some soiled tissues with his urine and poo smell at the far corner of the pee pan. When he smells it and steps onto the pee pan, his whole body will be inside. If you put the soiled tissues in the centre of the pee pan, his backside may be outside the pee pan and you can't be successful."

So many things to consider just to toilet train a dog to use a pee pan and newspapers.

The couple will try. The dog was boarded for 2 days and I hope he will be tick-free forever. The couple remembered that they have a big crate with pee pan below and will try to toilet train the dog in this crate placed inside the bathroom. This is a more complicated step.

Many Singaporean owners have this idea that their dogs will never get ticks if they don't bring him downstairs. So they keep the dog indoors. This is correct as long as the dog is not brought to a place where there are many dogs, e.g. the groomer or veterinary places.

The use of urine scent is important in toilet-training of the dog. Neutralisation of the dog urine smell with vinegar:water of unapproved places where the dog has had peed is equally important to succeed in toilet training.

Check the paws of the dogs when you go home after visiting such places. It may be difficult in long-haired paws of Shih Tzus but it must be done.

Toilet training - adopt basic principles and keep it simple

DRAFT. MAY 31, 2008


Flag this message
Re: New method of toilet training
Friday, May 30, 2008 11:10 PM

To:
"...@gmail.com>
Pl see reply below:

--- On Fri, 5/30/08, ...@gmail.com> wrote:

From: ...@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: New method of toilet training
To: drsing_98@yahoo.com
Date: Friday, May 30, 2008, 6:16 AM

Dear Dr Sing,

Thanks for the advice. Really appreciate your help alot.

I have read through all your blogs & website. They are really very useful. Thank you.

Knowing that you are doing research on puppy, just to share with you how i actually train my pomeranian, milo, to sit in a day!

My milo is really a very hyperactive & attention seeker intially when we bought him home. He is not afraid of rolled newspaper, beating him softly of coz.. and lots of punishment when he barks at the wrong time and bites all the time.

MOST PUPPIES OF FIRST-TIME OWNERS IN SINGAPORE ARE HYPERACTIVE AS THEY EXPLORE THE NEW WORLD AND GET LOTS OF ATTENTION FROM OWNERS.

Reading about obedience training is very important, i decided to train him to "sit" on command since he seems to be a difficult puppy to deal with.

Training my puppy to sit in a day!

At meal time, after my work, I lead him to the kitchen area from his crate, close the kitchen door leading to the living room. I did not cuddle him or shower him with love. Just gave him my grumpy & angry look. Then i try to make him sit with few pellets of his meal in my hand. Let him smell, entice him & hovering juz above his nose. However, he did not sit as intended but jump up all the time, wanting to bite the food from my hand. After failed attempts, he will walk round the kitchen & try later. He is really naughty. So i was quite pissed and i purposefully chained him up!

Did not allow him to run too far & only near me. Shut at him & push his butt down. If he didn't do that, i will pull abit of the chain upwards, forcing a sitting down position. (Of cause i didn't pull that hard). Keep on saying sit. When his butt is down, i praised & gave him this few pellets. FIRM OWNER'S COMMAND "Sit", PUPPY OBEYS, FOOD TREAT AND PRAISES - THIS IS POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT TRAINING AND SAME PRINCIPLE IS APPLICABLE TO OTHER OBEDIENCE TRAINING.

Did this probably for like 10times in this meal time. Though he seems don't really understand when i ask him to sit, i will force his butt down all the time & say sit continuously b4 giving him pellets by pellets.
ALL PUPPIES NEED REPEATED TRAINING AS THEY CAN'T SPEAK HUMAN LANGUAGE. IT TAKES MANY TIMES AS YOU HAVE DONE SO.


What happen is, the next morning, i did the same thing. But not as fierce or tough with him.

And when my brother fed him lunch where he is in the crate, he called out sit a few times, with loudness increasing everytime he speaks, and soon, he sat down before my brother gave him his meal. To confirm he really understand this command, he lead him to in the living room, my brother try the command, though he needs to say a few times before milo really sits.
BROTHER'S TONE IS DIFFERENT FROM YOURS. EVENTUALLY MILO FIGURES IT OUT. QUITE AN INTELLIGENT PUPPY.

At night, i try the command again and it works! Reallu happy with it. And we are reinforce it everytime now. =)

PUPPY SEEMS TO BE A FAST LEARNER.

Is my feeding amt & timing alright?
I fed him 3 times a day, using the chinese soup spoon, 1 full scoop per meal. He always finished it within like few minutes. And i kinda feel he want somemore as he will step onto his bowl and hoping i will give him more but i didn't give him. Nonetheless, we gave him 3 meals a day. Is it too little? Or do you think i should increase the portion each meal?

INCREASE 50% AS LONG AS THE TUMMY IS NOT BLOATED (SWOLLEN).

Is doggy cologne good for them?
In my previous mail, i was telling you i wanted to crate train him, the crate being his toilet too. However, i found out that my dad can't stand the stench of his smell or rather the smell of his crate. My dad is really sensitive. I can see that he kinda like him but don't really carry him at the moment, probably because he has the doggy smell.. I heard that it comes from his ears. However, everyday, i cleans his ear, as taught by a vet but the smell of doggy still remain in him. May i know what i can do about it?

PUPPY BODY SMELL - EASY FOR YOU TO CONFIRM WHERE THE SMELL COMES FROM. SMELL HIS EARS. SMELL HIS BODY. USUALLY IT IS THE EARS. BODY COULD BE STAINED WITH URINE AND POOP. DOES HE STEP ON HIS POO?

THOROUGHLY BATHE HIM IN WARM WATER. SOAP. DRY HIM WITH CLEAN TOWEL. BRUSH WITH CLEAN BRUSH.


Can i spray those dog cologne on its fur? Is it bad for him?
YOUR PERSONAL DECISION AS TO WHETHER COLOGNE IS GOOD FOR HIM. AFTER ALL, SOME WOMEN AND MEN DO USE PERFUME AND SOME DON'T.

Moreover, he seems to be still sick, sneezing nowadays.. Will it worsen his sickness? Please advice me.
HE IS SUFFERING FROM KENNEL COUGH. NEEDS LOTS OF SLEEP AND REST. THIS DISEASE IS COMMON IN PUPPIES FROM BREEDING KENNELS AND PET SHOPS. MOST PUPPIES DO SURVIVE BUT IT TAKES 2-4 WEEKS OF COUGHING FOR PUPPIES NOT GIVEN COMPLETE REST. I PRESUME YOUR PUPPY HAS A HECTIC LIFE AND SLEEPS LITTLE. IF PUPPY DOES NOT EAT, THEN SEE YOUR VET PROMPTLY.

Toilet training
I am going to start his toilet training from tommorrow onwards since it is weekends. Like i mentioned, i intend to toilet train him in my toilet instead. I was thinking of putting pee tray in the toilet, hoping he will pee in it instead of the tiles of the toilet. I was thinking not to place any newspaper on top as he will tear & mess with the newspaper. MANY PUPPIES SHRED NEWSPAPERS AS THIS IS A COMMON COMPLAINT.

DECIDE ON ONE METHOD OF TOILET TRAINING.

IF YOU WANT HIM TO PEE ON BATHROOM FLOOR, USE FLOOR OF CONFINED BATHROOM. CONFINE FOR 2 - 4 WEEKS. TAKE OUT FOR HALF AN HOUR. WATCH SIGNS OF WANTING TO PEE AND POO AND TAKE INTO BATHROOM.

PEE TRAY - YOU NEED TO SPRAY HIS URINE SMELL. CONFINE HIM TO PEE TRAY AREA + 50% MORE AREA. NEUTRALISE FLOOR WITH WHITE VINEGAR:WATER 1:3. BEST IS TO CONFINE PUPPY TO SMALL AREA FOR 2-4 WEEKS IF YOU WANT TO SUCCEED. MAYBE 50% OF YOUR TOILET FLOOR AND INCREASE THE AREA OVER NEXT FEW DAYS DEPENDING ON PERFORMANCE.



Do you think this is ok? Or do u suggest putting newspaper on the pee tray?
And will his fur be dirtied with the urine if i don't put newspaper in it?

NEWSPAPERS ON TRAY + URINE SPRAY ONTO NEWSPAPERS WORK FOR SOME OWNERS. I DON'T KNOW WHETHER YOUR PUPPY WILL SHRED THE PAPERS.

Please advice. And also, since my dog is very active & likes to lick around, i am afraid he will lick the toilet corners. Moreover, he is slightly sick. Will his health be affected if i toilet train him now in the toilet with him always licking everywhere?

ENSURE TOILET FLOOR IS WASHED AND RINSED WELL. NO LEFTOVER DETERGENT OR THINGS FOR HIM TO CHEW.

Anyway, i intend to wash my toilet with dettol before toilet training him. Do you think this will help? yes.

Plus the method that i am going to use. Please advice me if this method is ok and any improvement in the method.

IF YOU WANT TO TRAIN HIM IN THE BATHROOM, HE HAS TO STAY THERE FOR 2-4 WEEKS TILL HE KNOWS WHAT YOU WANT. HE CAN'T BE GOING EVERYWHERE IN THE APARTMENT ESP. IF YOU DON'T HAVE TIME TO WATCH OUT FOR SIGNS OF PEEING OR POOPING

I intend to allow him to sleep in my room..,Hence, i will prevent him from drinking & eating after 7pm since we sleep at 11pm. Is this ok? YES. WATER RESTRICTION AT NIGHT HELPS THE PUPPY TO CONTROL HIS BLADDER.



I will then put him in a container filled with towels & cloths (for the moment before i get his bed) and allow him to sleep by me. Place him on top of a table having the same height as my bed since he won't dare to jump down from the table. HE MAY NOT JUMP BUT MAY FALL ACCIDENTALLY


The reason i am doing this is because he always wakes up very early in the morning, awaken by my parents, before i am awake & hence, poo instantly in the crate where i won't even have the chance of bringing him to the toilet! Hence, i hope he won't wake up so early, since he won't really be disturbed & i will have the chance of bringing him to the toilet.

I THINK IT WILL NOT WORK. YOU WILL BE STRESSING YOURSELF AND WILL FEEL SLEEPY AT WORK.

Since he is so fidgetive & likes to roam around everywhere, i intend to bring his crate w/ pee tray but without the wire grill where he normally stands on into the toilet where i wants him to go potty. This will restrict him to be only in the small area & until he pee/poo then will i let him out. And i intend to bring him there after all his meal, place him there till he poo/ pee each time.

WHY MAKE LIFE AND TOILET TRAINING SO COMPLICATED?

i also intend to restrict the amount of liquid he consumes as in if he drinks, i will bring him once again to the toilet to the enclosed crate.

I really hope this will help him toilet train as soon as possible as my parents can't really stand him peeing/ pooing all around my hse & also the smell in his crate located in the living room.

BASIC PRINCIPLES ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1. ROUTINE FOR PUPPY. FEEDING TIME 3X PER DAY AND TAKE AWAY FEED BOWL, DRINKING TIME 7 AM TO 7 PM PROBABLY , SLEEPING TIME AT 11 PM? EXERCISE OR PLAYTIME WHEN YOU COME HOME. ALL TIMES FIXED.

2. CONFINE TO SMALL AREA E.G. CAGE OR BATHROOM FOR 2-4 WEEKS. CAN COME OUT TO PLAY HALF AN HOUR PER DAY BUT NOTE FOR SIGNS OF WANTING TO PEE OR POOP - SNIFFING, TURNING ETC.



3. IF YOU USE CAGE, THEN USE CAGE. YOU WILL NOTICE THAT PUPPY WILL PEE AND POOP IN ONE CORNER OF THE CAGE. CLEAN UP THE PEE AREA AND REMOVE POO PROMPTLY.

4. NO VARIATION IN ROUTINE AND NO RUNNING AROUND THE WHOLE APARTMENT. NO SABOTAGE OF ROUTINE BY FAMILY MEMBERS. IN OTHER WORDS, YOU JUST CONFINE HIM TO YOUR BEDROOM/BATHROOM FOR 2-4 WEEKS. AN INTELLIGENT PUPPY MAY BE TOILET-TRAINED IN 2 WEEKS IF THERE IS ONLY ONE COMMANDER (TRAINER).

DO NOT CONFUSE HIM WITH TOO MANY LOCATIONS AND ROUTINES. HE IS AT AN IMPRESSIONABLE AGE AND EASY TO TRAIN. HOPE ABOVE HELPS.

Please advice me. I will update you about my progress. Hopefully he is potty train soon! =)


Sincerely,
Name of owner.

E-mail Advices: Crate as toilet for the puppy

DRAFT. May 29, 2008


Flag this message
Re: Enquiry for new puppy owner
Wednesday, May 28, 2008 11:15 PM
From:
This sender is DomainKeys verified
"David Sing"
View contact details
To:
"...@gmail.com>
Your email has been forwarded to me. I am Dr Sing from Toa Payoh Vets. Please see reply/some advices below.

--- On Wed, 5/28/08, ...@gmail.com> wrote:


Subject: Enquiry for new puppy owner
To: judy@toapayohvets.com
Date: Wednesday, May 28, 2008, 3:36 AM

Hi Judy,

I have lots of doubts and burning questions to enquire about my new bought male pomeranian of 3 mth to day.

Being a 1st timer in keeping a puppy, i am really at a loss how do i discipline, toilet train etc etc with my puppy. I just got him on 17 May 08 which is last last Sat. What i did is i placed him in a crate/ playpan ever since. He poo, pee, eat, sleep in the crate itself. (The crate is similar to the one in the picture below)



I wanted to make him toliet train in the crate where he is supposed to pee/ poo there.

THIS TOILET TRAINING TAKES SOME 2-4 WEEKS OF CONFINEMENT IN THE CRATE. IT WILL NOT HAPPEN OVER A FEW DAYS.

I feed him 3 times a day and his water bottle is always there for him. This crate is like the one in the shops where he steps on a wire grill and the newspaper is below the wire grill. Something like this below.

Active training, rubber mat as toilet location. 10 days successful. Toa Payoh Vets

He don't normally poo after his meal, and it takes like 4-5hrs later before he poo. He does poo also in every morning.

SOME PUPPIES POOP WITHIN 30 MINUTES AFTER MEAL BUT NOT ALL. THERE COULD BE DISTRACTION FROM YOU OR YOUR FAMILY DURING FEEDING TIME. SO THE PUPPY 'FORGETS' TO POOP.

IN MY OPINION, do not pay attention to the puppy during meal time but it is hard for the first-time owner and her family not to do it. Normally, the puppy eats everything fast within 5 minutes. Is that what your puppy does?

The owner should then remove the feed bowl. Or remove the feed bowl after 10 minutes whether the puppy has had eaten or not, but be aware that the puppy has not been sick. This method encourages eating all food at one time and pooping after eating. If the puppy is given food all day long, then expect pooping to be many times.

In your case, the puppy probably is distracted by many admirers and has no "privacy" to poop after meals. Feed him inside a quiet corner if you want success. I know it is not practical advice.




I tried to observe him for signs of going to pee, poo. It is kinda hard since he poo at weird hours. For peeing, i can't see any signs of indication that he is going to pee. He just pee whenever he wants as in there is really no signs of him going to pee..

SIGNS OF PEEING - Many owners complain of quickie pee. They can't see signs of the puppy wanting to pee. When the puppy book says "look for signs of wanting to pee (squatting, sniffing and turning around etc)" and bring the puppy to the newspaper or the CRATE as in your case, it means that the puppy is supervised and monitored in an outside area where the puppy has never peed or pooped BEFORE. If the floor if full of urine smells (which you can't smell but the puppy's nose is very sensitive compared to human noses), then the puppy simply let go her urine. USE WHITE VINEGAR:WATER 1:3 TO WIPE THE FLOOR/ FLOOR GRATE OR GRILL TO NEUTRALISE PUPPY URINE SMELL.).

I intend to let him out, prob sleep in my room after he is toliet trained..ie. he will go back to him crate to pee/ poo when there is an urge. However, how am i going to toliet train him when he actually sleeps and spend most of his time in the crate, only to be let out when i am at home at about 7pm after work?

TOILET TRAINING NEEDS 24-HOUR TRAINING FOR THE FIRST 7 DAYS , ACCORDING TO FEEDBACK FROM MY CLIENTS. Since you are not free, it will take much longer than 4 weeks to toilet train the puppy in the crate.

ONE OPTION IS FOR YOU TO KEEP THE PUPPY IN YOUR BEDROOM WHEN YOU SLEEP. CHANGE SOILED NEWSPAPERS EVERY TIME THE PUPPY PEES. REDUCE THE NEWSPAPER AREA TO THE CORNER (WHERE the puppy usually pees on). This will happen after a few days of observation. Once you reach this stage, then keep changing papers so that the puppy has a new paper.

IF NO NEWSPAPERS ARE PLACED as you want him to pee onto the pee tray, ALWAYS WIPE THE WIRE FLOORING (Vinegar:Water at 1:4) with tissue paper to keep it clean. The puppy will want to be clean too and pee in a corner usually.

In addition, he will run real fast immediately i release him around my hse to every corners, licking every edges and biting shoes, floor rugs... I make real loud noise, he still does it.

EVERY PUPPY DOES THIS. THEY LOVE FREEDOM AND ATTENTION. CHEWING, LICKING. THE BEST IS TO RELEASE THE PUPPY TO AN AREA ENCLOSED BUT WITHIN THE CRATE. In this way, the puppy may or may not go to the crate to pee and poop. Then after 2-4 weeks depending on your progress, release the puppy to a room, then 2 rooms and so on.

Another problem i am facing is... He seems really brave & not afraid of lots of things. He is very hyper and always barks in the morning. Waking my whole family up where they feel really irritated by this. I yelled and scolded "No" to him, beat him with my hand, used rolled newspaper and even hitting the floor really hard to scare him, however, after 5seconds after my action, he will be barking once again.

SHOUTING AND MAKING NOISES OR USING ROLLED NEWSPAPERS ON THE FLOOR JUST SHOW THE PUPPY HE GETS WHAT HE WANTS. He barks for attention. You respond.

THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM. One solution is the TIME-OUT. That means the puppy in the crate is put in a place or room where he get NO attention every time he barks. This time out takes around 10-20 minutes. Do not shout or pay attention to him. Put him inside the quiet room. Cover his crate with towels so that he can't see anything for 10-20 minutes. Can you do it? It takes owners with certain forceful personality to do it and the puppy respects this type of owner.

Every time he barks, it is time out for him. So, depending on the intelligence of the 4-legged, he will learn that if he wants company, don't bark.



What should i do? What do you think there is other things like routine stuff, disciplinary things, training that i need to do right now to discipline him?

U NEED TO BORROW SOME BOOKS FROM THE LIBRARY REGARDING OBEDIENCE TRAINING. NOW, THE BEST OBEDIENCE TRAINING IS TO GIVE COMMANDS LIKE "SIT" BEFORE YOU FEED HIM. THIS is the time to do it. But how to do it when this puppy just want to play with so many spectators and family members --- I can't advise you. Usually, a couple with no family members has greater success in obedience training. Sometimes, neighbours will pop in to admire the new puppy. They cause havoc to your obedience training. Something like grandparents "spoiling" the grandchild?

By the way, he just caught a slight cold.. under medication now... and the vet said he got mites in his ears. So i am treatin him... Since he is only slightly sick, he behaves very normally.. still hyper & very active.

HOPE HE WILL RECOVER.

Please advice me on what i should do. Thanks alot.

EVERY PUPPY IS DIFFERENT. IN CONCLUSION, I GUESS YOU HAVE A BIG FAMILY AND IT IS GOING TO BE TOUGH FOR YOU. GIVE THE PUPPY A ROUTINE- FEEDING TIME, PLAY TIME, NIGHT SLEEP TIME, CHANGING NEWSPAPERS/WIPING OFF THE URINE FROM GRATE FLOOR EVERY TIME (IF YOU MUM WILL HELP WHILE YOU WORK) WHEN THE PUPPY PEES. Remove poop promptly.

A 3-month-old puppy pees every 2 hours (N-1) formula where N=age of puppy. Uncountable number of peeing. Pooping is usually 2-3 times for the Singapore puppy if there are no distractions and the feeding is not all day long in the feed bowl.

I HOPE YOU HAVE GOT SOME USEFUL ADVICES. Basically, it is the routine and the time you spend in training. Time out is a very useful tactic but few Singapore owners are aware of it.

Yours sincerely,
Name of owner

PS: He seems happy in the crate, he will play by himself with the plastic dog bone, balls i have for him in his crate.. He is not afraid of the crate.

16. Cavalier King Charles with a productive cough

"She has a productive cough," the lady owner would have some medical knowledge to use this medical/veteranary term. "The liquid coughed out by this runt is yellow, not as bright yellow as the colour on your magazine. A bit darker."

The puppy coughed a few times on the examination table. Nothing was coughed out. I thought this could be kennel cough, listening to the familiar sounds of a hacking sound with nothing coming out. The puppy had 3 vaccinations. No kennel cough vaccination is ever given to pet shop puppies in most cases in Singapore and this puppy had none too.

"Would the colour be that of your daughter's hair?" I asked. The daughter had dark brown/blond hair more towards a colour of yellow mixed with grey.

"No," the mother laughed. It was difficult for her to describe the colour since the puppy no longer had a productive cough. She has a fever of 39.3 deg C. I auscultated her lungs. Musical sounds were heard from the left chest. The right chest was clear of such sounds.

"Your puppy has pneumonia," I said. "Has she been in contact with other dogs? She looks all right today but she may get worse as she is thin and is of small size for her age." The mother had told me that she had purchased the runt of the litter. Definitely she had some veterinary knowledge.

"No," the owner said. "She goes for evening walks for half an hour."

Where's the source of bacteria? Her son coughed too. "Could it be mycoplasma infection?" the lady asked.

"Hard to pin point the source of bacterial or viral infection," I said. On further discussion, the maids in the estate meet together in the evening with their dogs. So, there was a source of infection for this young puppy. The puppy stays in the shower stall on the 3rd floor and would run up and down every day.

Now, she has to be confined and rest.

"How is her toilet training?" I asked.

"The puppy poops in the newspaper for the first 2 weeks, inside the shower stall where she sleeps," the mother said. "Now she goes to the grass in the garden. A lot of poo. Usually 2 times after breakfast at 7 am and dinner at 8 pm, within 20 minutes. But she poops 2 more times in between. She also wees a lot of times."

"Whenever the puppy circles, my children would shout 'Mummy, going to poo,' instead of carrying the puppy out to the grass," Mum laughed.

"The younger generation in Singapore seems incapable of doing domestic work too," I said. "My 18-year-old part-timer has no idea how to use the mop properly to clean the floor. My room smells of urine and dog faeces after she has mopped the floor yesterday. In her apartment, her grandmother and mother do the house cleaning."

The lady's father is a distinguished veterinarian in Australia. It was great talking to her. For now, she has to confine the sick runt to a small area for at least 2-4 weeks. No evening walks. Ensure that the puppy eats puppy premium food and cut down on treats. So she can put on weight.

There is the problem of an abandoned strong muscular Bengali cat coming to the house for food and rest. Would he attack this Cavalier King Charles in the garden? I advised that she get him neutered and adopted as the poor cat must be involved in cat fights. He seems to be the top cat in the neighbourhood but for how long?

"It is best not to buy a runt next time," I said to her. "Sometimes they are not healthy enough and may die before they reach one year of age due to genetic kidney or liver defects. Your poor daughter will be heart broken." As it was, her daughter was quite stressed and sad that the puppy was sick.

15. Yorkies eat his own stools. What to do?

STOOL EATING PUPPIES
Dr Sing Kong Yuen

SUMMARY:
Coprophagia is an exasperating complaint in around 20 out of 500 puppies by new Singapore puppy owners in my 3-year survey of new puppy owners.

Such puppies have well cared for and given premium puppy food. Yet they eat stools. Only one case of the over 500 surveyed drank her own urine.

There are so many advices to stop puppies eating stools. In Singapore, most owners are busy working and therefore has no time to stop this anti-social habit. Once the dog grows up, it seems very difficult to stop him eating stools whenever the owner is not around.

The best method is positive reinforcement training using food treats, praises and play with the new puppy whenever he starts eating stools. A regular feeding schedule, taking away the feed after 15 minutes for most puppies other than those finicky small breeds and no distraction within 30 minutes of eating will ensure that the puppy passes stools in most cases.

Some puppies outgrow this bad habit. A few continues stool eating to adulthood. The best solution is to remove the stools immediately and using positive training methods mentioned below to stop the habit when the puppy is still receptive to training at 2-4 months of age.


E-MAIL FROM A YORKSHIRE TERRIER OWNER

----- Original Message ----
From:
To: judy@toapayohvets.com
Sent: Sunday, 2 March 2008 4:18:07
Subject: Photo of Yorkshire Terrier

Dear Dr Sing,

As requested, a copy of my girl's photo. By the way, she vomited out the deworm tablets on our way back home.

Problem: Had the habit of eating own stools.

Thanks for thinking of a solutions to solve the above problem.

Regards
XX (^_^)




E-MAIL REPLY FROM DR SING


Today is 5th March 2008. I have not received your e-mail regarding the time table of what your puppy does every day. It is important that you spend time training your puppy not to eat his own stools now. You still need to deworm him as the stools he eats may contain worm eggs.

There are a few ways, not always successful in stopping the puppy eating its own stools. Put pepper, chilli powder in his stools, shoot water spray onto his face or drop of can of pebbles/coins to make a loud noise when he starts eating stools. Buy the anti-stool eating powder from the pet shop. Feed slices of pineapple. Put him inside a crate where the floor grate has holes so that his poo falls through. So many suggestions from various pet lovers and the internet.

This is a most common problem of many puppy lovers all over the world. The best way is to train him when he is young, not to eat stools. Below is my suggestion:

1. Feed at fixed hours inside the crate/confined area.

2. Remove feed within 15 minutes (except for finicky puppies like Chihuahuas, Yorkies).

3. Confine. Do not play with the puppy for first 30 minutes. Monitor him.

4. Once he poops, remove stools.

5. Give food treat, praise a lot before he eats the stools.

6. Reward him by playing with him.


You need to start training him not to eat stools now. When he grows older, it is very difficult to do it as he rebels. Do let me know how long you take to be successful.

Finicky puppies like the Yorkshire Terrriers, Chihuahuas and mini-Malteses --- feeding may need to be given more than 3X per day. Ensure they really eat their amount.

Many don't eat much because they know that their owner will lavish attention to them when they don't eat. They get more variety of food in this way!

Any delay in training the new puppy while he is still young may result in a grown up dog eating his own stools whenever the owner is not around. Also, some eat stools of the other dog and cats too.

Toilet Training an apartment living Golden Retriever

DRAFT


Thank you for reply. Rocky looks slim and fit. Many GR grow much fatter after neutering. Keep up good work.

----- Original Message ----
From: ...singnet.com.sg>
To: Dr Sing KY
Sent: Saturday, 16 February 2008 6:16:45
Subject: RE: Rocky's Toilet Training

Dr Sing,
My replies below.

-----Original Message-----
From: Dr Sing KY [mailto:ezyvets@yahoo.com.sg]
Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2008 6:15 AM
To: ...@singnet.com.sg
Subject: Re: Rocky's Toilet Training

Really appreciate your kind feedback. What a great pet Rocky is.
1. Can I know why you do not get Rocky to eliminate in the guest bathroom floor?
> The bathroom floor is usually wet, and we have a rather spacious kitchen, therefore we decided to use the kitchen corner instead.
2. Do you put newspapers in a pee pan?
> No. We laid the newspaper on the floor directly. Did not use any pee pan because he is not comfortable with it. We ever tried and realised he was not willing to step in.
3. Do you change the soiled papers every time he pees?
> Yes we'd lay another layer of fresh newspapers to cover/soak it up and clear everything, then put fresh ones again.
4. How many times you change the papers?
> We usually get it changed once its soiled.
5. Is it possible to email me an updated picture of Rocky?
> See attached. I only have this picture with me now.
6. What is his weight?
> About 28kg
7. Has he put on weight since the neutering?
> No.

Your detailed answers are very useful to prospective owners with big breed dogs in apartments.
Many thanks again.

----- Original Message ----
From: ...@singnet.com.sg>
To: Dr Sing KY
Sent: Monday, 4 February 2008 11:30:25
Subject: RE: Rocky's Toilet Training

Hi Dr Sing,

Happy New Year.
Please see my reply below.



-----Original Message-----
From: Dr Sing KY [mailto:ezyvets@yahoo.com.sg]
Sent: Sunday, February 03, 2008 6:59 AM
To: ...@singnet.com.sg
Subject: Rocky's Toilet Training

Hi
1. Happy New Year.

2. I am Dr Sing from Toa Payoh Vets. You brought Rocky to Toa Payoh Vets around July 7, 2006. I am still doing research on toilet training of puppies in Singapore and need some updates on your success with Rocky to help other dog owners.

3. I hope you have some time to update me on whether Rocky is now paper-trained?
3.1 Does he goes to eliminate on newspapers 100% in the kitchen area ? Or is his toilet area another place?
> Yes he now eliminates 100% on newspapers in the kitchen area only.
3.2 How many times is he fed?
Thank yo for reply. Rocky looks slim and fit. Many GR grow much fatter after neutering. Keep up good work.
----- Original Message ----
From: ...@singnet.com.sg>
To: Dr Sing KY
Sent: Saturday, 16 February 2008 6:16:45
Subject: RE: Rocky's Toilet Training

Dr Sing,
My replies below.

-----Original Message-----
From: Dr Sing KY [mailto:ezyvets@yahoo.com.sg]
Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2008 6:15 AM
To: ...@singnet.com.sg
Subject: Re: Rocky's Toilet Training

Really appreciate your kind feedback. What a great pet Rocky is.
1. Can I know why you do not get Rocky to eliminate in the guest bathroom floor?
> The bathroom floor is usually wet, and we have a rather spacious kitchen, therefore we decided to use the kitchen corner instead.
2. Do you put newspapers in a pee pan?
> No. We laid the newspaper on the floor directly. Did not use any pee pan because he is not comfortable with it. We ever tried and realised he was not willing to step in.
3. Do you change the soiled papers every time he pees?
> Yes we'd lay another layer of fresh newspapers to cover/soak it up and clear everything, then put fresh ones again.
4. How many times you change the papers?
> We usually get it changed once its soiled.
5. Is it possible to email me an updated picture of Rocky?
> See attached. I only have this picture with me now.
6. What is his weight?
> About 28kg
7. Has he put on weight since the neutering?
> No.

Your detailed answers are very useful to prospective owners with big breed dogs in apartments.
Many thanks again.

----- Original Message ----
From: ...@singnet.com.sg>
To: Dr Sing KY
Sent: Monday, 4 February 2008 11:30:25
Subject: RE: Rocky's Toilet Training

Hi Dr Sing,

Happy New Year.
Please see my reply below.



-----Original Message-----
From: Dr Sing KY [mailto:ezyvets@yahoo.com.sg]
Sent: Sunday, February 03, 2008 6:59 AM
To: ...@singnet.com.sg
Subject: Rocky's Toilet Training

Hi
1. Happy New Year.

2. I am Dr Sing from Toa Payoh Vets. You brought Rocky to Toa Payoh Vets around July 7, 2006. I am still doing research on toilet training of puppies in Singapore and need some updates on your success with Rocky to help other dog owners.

3. I hope you have some time to update me on whether Rocky is now paper-trained?
3.1 Does he goes to eliminate on newspapers 100% in the kitchen area ? Or is his toilet area another place?
> Yes he now eliminates 100% on newspapers in the kitchen area only.
3.2 How many times is he fed?
> Twice daily.
3.3 Does he get canned food as well as dry food?
> Mainly dry food. Occassionally (probably once fortnightly) a mixture of dry + canned food.
3.4 What time is he fed?
> Around 7am and 7pm.
3.5 Is the feed given the whole day or for a short time of 20 minutes?
> He finishes up his food within a short time, so we have no problem with this.
3.6 Does he pee and poo within 30 minutes of being fed?
> Yes he does most of the time.
3.7 Does he eliminate outdoors?
> Yes sometimes he does when we bring him out for walks. But we did not intentionally bring him out to train him to eliminate outdoors.
3.8 How many times does he pee and poop for one day (24 hours)?
> Pee 5-6 times. Poop 2-3 times.
3.9 Any accidents - eliminate on non-approved toilet areas?
> No. Only eliminate on newspapers in kitchen. He will not do it without newspapers either. He will wait till the newspapers are laid.
3.10 Does Rocky urine-mark -- pee a bit here and there on vertical surfaces?
> At home, never. I used to see him marking at the beach or park, but I noticed he hardly do it after neutering.
3.11 Is Rocky neutered?
> Yes. In Oct 2007.

Your feedback will be most appreciated. Best wishes for the new year! > Twice daily.
3.3 Does he get canned food as well as dry food?
> Mainly dry food. Occassionally (probably once fortnightly) a mixture of dry + canned food.
3.4 What time is he fed?
> Around 7am and 7pm.
3.5 Is the feed given the whole day or for a short time of 20 minutes?
> He finishes up his food within a short time, so we have no problem with this.
3.6 Does he pee and poo within 30 minutes of being fed?
> Yes he does most of the time.
3.7 Does he eliminate outdoors?
> Yes sometimes he does when we bring him out for walks. But we did not intentionally bring him out to train him to eliminate outdoors.
3.8 How many times does he pee and poop for one day (24 hours)?
> Pee 5-6 times. Poop 2-3 times.
3.9 Any accidents - eliminate on non-approved toilet areas?
> No. Only eliminate on newspapers in kitchen. He will not do it without newspapers either. He will wait till the newspapers are laid.
3.10 Does Rocky urine-mark -- pee a bit here and there on vertical surfaces?
> At home, never. I used to see him marking at the beach or park, but I noticed he hardly do it after neutering.
3.11 Is Rocky neutered?
> Yes. In Oct 2007.

Your feedback will be most appreciated. Best wishes for the new year!


-----------------------------------------------------

Monday, February 4, 2008
130. Follow Up: Successful paper-training a Golden Retriever living in a Singapore apartment

HISTORY:

July 7, 2006. Golden Retriever, Male, 7 months. Pees and poos everywhere inside the apartment. What to do? Dr Sing advised confinement and paper-training using positive reinforcement training.

Feb 5, 2008. Dr Sing followed up. Owner replied indicated that the dog is 100% successfully paper-trained. I hope this write up will benefit busy urban dwellers and owners trying to toilet train large breeds living in apartments.


----- Original Message ----
From: <...@singnet.com.sg>
To: Dr Sing KY
Sent: Monday, 4 February 2008 11:30:25
Subject: RE: Rocky's Toilet Training

Hi Dr Sing,

Happy New Year.
Please see my reply below.

(Name of owner)

-----Original Message-----
From: Dr Sing KY [mailto:ezyvets@yahoo.com.sg]
Sent: Sunday, February 03, 2008 6:59 AM
To: ...@singnet.com.sg
Subject: Rocky's Toilet Training

Hi
1. Happy New Year.

2. I am Dr Sing from Toa Payoh Vets. You brought Rocky to Toa Payoh Vets around July 7, 2006. I am still doing research on toilet training of puppies in Singapore and need some updates on your success with Rocky to help other dog owners.

3. I hope you have some time to update me on whether Rocky is now paper-trained?
3.1 Does he goes to eliminate on newspapers 100% in the kitchen area ? Or is his toilet area another place?
> Yes he now eliminates 100% on newspapers in the kitchen area only.

3.2 How many times is he fed?
> Twice daily.

3.3 Does he get canned food as well as dry food?
> Mainly dry food. Occassionally (probably once fortnightly) a mixture of dry + canned food.

3.4 What time is he fed?
> Around 7am and 7pm.

3.5 Is the feed given the whole day or for a short time of 20 minutes?
> He finishes up his food within a short time, so we have no problem with this.

3.6 Does he pee and poo within 30 minutes of being fed?
> Yes he does most of the time.

3.7 Does he eliminate outdoors?
> Yes sometimes he does when we bring him out for walks. But we did not intentionally bring him out to train him to eliminate outdoors.

3.8 How many times does he pee and poop for one day (24 hours)?
> Pee 5-6 times. Poop 2-3 times.

3.9 Any accidents - eliminate on non-approved toilet areas?
> No. Only eliminate on newspapers in kitchen. He will not do it without newspapers either. He will wait till the newspapers are laid.

3.10 Does Rocky urine-mark -- pee a bit here and there on vertical surfaces?
> At home, never. I used to see him marking at the beach or park, but I noticed he hardly do it after neutering.

3.11 Is Rocky neutered?
Yes. In Oct 2007.

Your feedback will be most appreciated. Best wishes for the new year!


Conclusion:

A busy working young couple. They take time to train the Golden Retriever.
I advised confinement to a small space (in the kitchen) and praise and give food treats on success. It takes some time (probably 4 weeks) to paper train him but once it is done, he is a great pet to be with.

Fortunately he was not easily bribed by food treats for successfully eliminating on newspapers, according to the owners.

In this case, it will be preferred that the big dog go to the guest bathroom to eliminate. Or a pee tray is used to hold the newspapers in the kitchen. To transfer toilet area to bathroom, slowly shift the papers to the bathroom from the kitchen.

I did not ask the owner why the kitchen was used. Sometimes owners are not aware of the preferred toilet location to be the guest bathroom. Or the bathroom is not available for the dog as there may be guests.


Replace soiled newspapers frequently --- an important factor in successful toilet training as most dogs and puppies dislike dirtying their paws and will avoid soiled papers. Some dogs bark to tell the owners to change. Others bark and get scolded for being a noise nuisance. So they give up communicating with the owner and eliminates outside the papers in the nearby areas.



PREVIOUS POST IN 2006
Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore


The following report from the owner of Rocky confirmed that the "older" puppy (e.g. 7 months old) can be paper-trained if the owner knows how to do it. The puppy is into adolescence and is known to be "rebellious" and has a mind of his own at 7 months of age.

However, with time spent on training him, knowledge that he wants a fresh and clean toilet area, praise and treats, the following case was successfully paper-trained in around 2 weeks.

Basically, the puppy just wants a CLEAN toilet area to pee and poop.

Otherwise, he will avoid the soiled newspapers and poop elsewhere. In the first year of my research, owners complain that the puppy will usually "miss" its target (newspapers) and pee "outside" the newspapers.

The reason is that the papers have been soiled and the puppy is loathe to step onto them unless they are quickly replaced. Some puppies will "bark" to let the owner know that the papers must be changed after elimination, according to owners who tell me.

Some puppies do not provide feedback or the owners are not at home the whole day. Possibly, the owner is inside the crate and has stepped on soiled newspapers (in the petshop -- not sold early or the owner's crate). So, the puppy is used to soiled newspapers after some time.



I have no time to edit, but will do it in the new book.
The e-mail is as follows:

Monday, July 31, 2006
DRAFT - Why the puppy does not poop on newspapers



-------------------------------------------------------------------------

E-MAIL REPLY FROM DOG OWNER --- JULY 10, 2006.

> Dog owner wrote:
>
> Dear Dr Sing,
> We went to your clinic last Friday (7 Jul) with our
> 7-mth old Golden Retriever, Rocky for his 3rd vaccination and sought
> your advice on how to toilet-train him.
> After some thoughts on your suggestions, we decided
> to start off with neutralising his urine and poo smells in the house
> with white vinegar and water.
> On that same evening, we neutralised the entire living room and part of
> the kitchen area, leaving the unneutralised part of the kitchen as his
> intended toilet area (the spot that he frequents most). Then covered
> that area with fresh newspapers and some soiled ones. That weekend, we tried confining him to that specific kitchen area after his meals and monitored him, also tried bringing him
Out for walks and kept asking him to pee/poo, but were not successful.

> He did not pee/poo (on the toilet area)
> as we wanted him to. We gave up, but continued neutralising the floors
> every night as he still eliminates randomly at those 2 areas.
> On Tuesday (11 Jul) evening,
> that the methods weren't working, we saw him pee-ing right in the
> centre of the newspapers. We quickly praised him and offered him a
> treat. This time, he took the treat happily and ran off chewing it.
> Initially we thought he had learnt to eliminate there, but later at
> night, we found his poo on the kitchen floor. The following days, as we
> continued with neutralising, we saw some improvement. We observed
> he has stopped eliminating in the living room, and does it only in
> the kitchen area, however, he only pees on newspapers, still poo
> everywhere in the kitchen.
> Last night we've decided not to neutralise the floors. This morning, to
> our surprise, we saw both his pee and poo on the papers. We're very
> happy to see that, and we'll continue to monitor him closely until he's
> really stable and makes no mistakes. Will update you again on his progress.
> Really appreciate your help and professional advice.
>
> Thanks,
Dog Owner.

E-MAIL REPLY FROM DR SING --- JULY 16, 2006.

> Sunday July 16, 2006. E-mail reply from Dr Sing
NLB Toa Payoh Library 10.30am.
>
> My computer is infested with viruses. It shut down and re-started
> several times earlier. After that it shut down completely. So, I am
> using the NLB library to reply to you. It is hard to
> find real computer experts in Singapore who can resolve this problem
> without having to re-format the whole hard disk.
>
> I am very grateful for your contribution to my research and a book on
> Singapore puppy toilet training.
>
> In reply:
>
> 1. My research and reading of other reports. It appears that white
> vinegar is effective only to neutralise the ammonia smell of puppy
> urine. Acid plus alkaline = water (NO MORE URINE SMELL), to put it simply.
> So, the puppy can't find the elimination area with his nose (to detect urine smell).
>
> I presume you used the same mop or had not rinsed off the urine smell
> thoroughly, so the puppy could detect the "accident" areas for the first
> few days. Corners or edges of doors may still have traces of urine. The
> sense of smell is very acute in the canine. However, after a few days of
> your hard work, you probably wiped out all urine
> smell. So, the puppy goes to the newspapers. I presume you did not use
> the soiled newspapers (2nd layer) but the floor is OK too.
>
> 2. White vinegar is said to have no effect on the poop as it does not smell of ammonia.
>
> 3. So your success later may be due to your monitoring and praises. Your
> puppy probably now expecting treat. Some will sit and wait for it after
> peeing. A few owners tell me that some even pee less but more often to
> get treats. I hope your puppy does not think this way.
>
> 4. Poop after feeding times. If you can have a regular schedule of feeding and exercise, without distraction of playing
> immediately after eating, you may be successful. Signs of elimination
> like sniffing, squatting and circling - bring puppy to newspapers.
> Praise and reward.
>
> 5. Will be most grateful if you let me know your progress in the pooping
> training aspect. It is from such case studies that I am able to advise
> as each situation and each puppy behaves differently.
>


E-MAIL REPLY FROM DOG OWNERR --- JULY 2006.
>
July 30, 2006 e-mail to Dr Sing>

> Dr Sing,
>
> We're still working on Rocky's poop training. Did not really have enough time to monitor him for the past 2 weeks due to our work schedules.
> We will continue with your suggestion in Point 4 below.
>
> Thankfully Rocky does not seem to expect treats after peeing. He just
> walks away. He has no problem with peeing on newspapers, i don't
> understand why he could not poo on the papers as well. So far only once or twice he pooped on papers, the
> rest of the times are done on the kitchen floor.
>
> We still do use vinegar to mop the kitchen floor on
> alternate nights. You mentioned in Point 2 that white vinegar has no
> effect on poop. Do you mean that white vinegar can only nuetralise
> urine smell, but not poop smell?
> Is there anything we can do to remove the poop smell?
>
> Hope your computer is fine now.
>
> Thanks,


E-MAIL REPLY FROM DR SING --- JULY 2006.

Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2006 e-mail reply.
04:32:18 +0800 (CST)
From: "Dr Sing KY" Add to Address BookAdd to Address Book
Subject: RE: Rocky's Toilet Training - Pooping on floor.


Thanks for feedback.

1. Most likely reason Rocky does not want to poop on the newspapers more often may be due to at least 2 reasons:

1.1 The papers had not been changed. Most dogs do not like to step on soiled newspapers as they are clean creatures. So, he chose the floor.

1.2 The papered area is too small. I remember he is a Golden Retriever. Correct me if I am mistaken. You may need to have double or triple the areas covered by the
newspapers or buy a big pee pan (to put newspapers on).

2. In many cases, vinegar:water mixture does not eliminate the smell of poop because the poop is not ammonical.

3. In your case, you said you had not much time. I
presume you had no time to change the newspapers more
often and no time to bring him downstairs. There is no
fixed schedule for exercise after eating. If that is
true, then he has no opportunity to poop 15-30 minutes
after eating (as most dogs do) on newspapers under
your training and supervision. You probably had gone
to work or are too tired to bring him downstairs. I do
not know the real situation.

4. If you want your puppy to poop on newspapers, you
need to SPEND TIME to train him to do so. WATCH for
signs of wanting to poop and bringing him to the CLEAN
newspapers for the first 2 weeks. Praise, pat and
reward with treats on success.

Otherwise, it is very difficult for him to know what
you want.

5. Let me know once your pooping training is
successful.

posted by kongsing | 4:41 AM
0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<<>


UPDATE AND FOLLOW UP IN JUNE 6, 2007

E-MAIL FROM DR SING ON MAY 16, 2007

-----Original Message-----
From: Dr Sing KY [mailto:ezyvets@yahoo.com.sg]
Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2007 7:03 AM
To: drsing@toapayohvets.com
Subject: 2007 Update:: Rocky's Toilet Training - Pooping on floor.


Hi

I hope all are well at home. It is nearly a year since
we corresponded. I have finalising my research on
puppy toilet training in Singapore.

Is it possible for you to update me on how you have
toilet trained Rocky?

1. How long it takes to paper-train him successfully
(i.e. use newspapers all the time to pee and poop).

2. How you stop him from pooping on the floor? This
seems to be a common complaint amongst singapore's dog
owners.

3. How many times he pees and poops/day now?

4. How often you feed him and has he got water
available 24 hrs a day?

3. A picture of Rocky?

DOG OWNER'S REPLY IN JUN 2007

E-MAIL ON JUN 6, 2007

Subject: RE: 2007 Update:: Rocky's Toilet Training - Pooping on floor.
Date: Wed, 6 Jun 2007 00:48:17 +0800


Hi Dr Sing,

Thanks for following up with us.
Here's my reply and some updates.

1. Rocky (golden retriever) took about a week's time to understand and
getting use to doing his business on the newspapers. He was about 7 mth
old then. We used his soiled newspapers to indicate the toilet area,
monitoring and confining him to the toilet area after his meals until
he
reliefs himself, when done correctly give praise and occasional treats.

2. We observed that he usually pees first then poop, and after peeing
on
the newspapers, he would not step on them anymore, so he ended up
pooping on the floor near the newspapers. From then on, we took effort
to clear the soiled newspapers after he pee and replace with fresh
ones,
and so this problem was solved.

3. He poops twice a day within an hour after meals. As for pee, several
times a day.

4. We feed him twice daily, morning and evening. Fresh water is
available 24hrs.

5. Attached is a picture of Rocky.



All the best to your research and new book.

Regards,
(Name of Rocky's owner).

13. Success in toilet training - Female submissive urination dogs wear pads for toilet training.

DRAFT COPY

The relevant sentences of this lengthy e-mail, as regards my research on toilet training is in bold letters.


Feb 13, 2008
Hi

1. Thank you for your best wishes for the New Year. I hope you have a good year too.

2. Based on your dog's history, lack of dysuria (difficulty in urination) and no blood seen in the urine, it is possible that your dog may be having her heat even though it is less than the usual 6 monthly cycle. Not all dogs have heat exactly at 6 monthly interval. There are variations from 3-monthly to 12-monthly. I had an owner telling me her female Pomerania dog had heat at 19th year of age, which is unusual.

3. The womb of an old dog undergoes changes. I presume your dog has never given birth before. In many cases, the lining of the womb of some maiden old dogs change to become "cystic". Bacteria infection comes in. Vaginal discharge is no more the bright red blood. This condition is called pyometra. Pyometra is classified into open or closed pyometra (no vaginal or very little discharge).

Vaginal discharge continues to flow out. Colour of discharge varies. Usually when the unobservant owner sees it, it is sticky, yellowish. The female dog is good at licking off the discharge, so many owners misses the problem till the dog does not eat, becomes inactive and has too much vaginal discharge all over the floor.

4. As to spaying of the senior dog, what is the reason for your vet to stop at the 8th year? Does it mean he does not operate on any dog once they reach 8 years of age, including emergency and sick ones?

5. Every owner has to be aware of the anaesthetic risk of death during the surgery of the old dog. Obviously, an old dog that is not eating and sick is a poor risk. I hope I have answered all your questions.


----- Original Message ----
From: ...singnet.com.sg>
To: drsing@toapayohvets.com
Sent: Tuesday, 12 February 2008 1:08:01
Subject: RE: Spaying of Senior Dog

Dear Dr. Sing,

Happy New Year to you! I hope you had a wonderful Chinese New Year with your family and friends.

As you may recall, I wrote to you last October about spaying my senior dog,XXX. I've appended our most recent correspondence below.

XXX will be 9 years old this year. She had her menses from 23 September 2007 onwards and it lasted for around 19 days. 2 weeks after the time I thought her menses had stopped, I noticed some spotting. I brought her to the vet and as it was difficult for us to get a urine sample, the vet did a physical exam of her and thought that she was most probably having some kind of bacterial infection. She was prescribed 2 kinds of medication (I don't remember the names now), one was to stop the bleeding, and the other one was antibiotics to treat whatever the suspected bacteria infection might be. I have consulted my vet a couple of times about whether or not to spay XXX, and while he gave me the pros and cons, he did mention that their clinic drew the line at 8 years for spaying female dogs, so they won't consider doing that for her. Anyway, there were no other symptoms and XXX didn't seem uncomfortable in any way. The spotting went away.

Then around 2 days ago I noticed some bloody discharge from XXX's vagina. She licks herself there more often, but again doesn't behave any differently. The discharge is a very watery bloody fluid, and it isn't so much that it stains a lot, at least for now. It is barely 5 months since her last menses. Can this be her menses again? I read online that dogs sometimes have menses every 6 months, but my hubby recalls that XXX has menses only once a year, and sometimes she doesn't bleed at all, so he thinks she missed her cycle.

What could this mean? Can it be some kind of urinary tract infection? But the blood isn't in her urine and XXX doesn't seem to be straining when she urinates. She still goes to her newspapers as usual.

I would really appreciate your kind advice. Thank you once again.

Best regards,
Name



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


-----Original Message-----
From: Dr Sing KY [mailto:ezyvets@yahoo.com.sg]
Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2007 6:27 PM
To: ....@singnet.com.sg
Subject: Re: Spaying of Senior Dog

Good evening to you. See my reply in CAPITALS BELOW.

...@singnet.com.sg> wrote:

Good morning Dr. Sing:

Here's what I meant to say about my dog wetting herself..

> HOW TO GO TO THE PEE TRAY WHEN SHE CANNOT PEE ONTO IT?
> SHE HAS A PAD, REMEMBER?
>
> > But she didn't like feeling the wetness in the pants
> > after she did that, after a few times, she learned.

( From this case study, the success to the toilet training method for the older dog - Let the older dog wear pad for say, some 3 hours. As the dog does not like the wetness of the pad, she will control her bladder till the pad is taken out and she pees on the newspapers. Say "pee here" and praise.

This method appears to be successful for older male dogs too, according to my groomer, Mark who seldom wants to share his toilet training secrets with me as this is his livelihood!"

>
> CAN'T FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU ARE WRITING ABOUT. YOU MEAN
> SHE CAN STILL PEE ON THE PEE TRAY WITH PADS ON?

--> I understand she has more frequent urination during her menses, and she used to not be able to wait till I took off her pants during those times I thought she would pee, so she would just squat down and pee when she has the pants on. But when she saw that she would have to wear the wet pad for a while until I changed her, she learned to wait till I took off her pants and then she knew it was okay for her to pee.

Finally, here's the last part of my previous email that was truncated.

3) Separation Anxiety

My dog follows me around the house but doesn't disturb me when I'm home. When we take naps or sleep at night, she has her own bed on our bedroom floor. She doesn't disturb us, but just wants to be around us (me). The thing is we have to leave her alone during the day when we are working, so she is often alone in the balcony behind the closed sliding glass doors for 8 hours or so until I come home in the evenings. She senses we have returned even from the time we come out of the carpark which is right in front of our block and starts barking continuously when we are coming up the steps.


The barking usually stops when we enter our flat and then my husband scolds her for being noisy.
DID SHE TURN ON HER BACK AND PEES A FEW DROPS WHEN SCOLDED BY THE HUSBAND?


However, there are times when I come home alone and she doesn't bark at all until I have entered the house, and even then it is just a few barks sort of like greeting me, not continuous or very distressed sounding like when my husband and I come home.

BARKING BEHAVIOUR IS FORMED FROM YOUR AND YOUR HUSBAND'S REACTIONS DURING THE PAST e.g. barking for attention and getting attention/rewards/praises.

HARD TO ANALYSE WHY YOUR DOG BARKS DIFFERENTLY IN DIFFERENT ENCOUNTERS.

When I turn around to face her, she will always be wagging her tail furiously, begging to come out.

What do you think about her barking behaviour?

SHE MAY DISLIKE STRONG-WILLED MAN LIKE YOUR HUSBAND AND/OR THE MALE GENDER.
DURING HER FEAR IMPRINT PERIOD (IMPRESSIONABLE TIME), she had a bad experience with the male gender (e.g. naughty boys pulling her tail etc.). So, she behaves angrily at males.

I had an interesting case similar to your situation. I had written one such case at:
http://bekindtopets.blogspot.com/2007/09/61-small-but-all-male-homo-sapiens.html



Why does it seem that she behaves differently when it is my husband and us coming home, or me coming home alone?

SOME BARKING RESPONSES YOU GAVE PREVIOUSLY HAVE HAD BEEN REINFORCED BY YOU AND HUSBAND, ACCOUNTING FOR THE PRESENT TYPE OF BARKING BEHAVIOUR. Hard to tell. Seems like attention-getting type of bark.

Since she regards my husband as the dominant leader, why does she bark more when it's him coming back?

SUBMISSIVE FEMALE DOGS DON'T BARK AT DOMINANT LEADERS usually. She will turn on her back and pees.

She doesn't bark when my husband come home alone and I'm already at home with her.

HARD TO EXPLAIN. SHE MAY BE PRE-OCCUPIED OR DISTRACTED BY YOUR ATTENTION.

Once again, I really appreciate your generous and wonderful advice. This means a lot to pet owners like myself who want to understand their dogs more.

I look forward to hearing from you once again. Have a great day.

Thank you so much and best regards,
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


--- Dr Sing KY wrote:

> I guess you do lots of writing in your present career.
> Are you a writer or in the mass communication
> business?
> My replies to you are in CAPITAL LETTERS BELOW.
>
> --- .... wrote:
>
> > Dear Dr. Sing:
> >
> > Thank you so much for your kind advice on the
> > situation, especially your taking time to answer my
> > email before rushing to work this morning.
> >
> > Here are my thoughts on your very systematic pros &
> > cons of whether or not to spay my dog.
> >
> > YES.
> > > 1. Prevention of breast cancers and womb
> > infections,
> > > but not all intact female dogs get this problem.
> > Only
> > > that the probability is higher for intact females.
> >
> > I will ensure that my dog gets regular checkups at
> > the vet. Only issue now is finding one vet/clinic
> > we will stick to since my dog hasn't gone to the vet
> > in so many years haha!
> >
> > > 2. Unwanted puppies/dogs being put to sleep or
> > > abandoned. This does not apply to your situation.
> >
> >
> > I will try every means possible to make sure my dog
> > isn't accidentally mated. I would of course love to
> > have her puppies, but I think she's too old to go
> > through pregnancy at this age.
>
> FEMALE DOGS OVER 6 YEARS OLD ARE ADVISED NOT TO BREED,
> GENERALLY.
> >
> > Are female dogs fertile only when they are on heat?
>
> YES.
>
> > Do they have urges and want to mate when they are
> > not on heat?
>
> NO. SOME 'MATING' BEHAVIOUR SEEN COULD BE DUE TO
> DOMINANCE BEHAVIOUR.
>
>
> If my dog gets humped by a male dog
> > (whether or not she wants it) when she is not on
> > heat, will she get pregnant?
> >
> NO
>
> > > 3. Dirtying the house with blood stains every 6
> > > months. This problem does not bother you.
> >
> > Yes, I let my dog run about the house even when she
> > is having her menses. Only thing is I wipe her
> > before she sits down on her bed, but all these
> > problems are solved with the sanitary pants.
> > Amazing thing is one night she managed to get the
> > pants off! This is the kind with a buckle strap and
> > the pants/buckle were intact next to her bed the
> > next morning haha! I didn't scold her or anything
> > but kept the pants on and took them off only when
> > she has her food or needs to relieve herself, so she
> > learned very fast. She struggled when I tried to
> > put on the pants at first, but later on, she would
> > even stand still to let me strap on the pants!!
> >
> GOOD TEACHER. YOU MUST BE GIVING HER LOTS OF PRAISES
> AS REWARDS.
>
> > > 4. Urine marking making the residence smell
> > strongly
> > > of urine. Very rare in female dogs. Your sounds
> > like a
> > > submissive urination case and not an alpha female.
> > > Does she pee when excited or greeting you?
> >
> > Oh she is the sweetest and gentlest dog. She doesnt
> > even struggle when you try something new on her e.g.
> > tying her hair. Last night she won over our
> > long-time lady friend who has been terrified of dogs
> > all her life, but our friend was so smitten was our
> > dog that she took so many pictures together so that
> > she can use it as her handphone wallpaper.
> >
> > My dog is very afraid of my husband because he uses
> > a loud and disciplinary tone when he talks to her.
> > Nowadays he isn't fierce to her anymore, but she is
> > still a little scared of him, so she often pees when
> > he is trying to pick her up to put her back in the
> > balcony.
>
> SUBMISSIVE URINATION. YOUR DOG WANTS TO APPEASE YOUR
> HUSBAND SO THAT SHE WILL NOT BE BITTEN (THIS IS WHAT
> SHE WILL DO IF SHE LIVES IN THE PACK OF DOGS. YOUR
> HUSBAND IS HER PACK LEADER. You may be the subordinate
> or at most an equal. )
>
> No problems with me though ... I know she
> > won't follow me when she knows I need to go to work,
> > so we have to put her in the balcony, so I just pick
> > her up and hold her all the way from upstairs to
> > downstairs balcony, with lots of hugs and patting of
> > course.
> >
> > Oh I must share with you this about her toilet
> > training. We sleep in the upstairs bedroom and her
> > urine area is downstairs in the balcony. When I
> > wake up to go to work in the morning, I used to have
> > to carry her from her bed, put her in the balcony,
> > close the sliding doors, and make sure she has
> > relieved herself before letting her out again.
> > Nowadays she knows when I have got out of bed, but
> > she stays in her bed. I go downstairs to do my
> > stuff and soon enough I hear her running down the
> > stairs, she usually comes to see where I am, and
> > then either she runs herself to the balcony or I
> > tell her verbally to go pee pee, she runs to
> > balcony, pees, comes out, and waits for me to wipe
> > her. Then she will wait for me to go back up
> > together to the bedroom.
> >
> > There are times when the dog has run up herself to
> > rest in her bed and wait there for me when we have
> > guests at our place till very late at night.
>
> SEEMS TO BE TOILET TRAINED. SHOULD BE AT 8 YEARS OR
> SOMETHING IS TERRIBLY WRONG.
> >
> > > 5. Skin disease affected by hormonal imbalance.
> >
> > I will monitor her skin condition. Not a problem
> > since I was terrified of dogs all my life until I
> > decided to take care of her, so I read up online
> > about grooming dogs and so now I groom her myself
> > and bathe her weekly.
>
> I GUESS YOU WERE BITTEN/LEAPT UPON BY A DOG WHEN YOU
> WERE YOUNG.
> >
> > > 6. False pregnancy. Dog gets moody, aggressive,
> > not
> > > eating and other behaviour.
> >
> > I didn't sense any change in her temperament during
> > her recent heat. Only thing was more frequent
> > urination and she even wet the pad in the sanitary
> > pants without bothering to go to her urine tray.
>
> HOW TO GO TO THE PEE TRAY WHEN SHE CANNOT PEE ONTO IT?
> SHE HAS A PAD, REMEMBER?
>
> > But she didn't like feeling the wetness in the pants
> > after she did that, after a few times, she learned.
>
> CAN'T FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU ARE WRITING ABOUT. YOU MEAN
> SHE CAN STILL PEE ON THE PEE TRAY WITH PADS ON?
> >
> > For her, the motivation is what she needs to do in
> > order to be let out to be with us, so she tries her
> > best to learn the behaviour expected of her ...
> >
>
>
>
> > > NO.
> > > 1. Breast cancer and infection of the womb can be
> > > detected if you take the trouble every week to
> > check
> > > your dog and get her examined by your vet 6
> > monthly
> > > during the senior years.
> >
> > OK I will make sure my dog gets regular checkups.
>
> OBSERVE FOR CHANGE OF BLOOD COLOUR AND CONSISTENTCY.
> USUALLY BAD VAGINAL DISCHARGE IS YELLOWISH, STARCHY
> AND SMELLY IN PYOMETRA (WOMB INFECTION).
> >
> > > Or at least yearly. As puppies, there is plenty of
> > > attention. As older dogs, many owners just forget
> > > about them, esp. their dental infections and other
> > > problems.
> >
> > My dog does have bad breath. I heard that most older
> > dogs have bad breath. I am just starting to get her
> > used to brushing teeth, but it's not easy training
> > such an old dog ha ha! Other than toothpaste, are
> > the dental water products (those that you add to
> > their water) any help in preventing bad breath?
>
> YOUR DOG NEEDS DENTAL SCALING AND CHECK UP BY YOUR
> VET.
>
> I wonder how people in the past managed this when they
> > didn't have the habit of brushing their dogs' teeth,
> > yet the dog lived till old age ...
> >
> > > NO TIME FOR YOUR DOG - PYOMETERA (womb infection)
> > in
> > > older female dogs.
> >
> > This is my main concern that made me think seriously
> > about whether or not to spay my dog.
> >
> > However I believe I can decide now that you've
> > kindly laid out the pros and cons for me. I don't
> > think I'll spay my dog, but I'll be extra diligent
> > in monitoring her condition.
> >
> > There are a few more questions I would like to check
> > with you though:
> >
> > 1) My dog tears often and has dried-up eye shit
> > along her fur from the eyes all the way down to
> > almost the nose.
> >
> > Is tearing common?
>
> YES, IN SOME BREEDS LIKE THE POODLES AND MALTESE.
> >
> > 2) She also pants a lot sometimes. If at home, she
> > tends to want to sit on the floor under the fan. So
> > I guess she pants at those times because she's hot.
> > However, there are times when I hold her in the
> > front passenger seat and she snuggles up to me, the
> > aircon is on but we can hear her panting. Why would
> > that be since the aircon is on and she shouldn't be
> > hot? She didn't seem distressed or anything. And
> > after a while she would seem to be ok.
>
> ANXIETY PROBABLY
> >
> > 3) Separation Anxiety
> >
> > My dog follows me around the house but doesn't
> > disturb me when I'm home. When we take naps or
> > sleep at night, she has her own bed on the floor in
> > our bedroom. Again she doesn't disturb us, but just
> > wants to be around us (me). The thing is we have to
> > leave her alone during the day when we are working,
> > so she is often alone in the balcony behind the
> > closed sliding glass doors for 8 hours or so until I
> > come home in the evenings. She senses we have
> > returned even from the time we come out of the
> > carpark which is right in front of our block and
> > starts barking continuously when we are coming up
> > the steps. The barking usually stops when we enter
> > our flat and then my husband scolds her for being
> > noisy.
> >
> > However, there are times when I come home alone and
> > she doesn't bark at all until I have entered the
> > house, and even then it is just a few barks, not
> > continuous
> === message truncated ===
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>
>
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