Friday, May 30, 2008

Toilet training - adopt basic principles and keep it simple

DRAFT. MAY 31, 2008


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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.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

E-mail Advices: Crate as toilet for the puppy

DRAFT. May 29, 2008


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Re: Enquiry for new puppy owner
Wednesday, May 28, 2008 11:15 PM
From:
This sender is DomainKeys verified
"David Sing"
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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.