toilet training house training puppies 2

26, Matured female alpha female - obedience training

2009-08-25T15:52:00.000-07:00

On 8/25/09, ...@singnet.com.sg> wrote:

Hi,

I read with interest some of the medical cases in the Clinical Research site, wondering whether you can provide any advice how to reduce the dominance of a female 14mth Labrador Retriever. I have taken in this dog recently and I observe the dog is very attention-seeking and insecure, likely a consequence from previous owner’s neglect and nil training. She will mount and hump people, selective obeying of commands (but do very well with treats) and can turn aggressive (mouthing/bite/scratch) when push her away with a firm “NO” when she mounts/hump. Walking her on a leash is a tug-of-war, though she’s on choke collar but seems immune as I think she has been wearing this all the while. This doesn’t seem the nature of this breed, appreciate you can provide advice. I will send her to be spayed this week, but I’m not optimistic her behaviour will change.

Thanks

Regards
XXX

E-MAIL REPLY
Re: Handling an Alpha female dog
Tuesday, August 25, 2009 3:23 AM
From: Dr Sing
To:
...@singnet.com.sg
I am Dr Sing from Toa Payoh Vets. Some of the following suggestions may or may not work in your situation depending on your lifestyle and type of personality.

1. Your female dog is mature and has her own mind to do what she wants. Therefore she is much harder to re-train her to be obedient compared to a 3-month-old puppy.
2. She is an alpha female - the leader of a pack prior to your adoption. She is testing you as to whether you are fit to be her pack leader. If your personality is like that of a gentle lady e.g. giving soft commands during training as most Singapore's young women do (I presume you are in your late 20s), your dog is, by instinct, not going to respect you as her pack leader. Firm tone is needed,

3. Positive reinforcement training seems to be effective as you stated regarding treats, You need to persevere and be consistent in your initial obedience training using a system. E.g.
3.1. a firm loud serious-sounding voice command "come". Or use clicker or hand signal
3.2. food treat on success
3.3. praises
3.4 short training if <2 minutes, repeated for many days as a scheduled time table, Many owners have no time or a routine to train the older dog.
A relationship of trust in life takes many days to build. You appear to have found the dog's "button" i.e. food treats, Persevere for at least 4 weeks, daily training short periods of time and you should succeed with only praises and playtime as rewards (no food treats) by week 2. Spaying may help in removing the raging sexual hormones which define the character of an alpha female.

Let me know if you have more queries and your success story.

Summary
If you want the mature dog to "buy" from you, use a customer's point of view, That is: be customer-driven.

In this case, the dog is the customer. Understand the dog by spending time with her, communicate your capabilities (knowledge of obedience training and giving food treat rewards) and continuing educating her on the benefits of doing business (dog training) with you.

Paper-training 5-month-plus-old Schnauzer - Questions

2009-08-10T14:13:00.000-07:00

AUGUST 10, 2009 E-MAIL

Subject: my mischievous pup
To: judy@toapayohvets.com

Hi there, happen to google and saw ur webby..

currently i have a mini schnauzer, she is 5 months plus. i bought her from pasir ris farmway and currently most of the time i keep her in her playpen.

i haVE a problem here which i need your adviCe. I recently paper-trained her and released her to come out more often. But usually i only let her out after she has finished her business. So during the time she will go back to the pee tray to pee. I can't let her out when we just come home, cos she will be over excited and anyhow pee and poo. But recently i dont know what got into her, she does her business outside her "toilet"and im so upset cos i thought a had already paper trained her, usually after she anyhow pee and pooed i will bring her to see the mistake she has done and locked her back to her playpen. Any reasons why she is misbehaving? any solutions? Please advise. Thanks!

Reply from Dr Sing
Tue Aug 11, 2009

1. It is difficult to advise without seeing how your puppy is housed. Can you e-mail 3 pictures of how the puppy is confined in the playpen?

2. What type of playpen are you using? Is it the type with a floor grate and pee tray below? Is it the type with half the space occupied by a pee tray as I presume this is your type.

3. Where did you put the newspapers to paper-train her?

Below are the possible reasons for "misbehaviours"

1. How often you change the soiled newspapers? Frequent changes are the secret to success as the puppy dislike dirty areas when confined. I presume you work the whole day and therefore has no time to do changes till you come back from work. Therefore, when let out nowadays, the puppy is smarter and by nature wants to be cleaner. She does NOT want to go inside the eliminate.

2. More "rebellious" now. She is 5 months plus and therefore more mature. Her mind is no longer a clean slate as at 3 months old where she can be easier to train as her hormones start to make her more mature and "rebellious". Basically, I presume she just dislikes going to the pee tray to eliminate if she has a choice of a clean floor.

3. How long have you been paper-training in a confined playpen? I presume it is 2 weeks. Paper-training needs more than 4 weeks in situations whereby the owner is working the whole day in cases I have studied. There are exceptions to the generalisation when the puppy has had paper-training by the home-breeder or is exceptionally intelligent. As you bought from a breeder in Pasir Ris, the puppy usually are crated on floor grates and therefore never had paper-training before. How long have you actually started on paper-training?

4. Your playpen is "locked". It has no door and therefore is hard for the puppy to access the pee tray inside. This happens to some owners who forgot to open up the playpen.

So the puppy eliminates outside the playpen onto the floor. After that, the smell is still on the floor and she does it again. The owner mops the floor but the urine smell remains strong to the dog. So she eliminates there again. So the mop wipes urine all over the floor where the puppy is let out. The smell encourages the puppy to eliminate. The owner gets angrier.

Try to neutralise the urine smell with using white vinegar:water at 1 part to 3 parts and start paper-training all over again.

5. I hope the above advices help. Pl e-mail 3 pictures of puppy housing. Best wishes.

AUGUST 14, 2009 E-MAIL

From: ...@hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: my mischievous pup - paper-training
To: drsing_98@yahoo.com
Date: Friday, August 14, 2009, 8:10 AM

hi there, the pics attached..

recently i also find out that whenever she saw us (example; just came home or we just woke up), we cant let her out immediately, she will be too excited to return to the pee area to eliminate and she will tend to do it else where. Where else when i let her do her business and let her out, she will go back to pee in her pee tray. but her good behaviour is on and off. sometimes she will misbehaves. I dont know how I can make her go back to the pee tray every time.

maybe regarding the newspaper i will try to change it often.

the pee tray is cover with a metal wire to prevent her from shredding the newspaper and she have no qualms peeing on it.
I always let her out and open up the front fence so that she have access to it when she is out.
When i cage her at night or when im not around in the house, she pees at the right place.

Currently i place her in the living room of my friend's house. His house is always bustling with people walking around and she is seldom left alone.

The punishment i gave her every time she eliminates outside is, i would carry her to the spot where she anyhow eliminates and scold her and then afterwards i would look her back to her playpen. Is there any better punishment or advise whom i can train her better?

Thanks for the time in replying my email.
Hope to hear from you soon.

Regards,
XXX

Reply from Dr Sing
August 15, 2009

To: ...@hotmail.com>

Thank you for yr 3 pics.
Actually you are training her to pee onto a grate and into the pee pan lined with newspapers. She has accepted this method. There will be "accidents" or misbehaviour as there are too many distractions from many people being around. She "forgets" to go to the pee pan as she is still learning. Observe whether she misbehaves when many people are playing with her.

There is a condition called "submissive" or "excitation" urination. Female dogs usually. They just pee on the spot when excited. Most likely, your dog has this condition. The cure is another story.

Continue training with food treats and praises but you MUST catch her about to pee (sniffing, squatting, turning) and carry her to the pee pan. Say "Pee here". On success, say "Good girl" and give a food treat, This is more effective than what you do after she has had peed.

If she is suffering from submissive or excitation urination, the cure is difficult and need a lot of patience.

Also wash pee pan's grate (wire flooring) at least few X/day and neutralise "accident areas" with vinegar and water at 1:3.

Best wishes

SUMMARY

Quite an interesting case.
The female dog seems to be having submissive or excitation urination. Excitement, loud noises, many people --- all cause her stress and the need to "wet her pants" to appease the dominant people. In this case, it may be better to house her in a quiet home and let her regain her self-confidence. But sometimes my advice is not practical.

24. Toilet-training Golden Retriever Puppy Outside House

2009-06-28T16:56:00.000-07:00

From: ...@hotmail.com>
Subject: first time dog owner enquiries
To: judy@toapayohvets.com
Date: Sunday, June 28, 2009, 5:49 PM

Hi Dr Sing

I read a lot about dog training on your website and they were extremely educational! Thank you for the useful advices.

I am a first time dog owner and is expecting my male golden retriever of 2 months old to arrive in about 2 weeks time. I have done alot of reading up and researchs. I am living in a 2 storey landed property. The playpen is made up of 4 corners in my porch, measuring about 150cm x 150cm. It's poop scoop will also be within the play pen but placed on the opposite side of the sofa bed since puppies love a clean area to sleep at. As it is still a puppy and untrained, i intend to lay the whole playpen area with only newspapers and poop scoop first. until it is toilet trained, i will introduce the sofa bed and replace the newspapers on the floor with rubber mat. IS THE POOP SCOOP A PEE-PAN?

As the following below are based on what i understand, please do correct me if I'm wrong.

1. We will try to make the journey (car ride) back home a pleasant one so as to ease the puppy's stress. Confine him to his play pen to let him familiarise with the new environment and strictly no rough play between 2-3days to prevent stress. Feed him at regular timings(3x/day, last meal and water at 7pm) from the start to estimate his elimination time. Whenever he's going to eliminate, quickly place him on the poo scoop (with toilet training aid sprayed on it) and firmly say 'pee here'. Reward/praise him if he has done so. If not, pat on his back and sternly say 'No'. Repeat this training as often as we can until he can successfully eliminate on the poo scoop himself. Till then, replace those newspapers on the floor with rubber mat. If he accidentally eliminate on wrong areas, use white vinegar and water(1:4) to remove smell.

KEEP TOILET TRAINING IN PLAY PEN SIMPLE.
I ADVISE THAT YOU COVER THE FLOOR AND THE POOP SCOOP (PEE PAN) 100% FOR THE FIRST 1-3 DAYS. SEE WHICH CORNER THE PUPPY ELIMINATES. REDUCE NEWSPAPERS TO THAT 'DIRTY AREA'. KEEP THE SLEEPING AREA VERY CLEAN. CHANGE PAPERS REGULARLY AND AS SOON AS IT IS SOILED.

*Is it okay if I do not clear up his accidental mess (before he is toilet trained) from 12am-8am since it's my sleeping time?
NOT OK BUT THIS IS NOT PRACTICAL ADVICE AS YOU NEED TO SLEEP. IF A PERSON CAN SLEEP NEAR THE PUPPY AND CHANGE THE SOILED PAPERS AT THAT TIME, THE PUPPY CAN BE PAPER-TRAINED SUCCESSFULLY IN <7 DAYS (IN SOME CASES).

Will his health be affected? NO

In what cases will the puppy eat or step on its own poo? How can we prevent this? AT FIRST 7 DAYS, IF YOU GIVE SUFFICIENT SPACE FOR THE PUPPY TO SLEEP, UNLIKELY TO STEP ON POO IN MOST CASES. EATING POO IS A HABIT IN A FEW PUPPIES. YOURS MAY NOT DO IT. PREVENTION IS BY REMOVAL OF POO IMMEDIATELY AND OTHER METHODS ARE NOT SO SUCCESSFUL.

2. After he feels comfortable and secure already(gets excited when he sees me), engage him with obedience trainings and daily walks around the neighbourhood. Call out his name frequently until he can look or respond to me, afterwhich reward him. Keep these trainings to 15mins each time, 3 times a day, since puppies have short concentration.

ROUTINE IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR PUPPIES AND CHILDREN TOO. GET A TIME TABLE TO DO THE FEEDING, EXERCISES AND TRAINING.

*Must we teach him to 'sit' on one day, 'stay' on another day or we can mix them together? Like teaching him how to 'sit' 'stay' 'go' in 1 day? Which is recommended?

MUCH DEPENDS ON THE INTELLIGENCE OF THE PUPPY. ALL 3 COMMANDS CAN BE DONE IN ONE DAY AT DIFFERENT TIMES

3. I dont intend to let the dog into my house. Do I train him similarly like the above? Pat him and say sternly 'No' if he tries to enter and reward him if he stay put? YES

Will he eventually try his luck to enter the house?
NO PUPPY WILL GIVE UP TRYING TO JOIN THE PACK LEADER (YOU) BUT IF YOU ARE FIRM AND HE IS INTELLIGENT, HE WILL NOT DO SO LATER.

Also, I have a 1.2m deep fish pond near the porch. I will use fences to block up the area if i remove him from play pen. Is there a fast and effective way to train him not to enter these areas?

NO QUICKIE METHOD UNFORTUNATELY. PUPPIES TAKES 2-4 WEEKS TO LEARN IF GIVEN LESSONS FREQUENTLY IN SHORT 5-10 MINUTES AND POSITIVE REWARDS (FOOD TREATS BEST).

The pond is quite an issue as I have an arowana which will definitely injure my dog if he falls in.

FENCE UP POND TO PREVENT PUPPY DROWNING

4. I dont intend to put him on leash him since he is still a puppy. I'll start to leash him up when he can jump out of the fence and start to chew on objects. I will also introduce the anti chew spray to minimise the damages on my properties. Until he is properly trained, knowing exactly where it is safe for him to wander about, I will not leash him up.

CRATE HIM AT ALL TIMES WHEN YOU ARE NOT AROUND TO SUPERVISE HIM.

*At what age will he start to chew on things
AS EARLY AS HE CAN CHEW, FROM WEEK 4 ONWARDS

and should be sterilized?

6 MONTHS OR 3 MONTHS AFTER THE FIRST HEAT. THAT IS MY PERSONAL OPINION.

After sterilization, what are the changes in his temperaments, habits and lifestyle?

A MALE WILL BE LESS AGGRESSIVE OR WANTING TO URINE-MARK OR MOUNT OBJECTS. BOTH FEMALE AND MALES WILL BE LESS ACTIVE GENERALLY. IT DEPENDS ON OWNER AND PUPPY INTERACTIONS AND FEEDING. TOO MUCH TO EXPLAIN IN THIS EMAIL.

5. At what age should he start the heartworm prevention program? DEPENDS ON YOUR VET BUT GENERALLY AT BEFORE/AROUND 6 MONTHS.

To avoid ticks and fleas, it's best to avoid dirty and long grassy areas. It is best to comb and rub some powder on him after walks. CHECK PAWS FOR TICKS. DAILY GROOMING TO CHECK FLEAS AND TICKS.

6. Can I feed him with a small bowl of warm milk (the kind that i drink but with min lactose) every night before i go to sleep, which is around 10-11pm?

SOME PUPPIES WILL NOT GET DIARRHOEA WITH MILK BUT SOME DO. DEPENDS ON PUPPY'S STOMACH TOLERANCE TO MILK.

7. Can I feed him supplements (glucosamine750mg and chondroitin300mg, in liquid form) at such a young age? I intend to give him about 4ml a day together with his food.

SOME PREMIUM DOG FEED CLAIMS "COMPLETE DIET" AND NO NEED SUPPLEMENTS. BEST TO CHECK PUPPY FOOD YOU BUY.

8. If I want to change his diet, I can only add increasing amount of the new diet to his old diet each day until the old diet is completely replaced. The puppy might reject the food if i were to change completely. CHANGE SMALL AMOUNT E.G. 20% GRADUALLY OVER 2 WEEKS.

9. Allow the puppy to rest about an hour before taking him for a walk or play with him. DEPENDS ON YOUR ROUTINE/TIME-TABLE AND PUPPY'S HEALTH AND ENERGY AND TIME OF THE DAY.

10. I have a car parked in my porch. Usually, the owner returns at night and the engine sound is louder at night. Will it affect the puppy's hearing in long term? NO

Will he get scared during the first few days in my house? If so, how can I solve this problem? NERVOUS PERSONALITY TYPE WILL BE SCARED. OBSERVE AND SEE. BE AROUND WHEN THE CAR COMES INTO THE HOUSE AND GIVES ASSURANCE.

I will appreciate greatly if i can receive your reply soon. I can't wait for my puppy's arrival, at the same time, providing the best living condition for him at my place.

Hope to hear from you soon.

IN CONCLUSION, KEEP TOILET TRAINING SIMPLE AND GIVE A TIME-TABLE, POSITIVE TRAINING, 5-10 MINUTE OBEDIENCE TRAINING AND SPEND TIME WITH THE YOUNG ONE.

Grate + Pee Pan - Hygiene Problems?

2008-11-20T12:50:00.000-08:00

--- 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

Flag this message
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?

2008-11-06T13:18:00.000-08:00

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

2008-06-25T14:57:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-11T12:46:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-06-01T15:13:00.001-07:00

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

2008-05-30T16:12:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-28T16:19:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-06T02:44:00.000-08:00

"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?

2008-03-04T14:06:00.000-08:00

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

2008-02-17T15:31:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-02-12T14:01:00.000-08:00

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 ===
> I GUESS THE EMAIL IS TOO LONG. YAHOO.COM HAS TRUNCATED
> IT.
>
>
>
> __________________________________________________________________
> Yahoo! Singapore Answers
> Real people. Real questions. Real answers. Share what you know at
> http://answers.yahoo.com.sg
>

12. Success in toilet training -- floor grate with pee pan.

2008-02-11T02:30:00.000-08:00

"Believe me, all sorts of masking tape had been used to ensure that the Miniature Schnauzer cannot shred the newspapers," the young man said. Half of the playpen floor was covered with newspapers which are taped at all 4 sides. Still the puppy shreds them. So, paper training was not possible for one month.

"What did you do?" I asked.

"I bought a floor grate with pee pan below from another pet shop. Put urine smell on the pee pan and put the whole set inside the playpen. Now the puppy just eliminate on the floor grate. No more dirty paws," the owner was satisfied with the solution.

Shredding papers is a common complaint of many pups home alone. In this case, the floor grate with pee pan resolves the problem.

The owner remarked, "The Miniature Schnauzer would stand upright, front legs against the playpen to poop onto the floor grate. Is this normal?"

"No," I said. "A pup will squat to eliminate. He does not want to step onto the soiled floor grate."

"I don't think so," the owner thought it was part of the personality of the puppy or breed to stand and poo.

It is difficult for the puppy to communicate with us that he does not want to dirty his paws. The urine in the floor grate may be soiled, according to his highly developed sense of smell. The owner would not think so as the urine would have had flowed into the pee pan.

"The only support for my saying this is that another owner with the same situation and breed has the same behaviour of the puppy standing upright against the playpen panel to poop onto the floor grate."

It is a pity I don't have the pictures.

11. Success in toileting training 2 sibling pups: Show them where to go constantly

2008-02-11T02:16:00.000-08:00

"How's the toilet training of 2 siblings?" I asked as the couple brought in one cocker spaniel X poodle with a big swollen nictitans glands almost popped out of the 3rd eyelid.

"After 2 weeks of indiscriminate elimination in the kitchen, the 2 siblings now go to the crate with the pee pan below. We put newspapers on the pee pan and sprayed some urine smell onto the papers. Now they go to the crate to eliminate. The floor grate will drain the urine onto the pee pan while we pick up the poos."

It sounded so easy.

"How do you make the 2 pups look for the crate when they need to pee and poo?" I asked for the secret of success.

"We watch for signs of elimination closely and diligently --- sniffing, squatting down --- carry the pup into the crate every time. After some time, they just go into the crate."

So, show them where to go and constantly is the method.

"But pups are clean creatures. How does one sibling avoid stepping onto the poo of the other?" I asked.

"The pups side-step the soiled area by twisting and turning. The door is centrally located. We ensure that the door is open by hooking it open so that they can access the crate anytime and clean up the floor grate's poop soon after they eliminate" the couple was kind enough to share the secrets of success.

"How big is the crate?" I asked. "Must be a big one to accommodate 2 pups."

The dimensions of the crate is 3 feet x 2.5 feet. That is quite spacious. The water bottle hangs at the right side.

As for the popped out "cherry eye", it will take some time to reduce in size as no surgery is possible to tack it back. It is largely swollen and a scratch mark is seen on its surface.

"Keep this injured sibling away from the other for the next 7 days," I said. "Tether one away from the other.

"We don't have 2 crates," the couple wondered how they are going to resolve the problem of toilet training inside the crate as both pups share the same feed bowl! They presently confine the 2 siblings in the kitchen and balcony. How to extend their area and still make sure they go to the crate toilet area?

"Increase the area to roam into the living area for the siblings gradually using the puppy gate," I would have advised but we were focused on the cherry eye.

10. Teaching the adult Shih Tzu to pee and poo outdoors

2007-09-14T14:50:00.000-07:00

E-MAIL NO.1 FROM AN AMERICAN DOG OWNER

"...> wrote:

Hello,
I read your website today and I have question. Wonderful website by the way. The woman told the Shih Tzu to pee on the newspaper, how did she get the dog to then pee outside? I have a 3 1/2 year old Female Shih Tzu who most of the time goes the bathroom inside. We are at our wits end with her and don't know what to do.
Please advise

REPLY TO E-MAIL NO. 1

-----Original Message-----
From: Dr Sing KY [mailto:ezyvets@yahoo.com.sg]
Sent: Thursday, September 13, 2007 7:10 PM
To: Sherry
Subject: Re: Shih Tzu question

Pl let me know what you want the Shih Tzu to do?
Which website URL are you referring to?

E-MAIL NO. 2

"Sherry wrote:

I want her to pee and poop outside all the time, not in my house the majority of the time.

REPLY TO E-MAIL NO. 2

Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2007 05:47:47 +0800 (CST)
From: "Dr Sing KY" Add to Address BookAdd to Address Book
Yahoo! DomainKeys has confirmed that this message was sent by yahoo.com.sg. Learn more
Subject: RE: Shih Tzu question
To: "Sherry
Sat Sep 15, 2007 5.47 am

I am Dr Sing from www.toapayohvets.com

Your dog is used to pee and poop in the bathroom for a very long time.
I presume you live in a house and you want your Shih Tzu to eliminate outdoors.

The following is one method using positive training.

1. Give the dog a daily routine or timetable for feeding (breakfast and dinner) and exercise (going outdoors if you live in an apartment).

2. Ensure that the door to the outside is not closed if you live in a house.
Otherwise how does the dog go out to eliminate when he needs to?

3. Note what times the dog eliminates. Is it 2 times per day in most adult dogs in Singapore. Is it <10 minutes after meals? Is the timing variable?

3.1 Take the dog to the outside area (outside toilet) you want him to eliminate at those times he needs to do it. You need to do this several times over several days. For the first few days, the dog will wait to go back to pee and poop.

4. Use the newspapers/tissues to absorb the dog's urine and/or poop in the bathroom. Take the papers down to the outdoor toilet.

Bring the dog near these papers so that he can smell them and be conditioned to eliminate in the spot. Say "pee here" in a firm voice.

5. Praise and food treat if he does eliminate outdoors. Play with him. Do not go back home immediately. The dog enjoys the reward of time spent with you as he gets fun after eliminating and not being taken back home. Later you will find that the dog barks to ask you to go down.

6. You will not succeed in the first few days. Be patient.

7. It is important that there is a fixed time to go downstairs for the next 7-14 days otherwise it will be difficult to train the adult dog. If the dog has fixed time peeing and pooping, your outdoor toilet training will be much easier as you just bring him outdoors and follow above steps 3 - 5.

Let me know if you succeed. Best wishes.

9** Draft 1,2,3. Cavalier King Charles poops in all the wrong places

2007-09-12T16:34:00.000-07:00

Cookie, Cavalier King Charles, 3.5 months.
Playpen + newspapers in balcony.
Playpen has no door.
Home-maker changes soiled papers regularly and trains the puppy.

PROBLEM:
Paper-trained within 7 days but poops in the study and/or kitchen when let out. Why does the puppy not goto the papers? Why spanking did not correct this misbehaviour?

DRAFT 1

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

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

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

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

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

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

Duration: 6 weeks with the owner.

Purchase from pet shop at Thomson Road. Slatted flooring.

FIRST 7 DAYS AND NIGHTS

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

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

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

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

FROM WEEK 1 TO WEEK 6 (PRESENT)

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

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

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

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

WHAT ARE THE SOLUTIONS?

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

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

What's the solution?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

COMMENTS

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

This is a fascinating case study.

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

DRAFT 2

Thanks for the beautiful photos.

I have thought over the reasons why Cookie still poops in the study or kitchen despite being spanked after reviewing the over 500 cases of toilet training reports from other puppy owners in Singapore in the past 3 years.

The most likely reasons Cookie looks for the study room or kitchen to poop are:

1. Many puppies poop within 10 minutes after eating if undistracted after eating.
But Cookie poops 30 - 60 minutes after eating. This is because he is distracted by the 8-year-old daughter's presence after breakfast and will not poop soon after eating. As you said, she takes the puppy out of the playpen assuming he has had pooped in the morning. Actually he has had pooped overnight.

2. After 30 - 60 minutes out of the playpen, Cookie needs to poop. NO way he is going into the playpen to do it although you have had changed to fresh papers. In any case, the playpen has no door for him to get to the fresh newspapers you had put in.

You will be busy preparing breakfast for the husband and children. So, Cookie dashes to his favourite corner in the study room (if the door is left open) or to the kitchen floor to poop.

Solutions:
1. Some owners open up the playpen in the morning by taking out one fencing, so that the puppy has access to the fresh newspapers (the first toilet location).

2. Other owners have playpens with a door opened so that the puppy goes in for pooping and peeing. Your playpen does not have this configuration. So there is no immediate access to the toilet location during the last 6 weeks. The puppy resorts to finding a second toilet location---the study or kitchen for pooping and outside the playpen for peeing.

In your case, it may be possible to remove the playpen fencing by storing away the fences. Close the sliding door of the balcony and make sure that Cookie poops and pee on the fresh newspapers before he is allowed out. When he gets rewarded by food treats for doing it, you can open the sliding door.

3. He pees outside his playpen. The reason is that Cookie cannot control his bladder well at 4 months of age. According to a guideline, using a formula N-1, where N=puppy's age in months, Cookie pees every 3 hourly. So he pees outside the playpen as he is not crated during the day.

I note you have put a second piece of newspapers outside the playpen in the picture.

Conclusion.
With children and a husband and possibly neighbours and in-laws visiting and interacting with the puppy, there are so many distractions affecting the success of paper-training of a new puppy in an apartment.

Cookie's natural instincts is a very clean puppy and this is what he tries to communicate to you. Now he has been 6 weeks into toilet training. In general the success in paper training in most Singapore's dog owners are around 4-8 weeks. Couples without children or distracting friends and in-laws are successful in around 2 weeks.

After writing so much, what is the solution? More spanking? I can only propose the following:

1. Take away the playpen fencing during the day. Increase the newspaper coverage of the balcony floor.

You have been correct to reduce the 100% coverage of the playpen floor during week 1 after purchase so that the puppy eliminates on the newspapers. You then reduce the newspapers to a corner of the playpen. You change soiled newspapers regularly (every hour?). In this way, you have been successful in paper-training.

2. Close the sliding door in the morning so that Cookie poops on the newspapers after breakfast before coming out to play. Give your food treat and praise once he has pooped and let him out.

3. Access to a second toilet area but no access to the whole apartment in week 2 and 3 after purchase. This was not possible or done in your case. For example, barricade the balcony and gradually let the puppy have access to more room, e.g. living and dining area. The second toilet area will have newspapers with Cookie's urine smell. This could be in the living area on week 2 and 3 after purchase.

Now it is week 6 after purchase.Close the study room door at all times. Put newspapers in the favourite spot in the kitchen. Neutralise the urine smell outside the playpen (where I note you have put newspapers) with vinegar:water 1:3. So the urine smells will only be the first toilet location. The second toilet location will be the kitchen bathroom.

4. Crated in the playpen in the balcony at night. Many owners do this because they don't want the puppy to mess up the whole apartment. All puppies find ways and means not to be crated inside the playpen after breakfast.

5. Second toilet area. Give access to the toilet area by opening up the playpen (one fence taken out after breakfast) and a second toilet area in the kitchen bathroom flooring.

The above are my tentative solutions and quick reply to your problems. Spanking will not work in this case. I guess that Cookie sprints to hide under the table or somewhere whenever you raise your hand to spank him after he has had already pooped in the study? He just does not understand why he is being spanked. Your food treats for obedience and toilet training are better motivation.I am glad that you don't permit food treats to be given anyhow but only after successful performance of training.

Each toilet-training case differs as family distractions can be sabotaging your best efforts and change the daily routine of the puppy.
Daily routine includes a time table for meals, sleep and exercise. I wish you all the best.

Best wishes.

DRAFT 3

...@yahoo.com.sg> wrote:

Hello Dr Sing,

Thank you very very much for your advises. It is very much appreciated.

All you said in your mail are true. I didn't think about opening the door to Cookie's playpen every morning which is a great idea, coz I did noticed in the 3rd week when Cookie wanted to poo, he was trying to get to the paper inside the playpen but it didn't occur to me then to take out one of the door of the playpen for him to go in and out to use the paper.

I'll put your advise to use immediately about taking one of the gate away from the pen every day and will tell my daughter what to do in the morning as Cookie's breakfast is her responsibility in the morning. And we've already start closing the door to the study room yesterday and Cookie went to the balcony to do his poo on the clean paper there . Which will remain clean all the time for him to poo on.

But I need to ask you a question: Does Cookie need two pee/poo area instead of one? I don't mind him doing it in the kitchen if it is coz he's fav area in the kitchen is just right outside the toilet door or sometimes even inside the toilet itself. Please advise...

As to spanking Cookie, I do notice it doesn't really work coz he always runs back to me after i spank him. I doubt he really understand what all the spanking is about. Treats gets his attention more!!! So I rarely spank him actually, just talk loudly to him and give him a stern look and then I just clean up the mess and think of other ways to prevent him from doing it at the wrong place again...And Cookies is very clean coz he refuse to sleep in his basket if I don't clean it every week, he rather sleep on the floor in the pen.

Again, thank you for the advises and pointers.
Any further advise is appreciated, as we're all still trying to train Cookie to be better at poo/peeing.

Thanks & Regards.

REPLY TO E-MAIL SEP 12, 2007

I should thank you for your excellent report. It is a real case study.

Usually I don't get such feedback from puppy owners during the past 3 years.

Because of real cases from all of you, I get educated on puppy behaviour and was able to advise you. Still, my e-mail to you are draft reports as each case is different. Sometimes I can see the solution, but there may be more than one solution which I get after a period of time or when I review the case.

As for TWO TOILET LOCATIONS, it would not have been necessary if you had had a door in the playpen earlier and confine Cookie in the balcony for 2 weeks, then extend the restricted zone (like Singapore Government's ERP) to the living and dining area. So, she goes to the papers which you change frequently.

Now, it seems that you can do without two toilet locations if you go back to square one. Restrict to balcony and living area for 1-2 weeks if you can barricade (with the playpen fencing part of the living area). Then increase the area and so on and so on.

Of course, increase the newspaper area in the balcony as she is growing bigger. Otherwise she will poop in the wrong places.

I hope you don't mind me sharing your case study with readers so that all first-time puppy owners living in apartments and scratching their heads over paper training, all over the world can learn from your experiences.

And many grateful thanks. Let me know when you finally are successful in paper training. Best wishes.

ALMOST ALL PUPPIES INSTINCTIVELY WANT TO LIVE IN CLEAN AREAS, if they have a choice.

8. The dog trainer says "This Rottweiler will never be a good guard dog!"

2007-09-12T03:05:00.000-07:00

"Mark (a dog trainer) tells me that my Rottweiler puppy will never make it as a guard dog!" the broad shouldered man with a face that has many hills and valleys lamented as he put the puppy onto the consultation table for her vaccination. "I bought her from a home breeder. She has the broadest head and was full of ticks. Now she is all right. I bought her to guard my house. Nowadays with so many robberies and murders reported in the New Paper, a guard dog will be best."

"Did Mark really say that this Rottweiler will never become a good guard dog?" I asked him. "It is too early to predict the puppy's courage at 3 months of age. When I was doing National Service in the Provost Unit Dog Unit, we assessed the dog at around 6 months of age as to whether it would be suitable for guard dog duty."

"This puppy is a laid-back lazy one," the man's mother commented in the Hokkien dialect. The Rottweiler was as still as a rock, as cool as cucumber, lying on the consultation table.

Overall, the puppy looked healthy. Well, she was not the Jack Russell breed, zooming in and out like a rocket. I checked her ears by palpating the vertical canals. Surprisingly the puppy gave a loud yelp as if she was being murdered.

Both her ears elicited similar screams of pain. No strong smell as I swab the ears with a cotton bud. Just reddish brown wax. She screamed more when I inserted the cotton bud to check the ear canals for mites or dirt.

Was it possible that the puppy was suffering from ear ache and therefore not inclined to be active? If only she could talk and tell us.

I put her on a table outside the surgery. Flushed her ears with a 20-ml syringe of clean water ten times on either ear. Big blobs of sticky reddish brown wax flowed out.

The puppy was given medication and proper veterinary ear ointment. A follow up would be useful. If the ear pain is removed, I predict that this puppy would be more active. In any case, this puppy does not have submissive or excitation urination---similar to bedwetting in some people or was frightened of me.

I said to the disappointed owner who bought the Rottweiler to guard his house: "Wait and see. She may make a good guard dog if she is well trained and not exposed to every Tom, Dick and Harry in the neighbourhood." Only time will tell.

SEP 13, 2007

Consultation: Puppy was limping on right hind leg, with toes out.

Put on examination table. Check length of both hind legs by extending both hips with my hands pulling back legs them backwards. Right hind slightly shorter.

Extend and flex hip joints. Palpate hip joints. Puppy screamed on palpating right hip joint. Subluxation or a congenital defect? Needs to X-ray.

In conclusion, the reason for this puppy being not active could be a painful right hip. As the first consultation was only for vaccination, no lameness examination was carried out, to save on veterinary costs to the owner.

7. A stinking carpeted bedroom - doggy smells and dampness?

2007-09-12T02:47:00.000-07:00

Sep 12, 2007

"My daughter did not want to enter the master bedroom on the 3rd floor," June said. "The stench was overwhelming." June is a renovation contractor and she had to give an estimate of the costs involved. I met her when I treated her Doberman Pinschers and her daughter was just a toddler. She wanted 40% of $25,000 as a deposit to renovate the whole house including painting.

"Yes, I know," I said. "Ann had kept 2 puppies in the bedroom for the past year. They must have had peed and pooped everywhere on the carpeted floor." Anna could not smell the stench as her nose is desensitised or if she did, she did not say anything.

A new housing agent, Shirley wanted me to go to the house to smell for myself as she felt that it was untenantable. "It is so smelly that nobody would live in it."

"What a negative mental attitude you have," I said. "There will be tenants who don't mind the smells as they have low budget. Rentals of a bedroom in Singapore is now as high as $500 per month. Of course, there is a need to get a carpet cleaner to remove the smells first.

"My point is that if you think negatively, how do you succeed in your agency business? You want to be an entrepreneur but you are already thinking that the glass is half empty instead of half full. Instead of thinking of this house as an opportunity to start your business for foreigners, you start giving bad news of untenantable place---all because of some smells."

2-month-old puppies need to be confined in a small area for up to 4 weeks especially in carpeted rooms. Their bladder control is poor till they grow up to more than 5 months old. Take them out to a bigger but restricted area. Don't let them roam the whole bedroom which is carpeted. Urine-marking may also be a problem causing bad smells on the carpet when the dogs are mature even though they may be female. Some alpha female dogs do urine-mark.

In this carpeted bedroom, the smells of urine and faeces just accumulate but Ann would not be able to smell it as visitors could. There is a need to neutralise the smells and clean up the carpet and it can be quite a chore and expensive to do it. There were water seepage from the walls and roof and those could add to the smells.

In such situations, almost the whole house has had to be renovated. A new agent needs to be positive in thinking, otherwise it is best to become an employee as time is money and income depends on performance.

**6. Draft 2. Cavalier King Charles poops in the study room.

2007-09-11T13:43:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the beautiful photos.

I have thought over the reasons why Cookie still poops in the study or kitchen despite being spanked after reviewing the over 500 cases of toilet training reports from other puppy owners in Singapore in the past 3 years.

The most likely reasons Cookie looks for the study room or kitchen to poop are:

1. Many puppies poop within 10 minutes after eating if undistracted after eating.
But Cookie poops 30 - 60 minutes after eating. This is because he is distracted by the 8-year-old daughter's presence after breakfast and will not poop soon after eating. As you said, she takes the puppy out of the playpen assuming he has had pooped in the morning. Actually he has had pooped overnight.

2. After 30 - 60 minutes out of the playpen, Cookie needs to poop. NO way he is going into the playpen to do it although you have had changed to fresh papers. In any case, the playpen has no door for him to get to the fresh newspapers you had put in.

You will be busy preparing breakfast for the husband and children. So, Cookie dashes to his favourite corner in the study room (if the door is left open) or to the kitchen floor to poop.

Solutions:
1. Some owners open up the playpen in the morning by taking out one fencing, so that the puppy has access to the fresh newspapers (the first toilet location).

2. Other owners have playpens with a door opened so that the puppy goes in for pooping and peeing. Your playpen does not have this configuration. So there is no immediate access to the toilet location during the last 6 weeks. The puppy resorts to finding a second toilet location---the study or kitchen for pooping and outside the playpen for peeing.

In your case, it may be possible to remove the playpen fencing by storing away the fences. Close the sliding door of the balcony and make sure that Cookie poops and pee on the fresh newspapers before he is allowed out. When he gets rewarded by food treats for doing it, you can open the sliding door.

3. He pees outside his playpen. The reason is that Cookie cannot control his bladder well at 4 months of age. According to a guideline, using a formula N-1, where N=puppy's age in months, Cookie pees every 3 hourly. So he pees outside the playpen as he is not crated during the day.

I note you have put a second piece of newspapers outside the playpen in the picture.

Conclusion.
With children and a husband and possibly neighbours and in-laws visiting and interacting with the puppy, there are so many distractions affecting the success of paper-training of a new puppy in an apartment.

Cookie's natural instincts is a very clean puppy and this is what he tries to communicate to you. Now he has been 6 weeks into toilet training. In general the success in paper training in most Singapore's dog owners are around 4-8 weeks. Couples without children or distracting friends and in-laws are successful in around 2 weeks.

After writing so much, what is the solution? More spanking? I can only propose the following:

1. Take away the playpen fencing during the day. Increase the newspaper coverage of the balcony floor.

You have been correct to reduce the 100% coverage of the playpen floor during week 1 after purchase so that the puppy eliminates on the newspapers. You then reduce the newspapers to a corner of the playpen. You change soiled newspapers regularly (every hour?). In this way, you have been successful in paper-training.

2. Close the sliding door in the morning so that Cookie poops on the newspapers after breakfast before coming out to play. Give your food treat and praise once he has pooped and let him out.

3. Access to a second toilet area but no access to the whole apartment in week 2 and 3 after purchase. This was not possible or done in your case. For example, barricade the balcony and gradually let the puppy have access to more room, e.g. living and dining area. The second toilet area will have newspapers with Cookie's urine smell. This could be in the living area on week 2 and 3 after purchase.

Now it is week 6 after purchase.Close the study room door at all times. Put newspapers in the favourite spot in the kitchen. Neutralise the urine smell outside the playpen (where I note you have put newspapers) with vinegar:water 1:3. So the urine smells will only be the first toilet location. The second toilet location will be the kitchen bathroom.

4. Crated in the playpen in the balcony at night. Many owners do this because they don't want the puppy to mess up the whole apartment. All puppies find ways and means not to be crated inside the playpen after breakfast.

5. Second toilet area. Give access to the toilet area by opening up the playpen (one fence taken out after breakfast) and a second toilet area in the kitchen bathroom flooring.

The above are my tentative solutions and quick reply to your problems. Spanking will not work in this case. I guess that Cookie sprints to hide under the table or somewhere whenever you raise your hand to spank him after he has had already pooped in the study? He just does not understand why he is being spanked. Your food treats for obedience and toilet training are better motivation.I am glad that you don't permit food treats to be given anyhow but only after successful performance of training.

Each toilet-training case differs as family distractions can be sabotaging your best efforts and change the daily routine of the puppy.
Daily routine includes a time table for meals, sleep and exercise. I wish you all the best.

Best wishes.

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

2007-09-11T02:40:00.000-07:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

Duration: 6 weeks with the owner.

Purchase from pet shop at Thomson Road. Slatted flooring.

FIRST 7 DAYS AND NIGHTS

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

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

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

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

FROM WEEK 1 TO WEEK 6 (PRESENT)

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

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

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

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

WHAT ARE THE SOLUTIONS?

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

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

What's the solution?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

COMMENTS

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

This is a fascinating case study.

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

Success Story: A dwarf Shih Tzu is "confined to barracks".

2007-07-21T22:18:00.000-07:00

SUCCESS STORY:
PAPER-TRAINED INSIDE A CRATE IN 4 WEEKS

Sunday July 22, 2007

"When my mum who is very firm or when nobody is around, the puppy will pee all over the apartment," the couple in their late twenties said. "But he knows how to go to the newspaper to poo. It is just that he pees around 10X per day and cannot make it to the newspaper in the utility room (away from the kitchen).

The HDB has an extended room during upgrading. This utility room is very small, not sufficient size to put in a single bed. The puppy was given free access in the apartment but mess up everywhere for the first 4 weeks. The owner bought a crate and confined him especially at night. By the 4th week when I saw him, he was paper-trained successfully.

The newspapers were put on the pee pan. Normally the pee pan is placed below the wire flooring of the crate so that urine and poo could drop through the flooring into the crate, keeping the puppy's lower body clean.

However, the owner felt that the wire flooring gaps may trap the paws. So he put the pee pan inside the crate. 3/4 of the pee pan would be newspapers (1/2 page of the Straits Times, measuring 35x58cm. The puppy sleeps on the 1/4 area on the right side (see picture).

As most puppies want to keep their sleeping area clean, this dwarf Shih Tzu has no choice but to pee and poo on the newspapers on the left side. When the papers are soiled, he will bark to ask the owner to change them.

"The puppy is growing. He needs a bigger area," I advised.

"I thought of buying 3 panels of fences to wall off an area outside the gate," the young man said.

"It is a good idea," I said. "In this case, put some newspapers outside so that the puppy has a 2nd toilet location. Or he may sleep outside and the crate is his toilet area."

I don't know whether the owner will extend the crate area. Another way is just to get a pee pan with newspapers and urine smell (use second sheet of soiled newspapers) and put it somewhere in the living area or corridor outside the bathroom so that the puppy can run to it when the other toilet area is soiled.

Shih Tzu, male, tricolour
Born: April 6, 2007
Now 15 weeks old.
1.8 kg, like a dwarf. He should be heavier at 3.5 months of age.
Been with owner for last 8 weeks, but still "not toilet-trained because he pees anywhere in the living room and bedroom".

REASONS
1. Newspaper is too far away.
2. Newspaper is half the page of the Straits Times. So he "misses his target."
3. Crate with pee pan below and door. However, the owner is worried about his paws being caught on the wire flooring. Therefore, the pee pan is placed onto the wire flooring. Newspapers cover 3/4 of the pee pan leaving right 1/4 for the puppy to sleep.
4. Whenever the paper is soiled, the puppy barks to ask for change.

SOLUTIONS
1. "If the puppy is not toilet trained after being with the owner for 2 months, there is a need to know why," I said.

1.1 Reasons:

In the first month, the owner thought it was cruel to crate the puppy. So he eliminates in the kitchen. But mum wants the kitchen floor to be clean. So,the owner bought a crate with pee pan. The mum cleans the kitchen floor thoroughly with Dettol and it was said to be better than the spray bought from a pet shop.

In the last 4 weeks, the crate was successfully used. The puppy has been confined inside, esp. at night. The door is left open and the puppy goes inside to poop and pee.

"He is a clean puppy and will bark if the papers are soiled."

2. Extension of the sleeping area by putting up 3 panels of fences outside the crate. This was the owner's idea. Good. But there should be a gap for the puppy to go out. Most likely the puppy will sleep outside the crate in the extension area. The extension area can be used as an extra toilet location.

3. "We don't know that there is a need for a second toilet location," the young man told me. Put newspapers in the living room. The puppy is able to pee on newspapers but the one inside the kitchen may be too far away.

4. URINE SMELL. The owner does this: Tissue paper dabbled with puppy's urine is put in between the newspapers earlier on.

Newspaper covers 3/4 of the pee pan (on left). Puppy sleeps on 1/4 on right and has his chew toys scuh as pig ears

5. SIGNS OF ELIMINATION like turning and sniffing.Owner will quickly take a newspaper and put the puppy on it.

6. ACCIDENTS. Owner makes the puppy smell his urine in accident area and scold him. Not effective.

7. Pee pan + newspaper in the living area may be effective. "I thought of only one toilet location," the man said.

"Two will be better as the puppy does not like to use soiled papers.

8. MISSING THE TARGET NEWSPAPERS. Pees outside the edge.
Quite a common complaint. "You put the tissue with puppy urine in the centre of the papers. When he smells it, his legs will be outside since this is only half a page of the Straits Time. So, the puppy misses target!"

9. PAPER TOO SMALL IN AREA. Needs to increase size to full page instead of 1/2 page as the puppy is growing.

In this case, as the Shih Tzu is a dwarf, the crate and pee pan housing was sufficient area for toilet-training. Confinement to the crate for the past 4 weeks was a key to success. Now, the puppy should be given another pee pan with newspapers (urine from 2nd sheet) as a 2nd toilet location so that he needs not bark for owners to change the soiled papers. Sometimes the owners are not at home. The Shih Tzu then need not be "confined to barracks". In this case, the barracks are the crate.

P.S. "barracks" = extremely plain or uniform housing. Soldiers are "confined to barracks" when there is a possibility of military coup?

3. New mother is well read.

2007-07-20T18:17:00.000-07:00

The 4th Shih Tzu puppy licked the muscle relaxant cream from the tube used by the new mother's mum who helped her to babysit.

"Mum's hand gets sprained after carrying my baby," she told me. Now the puppy is very quiet. Could she be poisoned by the salicylate in the cream? The owner had rinsed the puppy's mouth.

An examination did not reveal much. The rectal temperature dropped from 39.1C to 38.4C over the next 30 minutes at the surgery.

"How is it like to be a full-time mum?" I asked her. She was a human resource assistant managing over 400 staff and their overwhelming demands for attention and explanation. She quit after 8 years as workload increased considerably. The company did not want to recruit more staff to help her.

It was a loss to the company as her network is extensive.

"What books do you read to help you be a good mum?" I asked. She is in her 30s and well informed. These are her recommendations:

1. No Cry Sleep Solution - Elizabeth Panley - Page One bookshop at Vivo City.
2. Good Night Sleep Tight - Kim West - Page One bookshop at Vivo City.
3. babysupplies.com forum.
4. Asian Parenting Today Book. Most appropriate than baby books written by Westerners, she said.
5. babycenter.com

"How about your husband?" I asked.
He does not seem to need to read such books.

"I read Dr Benjamin Spock," I said to her. "That was 20 years ago. Have you heard of this famous doctor well known in the U.S.?"

She shook her head.

2. A Galloping Pug. Can a paper-shredding, furniture destroying, house-trained hyperactive 1.5-year-old Pug be paper-trained?

2007-07-19T22:02:00.000-07:00

DRAFT

Friday July 20, 2007.

"I bought a pug because pugs are quiet dogs," the lady owner controlled this 1.5-year-old male brown-black masked pug from charging away. He was like a racehorse ready to jump out of the starting gate. A choke chain was used to control him.

"Maybe he had Jack Russell blood," I could not believe that this pug was no more a puppy but behaving juvenile. When let free in the apartment, he would chew sofa, shoes and ripped down the curtains. He would pee and poop too.

So, for the past 6 months, he was confined to the playpen most of the day when the owner worked. He was purchased from a Sembawang farm when he was nearly one year old.
He was kept in a crate with concrete floors for up to one year old.

In the owner's house, the playpen is put against the kitchen wall. A plastic pee pan with newspapers on it is placed near the wall in the back half of the area.

"A water bottle hung from the right-hand-side of the cage.

"Why don't you use a water bowl?" I asked. Water bowl may be easier to lap water from.

"A water bowl is not used because this pug played with the bowl and spilling the water," the owner said.

The bottom half of the area was the tiled floor. He sleeps on the newspapers in the pee pan. The owner wanted him to pee and poop on the newspapers in the pee pan.

"Why not cover the playpen floor with newspapers since you want to paper-train him? Then gradually reduce the newspapers covering the floor. In theory, put newspapers on the area where he eliminates. In that way, you will have paper-trained him."

"It is easier said than done," the owner shook her head. "The pug shredded up all the newspapers."

He would NOT eliminate in this playpen (outside the pee pan area) except when:

1. The lady's father came home. "He could be seeking attention," the lady said. "He does not eliminate if I am home in the evening to take him out for exercise."

2. The lady did not come back on time in the evening or it was raining.

"He always has a reserve of urine in his bladder," the lady observed. "He would pee inside the apartment as if he is left free when I am at home. I restricted water intake like the dog tainer advised and gave him a routine. But still he could not be paper-trained!"

I said, "At his age, he has full control of his bladder and usually pees 1-2X/day. He is marking his territory, using urine." The owner seems to think that the pug is not toilet-trained. But urine-marking is a male behaviour of dogs to mark his territory to warn off other dogs.

FEEDING. Inside the playpen at 7 a.m and 7 p.m. After sleeping in his plastic carrier crate (chew toys, bed) overnight, he would be keen to have his breakfast inside the playpen at around 7a.m.

"After eating, he would avoid being trapped inside the playpen. He would hide under the dining table and no food treats would entice him to come out. The playpen was open with 3 panels hooked, but the pug would never be tricked by treats to come out from hiding if he knew he would be put into the playpen when I go to work." the owner said it was a problem trying to catch him to be put inside the playpen.

WHAT THE OWNER WANTS
1. The owner wants him to be paper-trained.
2. But he shreds newspapers.

HOW TO DO IT?
I suggest re-starting the toilet-training using either the tether method or the room confinement method (playpen opened inside a room) for at least 4 weeks. Since the common bathroom was available and the lady is able to spend full-time, this method may be preferred.

1. PRESENT ROUTINE

7 am breakfast in the playpen. If no elimination 1 hour after eating, the owner brings him outdoors. He eliminates outdoors. Owner goes to work. Pug put inside playpen to avoid destruction of the apartment furniture.

7 pm dinner in the playpen. If no elimination 1 hour after eating, the owner brings him outdoors. He eliminates outdoors. He never eliminates inside the playpen if the owner comes home on time. However, if the owner's father is present, he does it deliberately to get attention. I suspect he just wanted to get out of the playpen.

2. PROPOSED ROUTINE.

Confine pug inside the bathroom for the next 2-8 weeks. A baby-gate at the door permits him to see people.

Same time for breakfast and dinner. When he eliminates, praise and give him a food treat (he is very greedy for treats except when after breakfast when he knows he would be put inside the playpen so that the owner goes to work.).

Do not let him go outdoors till he has eliminated. Observe him inside the bathroom.

Pee pan covered with newspapers with one piece having his urine smell. The rest of the bathroom floor is initially covered with newspapers. He will shred them. Disinfect floor with white vinegar:water 1:2 those areas he had "accident" except for the pee pan.

(An idea. Gather some grass and soil and put onto the pee pan with newspaper and his urine so that the dog smells as if he was outdoors at the grass patch to eliminate. Will this work? I did not mention this to the owner).

He may or may not lie down on the pee pan and the newspapers as this was his old routine.

NEUTERING
"Neutering may make him less hyperactive," the owner had brought in the dog for the operation this morning. I was asking her about the toilet training as part of my research and was surprised to learn that the owner wanted him to be paper-trained.

In this case, the pug had been "house-trained". This is what the dog book authors define "house-training." To convert an adult dog from being house-trained to being paper-trained takes a lot of time.

"Usually a paper-trained pug waits till he comes home to eliminate," I told the owner. "He does not want to do it outdoors."

Now, this pug defines the home and outdoors as his territory. His plastic pee pan with newspapers and the carrier crate are his den. Dogs are territorial.

"Will neutering stops his urine-marking?" the lady asked.

"It is not guaranteed as you have had delayed the operation for too long," I said. "If it is done at around 6 months of age, at the start of urine-marking, chances are good that this anti-social habit will disappear after neutering."

"I thought it is cruel, so I did not do it," she said.

"Many Singaporeans and pet lovers think the same way," I empathised.

Now that the owner is full-time on training him, it is possible that she may succeed in 4-8 weeks time. But the pug would not be allowed to come out of the bathroom till he has eliminated on the newspapers. Praise and food treat need to be given. Later, remove the baby-gate and he is supposed to go to the bathroom to eliminate. So much for theory.

The pug was neutered today and stayed overnight at the Surgery without charge. But his urine-marking behaviour may still exists despite neutering. He will be less high-energy than before as his testosterone levels have diminished. This was what the owner initially wanted.

It is fortunately that the pug is not an alpha dog. An alpha wants to dominate and be the leader. He may bite the lady owner. This male pug does not bite anyone and is more interested in claiming his terrority at home by urine marking.

He had been house-trained in the sense that he eliminates downstairs. The lady owner had to work during the past 6 months. So, she waited one hour and since he did not eliminate in his pee pan, she took him downstairs. The pug eliminates downstairs and urine marks. After that, the routine is set. So he does not get paper-trained despite confinement in the playpen during the daytime.

Basics of toilet training for a puppy/dog.

1) Confinement - Put the dog in a small area (a crate, playpen pen or a small room) when he is not supervised. So he can't eliminate in the apartment.

2) Routine - Depending on the age, use the formula N-1 where N=age of dogs in months, as a guideline, to let the dog out of the crate or small area.

E.g. 3-month-old. Every 2 hours, bring the dog to the toilet area (newspaper with urine smell, pee pad or the grass patch outdoors). It should be immediately to 30 minutes after eating esp. in the morning. Do not leave it unsupervised until he is toilet trained.

Signs of elimination --- squatting, sniffing, turning --- carry to toilet area or outdoors for a puppy. Do not crate for more than 6 hours a day for puppies older than 6 months. Get a pet sitter.

3) Positive Reinforcement Training - Praise the dog for doing his business at the right place.

4) "Accidents" --- Do not spank the dog as he does not know why unless you catch him eliminating in the wrong place. Some owners make the dog smell the pee and take him to the toilet area, assuming the dog knows what he has done wrong. Over time, it seems to work. But it is better to supervise the dog closely and prevent "accidents" by watching for signs of elimination.

Neutralise urine smell in "accident areas" with white vinegar:water or products from the pet shop. Poop smell may not be easily neutralised.

1. Success story: The Superclean Dad. How to paper-train 4 pups by 10 weeks old

2007-07-18T14:05:00.000-07:00

DRAFT

Sunday July 15, 2007

As I had time to chat, I asked about toilet training, not expecting much success. But I was surprised. This couple did succeed in paper-training all 4 Shih Tzu pups by 10 weeks of age.

"They follow their mother to use the newspapers as toilet," the wife said. Well, not as simple as that.

A young couple in their early 30s. One newborn baby. First-time home-breeder.
2 Shih Tzu, Male & Female around 2-3 years old.
10-week old Shih Tzus, 2M,2F, came for 2nd vaccination.
3 sold at $500/pup to screened customers as they are the wife's "babies".

"The Male Dog is a superclean dog!" the wife said. "At 2-3 am, he will bark to wake us up to cover up the soiled newspapers if he has had peed. The puppies are quite fussy about cleanliness as they grow up".

HOUSING - Kitchen only. Puppies are never allowed out of the kitchen or get into the bathroom near the kitchen. Wet bathroom floors dirty the puppy's feet too. So, kitchen is the only location.

1. During first 4 weeks. Puppies annd mum confined to the dam's playpen which consists of 2 panels of fences x 1 panel of fence. The sire's playpen is adjacent and has 1 x 1 panel of fence and towel.

2. Newspapers are to the left of the playpen in both cases. In the dam, the papers are spread out in 3 layers. The width of the papers will be 1.5 the paper width. That is, 1 paper's left half overlaps the other paper's right half. When soiled, simply cover up by folding the paper over the soiled area. Change when necessary.

2.1 2 toilet locations for puppies. Newspapers placed to the left of the dam's playpen and near the kitchen door which is barricaded by panel of playpen fences.

3. Wife has been full-time at home for last 10 weeks and able to train the puppies.
Initially puppies dirty the playpen but at 4 weeks, goto newspapers like mum. In first 2 weeks, mum cleaned them.

4. Feeding - mum 4-5X. Puppies 2X. Puppies weaned at 4th week onto milk powder, oats and dry puppy feed. Feeding bowl is taken away. It is kept near the right hand side (bed area).

5. Water bottle from front of playpen. No problem with water bowl too.

6. Elimination. Adult dogs wait till evening when husband come home. To eliminate on papers. If papers soiled, puppies rush to the 2nd toilet (newspapers near kitchen door). Eliminate overnight sometimes. Papers changed in the morning. Male will bark at 2-3 am to wake up owner to cover soiled papers.

6.1 Urine spraying by male dog. The owners "angled" the newspapers. One half is clipped to cover the side of the playpen fence (which separates the dam from the male pen. Cloth pegs tie up this partition so that the male dog can lift his leg and spray urine without dirtying the female bed (which is to the immediate left of the male playpen). This was a neat idea.

Adult dogs will eliminate only in the newspapers in the kitchen.

Yesterday, a buyer came. Puppy ran to newspaper under living area table to pee. This proves that it is successfully paper trained as puppies seek newspapers all the time.

Buyers will have NO problem. However, in my experience, when they bring the puppy home, buyers have their own housing floor plan, let puppy roam whole apartment as they deem it cruel to crate the puppy. Paper training and feed routine may not be explained to the buyer. So toilet training problems start for new owners in many cases.

Owner will e-mail me pictures. Need to follow up.

"The sire is a superclean dog," the wife who had just given birth to a baby said. "He would not dirty his paws by going into the playpen of the dam and puppies."
The puppies also are clean (by nature and instinct). In the morning, they rush to toilet location (B) as the papers have had been soiled in the playpen. Mum and Dad usually eliminate in the afternoon when they know that the papers would be changed immediately. Just cover one end over the soiled papers --- that would do.

Knowledge by reading on toilet training is also very important. This young couple had done lots of reading. Books such as "Puppy Parenting" were borrowed from the National Library and its branches. Is there such a book?

The younger generation is so knowledgeable. The 3/4 puppies were sold at $500 each at the website, efair.com.sg or something like that. Soon, it will be difficult for pet shop operators to sustain their business profitability if home breeders and professional breeders sell directly to puppy buyers.

e-mail me!

To: Mark.
Blogger.com.

I can put in the table in blogger.com, by writing html. But I am unable to put it in a location on the page I want too. Hence a big gap below the paragraph. Can you solve this problem?

Adults	Pups, 2M, 2F
2-3 years old	10 weeks old
7 p.m when owner home	Papers, unknown