TOP 10 MISTAKES OF SINGAPOREANS
3 mistakes are mentioned in this case
study.
1. Assuming the puppy recognises the newspaper as the toilet
location.
2. Give the puppy free access to the whole apartment.
3. No time to train the puppy properly. The owner
travels frequently. |
Troubleshooting -
Case study No. 1 |
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The puppy had free access to the whole apartment. Newspapers placed in
the living and dining rooms were ignored.
"We put newspapers on the floor in the living
and dining rooms, but the puppy does will not poo and pee on the
papers !" the 16-year-old younger sister said as I gave him the
second vaccination and enquired about its toilet training. "We had the puppy for
over 4 weeks. It peed as often as ten times in one hour when it was
younger but now, less frequently."
1. This puppy does not associate
the newspapers as the toilet area. There are cases where the
newly purchased puppy just go to the newspapers to do its business
without any training.
2. In this case, the puppy was free to roam the whole apartment.
3. It was 6 weeks old when purchased and was too young to be
able to control its bladder and bowel compared to being older.
Solutions for the busy owners
1.
The puppy must be confined in the play pen again. Line the
whole floor with
newspapers. The puppy may tear up the papers and the
owner may give up. It will take time to paper train the puppy.
After some time, one area of the papers will contain its poo and pee
as the puppy does not like to sleep in a dirty area.
2. Over a period of time, remove the papers so that only the
toilet area is covered by newspapers.
3. When you take the puppy out, observe the signs of passing
urine. Take it to the newspapers, say "pee here." Reward
with a treat and praise the puppy with a treat if it pees on the
papers.
4. When the puppy is taken out to the bigger area but not the whole
apartment, place the newspaper with the puppy urine (2nd sheet of
newspaper) or with urine training solution on the floor. |
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5. Thoroughly remove all
smells of urine and poo from the tiled floors in the living and dining
rooms using a cleaning solution. |
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CONTENTS OF TOILET TRAINING BOOK
FOR PUPPIES. How Your Puppy Can Live Longer? Dr Kong Sing.
Interested? Email to
judy@asiahomes.com to order the book. |
LOCATION
1. Indoors (balcony, spare bathroom, kitchen, living area, bedroom or
whole apartment).
2. Outdoors (grass area).
3. Indoors and Outdoors - Many pet owners confuse the young puppy as
it is immature and does not know what the owner wants. Also, the time
to go out to the grass area is not regular. Toilet training
success is not good.
TOILET TRAINING PRACTICES IN SINGAPORE
1. Newspapers* in confined area like the play pen, laundry, bathroom,
balcony or kitchen area.
2. Free access to whole apartment.
3. Cage with door. The floor level of the cage may be too high for the
small breeds. May need to lift the puppy into the cage. Confined the
puppy inside the cage for the first 7 days. Let it out under
supervision. Catch it for signs of wanting to go to the toilet. Put it
inside the cage. Praise it for success. Clean the flooring of the cage
regularly but leave a bit of the smell in the location where the puppy
usually pees and poos.
4. Crate. Very few owners are aware of the usefulness of crate
training.
If the puppy is 6 - 12 weeks old, every hour, take the puppy out to
let it pee and poo. If the puppy is around 12 weeks old, every 2
hours, take it out to pee on newspapers in a confined area.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE?
1. Full-time training. Takes less than 7 days in some cases.
Some owners sleep with the puppy for the first 7 days. When it whines
or wants to go to the toilet, take it to the toilet area.
Working owners may need to apply for leave to focus on this toilet
training.
2. Part-time training. Evenings and weekends for
home-alone puppies.
3. No training. Free access to whole apartment.
BEATING OR REWARDING THE PUPPY WHEN IT PEES OR POOS IN UNAPPROVED
LOCATIONS
1. Beating the puppy's backside with newspaper or hand. Slapping
the puppy's face for not going to the toilet in time. The puppy
runs away and is frightened of the owner. Two puppies with eye
injuries were treated by me.
2. Put nose in shit and tell puppy to go to
right location. The puppy runs away and is frightened of the
owner.
3. Hit the floor with a roll of newspapers when the puppy does not go
to the toilet area. The puppy runs away and is frightened of the
owner.
3. Reward the puppy with treats and praises when the puppy pees
and poos on the newspapers. The puppy is happy and looks
forward to the rewards.
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TOILET AREA
1. Play pen (no door). Most commonly sold by pet shops. It is the
cheapest and some owners feel that the play pen will be of use only
for a month or two. Hence they do not wish to spend so much money.
Newspapers cover floor of the play pen.
2. Play pen + pee tray. (no door). Newspapers placed onto the pee
tray.
3. Play pen + pee tray with wire flooring put inside the play pen.
Newspapers placed onto the pee tray.
4. Play pen (wooden frames) + door. Towel on one half of the floor.
Newspapers on the other half.
5. Pee tray with wire flooring above. Newspapers placed onto the
pee tray.
6. Pee tray. Newspapers placed onto the pee tray.
7. Leash on restricted floor area. Put newspaper and bedding.
8. Grass outside (ground-floor apartments or bring the puppy
downstairs).
9. Cage. Stainless
steel ones are the most expensive.
10. Crate. This may be a puppy carrier or cage with 3
sides and front door.
AIDS
1.
Urine training liquid available from pet shops and sprayed onto
newspapers.
2. 2nd sheet of newspapers stained with the puppy's urine.
3. No water after 10 p.m.
4. Two feeds a day. If the puppy does not eat within 15 minutes,
take away the food**.
Most dog books recommend 3 to 4 feeds a day for puppies less than 20
weeks old but Singapore pet shop operators recommend twice a day.
5. The water bottle attached to the play pen or fencing is
usually recommended by the pet shop operator for new puppies.
6. Dual-nozzle water bottle or two water bottles (one inside and
one outside) may be need to ensure that the puppy drinks water.
7. Water bowls spill water onto the floor as the puppy plays
with the bowl. Heavy bowls may not be available at the pet shop but
the puppy may play with the water.
8. Cleaning liquids to neutralise the smell of pee and poo on tiled
floors.
TWO PUPPIES
1. Role model of older puppy. May work or may not work.
2. No role model for 2 siblings. One may want to be clean but the
other simply poos and pees anywhere in the play pen or confined area.
3. Toilet train as for sole puppy by separating them in confined
areas. This may not be practical. |
 *
Newspapers mentioned in this report include
1. Puppy Training Pads
(cost around US$0.70 per piece. More absorbent and may be used for 2
days) Some puppy training pads have scent to attract the puppies
to pee on it. Some pads require additional urine training liquid to
attract the puppy.
2. Pieces of old rugs/carpet. The puppy loves the feel of
soft areas for doing its business.
** For Chihuahuas and mini-maltese,
you will need to be careful not to remove the food if it does
not eat within 15 minutes. Make sure it eats the food. Some of
the smaller breeds are prone to fainting if it does not eat.
Puppy-proofing the toilet area. If the puppy is confined to the
laundry room, make sure that the electrical switches and wires are not
available for the puppy to chew. A case of a washing machine
malfunction was due to the wires being chewed off by the puppy.
Detergents, plastic bags and other things to be placed away from the
puppy. |
 |
 |
 A
play-pen made of 4 panels of fences confines the puppy. The
dual-nozzle water bottle permits the puppy to drink water when
it is outside the play pen. |
A
non-rustry pee-tray to contain puppy's urine and stools so
that the floor tiles will not be stained. It prevents
the fences collapsing on the energetic puppy. |
 |
 |
|
A
stainless steel cage costs six times more than the play pen.
It has a pee tray and comfortable flooring with small round
holes. |
Crate
training. Confine in crate for 1-2 hours. Put in play-pen to
pass urine/stools. Confine to crate again. In this picture,
the carrier is the crate. The crate is just small enough
for the puppy so that it keeps it clean. |
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Be
Kind To Pets - A
COMMUNITY EDUCATION PROJECT FOR PET LOVERS, sponsored by
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OTHER EDUCATION ARTICLES
http://www.asiahomes.com/singaporetpvet/1_newsletter.htm
http://www.asiahomes.com/dev/Atomic_First_Toys.htm
http://www.toapayohvets.com/sinpets/040809FAQ.htm
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