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TOILET-TRAINING
YOUR FIRST PUPPY
IN SINGAPORE --- OVERVIEW
Dr Sing Kong Yuen, BVMS (Glasgow),
MRCVS |
Dear Puppy Owner,
During busy hours, I may not be able to explain more about
toilet training of your puppy. So, I ask you to go to my
website. The following report is extracted from around 600 case
studies done in 2004 - 2008. It maybe of help to the
first-time Singapore puppy owners.
As each puppy and home situation is different, it takes
a lot of time for the owner to toilet-train the puppy. When you buy
the puppy, know more about his or her feeding, exercise and and
housing management from the seller.
 In
general, the new puppy owner in Singapore is advised by the pet
shop operator who sells the puppies. The new owner is sold
either 4 pieces of fences to form a playpen (puppy pen, exercise
pen, enclosure), a more expensive crate (cage with door and a
pull-out tray), grate with pee pan or a dog house.
The owner is advised to
confine the puppy inside the playpen lined with 100%
newspapers or newspapers plus puppy bed. Just confine the
puppy in the crate, the owner is advised.
As over 80% of Singaporeans live in apartments, they feel so
sorry for the puppy being caged up. The puppy's whining or
barking non-stop make them release the puppy from confinement.
So, they let the puppy out to roam around the apartment.
It is like letting a toddler out in a big football field. The
puppy does not know where the toilet is and messes up the whole
apartment. Some get beaten up, some get shouted at and some get
toilet-trained after the owners read up books, surfed the
internet or ask friends.
Success depends on spending time with your puppy. Confinement.
A routine or time table for feeding and exercise to be
followed strictly for the first 2 weeks. Watch for signs of
elimination. Carry him gently to the toilet location. Use
the newspaper/commercial urine spray, puppy diapers with urine
smell to attract him to the toilet location. Let him out
only for short period but you need to monitor him for signs
of elimination. Take him to the toilet immediately and
not after he has had pooped or peed.
Praise and food treat rewards on performance. Persistence and
consistence. No interference/distraction from the children, aged
parents, friends and neighbours to upset the daily routine for
at least 2 weeks. This is easier said than done.
If the puppy does not know when he is getting his sleep or food
or time to eliminate esp. passing motion, how can he be
paper-trained?
Let the puppy out only after he has pooped. Usually this is
within 30 minutes after eating. If you or your family
member want to distract him after eating, don't be surprised
that he does not poop at one go. Then you become upset. He gets
frightened of you shouting at him. He runs to hide. You think he
feels "guilty" or is "taking revenge" for being home alone.
Puppies love clean eating and sleeping areas.
For those with crates or playpen, positioning of the
towel bed and water and feeding area should be nearby, leaving
the other area for passing stools.
Many owners are
successful because they note the signs of elimination -
sniffing, turning, circling before the puppy poops and pees.
They quickly and quietly put the puppy onto the
elimination area (newspapers with urine smell or toilet floor) and
praise the puppy (with treats or without) for success.
Some puppies need food treats to be motivated. Not all
puppies get paper or toilet trained within 7 days. Much depends on
their upbringing before you buy them and the knowledge, time and
effort you spend on training them.
Puppies will whine
and bark and this is when the first-timer makes a mistake by
paying attention to them. So more barking especially at
night, being a noise nuisance.
In such cases, cover the crate with towels or bring the
crate to your bedroom. Ignoring the whining and barking from the
first night is also an ignorant habit of the first-timer.
If you hear past-midnight barking at 2 - 4 am, it
may be the puppy telling you to change his soiled papers
or remove his poop. Some owners get up and spank or shout at the
puppy to shut up!
The tone of barking to change soiled papers is different
from the barking for attention, according to some puppy owners
during my survery.
I must apologise that
I may not be able to discuss in detail with some of you as it
takes at over 30 minutes just to talk about your puppy toilet
training if we have time.
So, I put up a brief report in this website for those of
you who want more information. The 3 research blogs with over
600 cases (See References Below) are not edited. They may be
overloaded with too much information. I try to get a book out
giving Singapore first-time puppy owners the overall picture and
success in toilet training puppies as soon as possible.
If you have any
questions, e-mail to me at
judy@toapayohvets.com and I will reply to you as best
as I can. Your questions may be included in the book to
benefit all puppy owners.
SHARING INSIGHTS
If you
have a meaningful story that you would like to share, you
may help many people with new puppies. Please e-mail
judy@toapayohvets.com your important insights or
meaningful stories. Remember the basics:
confinement, watch for signs of elimination if you take
the puppy out to play, give firm commands like "Pee Here",
praise and give food treats for good performance,
persevere, no distraction for the first 2-4 weeks, change
soiled papers frequently.
Nipping is a big problem for first-timers.
Discourage nipping and biting by holding the puppy's
muzzle with your fingers curled around the muzzle and say
"No biting" very firmly when the puppy starts mouthing.
Children tend to scream and run, exciting the puppy.
Ask the children (and first-time puppy-owning adults) not
to behave like a prey as the puppy's instinct is to chase
and nip.
Best wishes
Dr Sing Kong Yuen
Attachments and details below: |
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EQUIPMENT, TOOLS AND METHODS
TO CONFINE THE PUPPY/DOG |
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1. PLAYPEN (EXERCISE PEN) WITH
OR WITHOUT DOOR/PEE PAN |
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PLAY PEN WITH 4 PANELS.
Most new puppy owners will be sold the play pen. Least
expensive. Around $40. Fences collapse onto the puppy when
the owner is at work depending on the quality.
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PLAYPEN WITH 6 PANELS OF FENCES.
For big breeds like Golden Retrievers. A playpen is also
known as an exercise pen. Some puppies know how to climb
out or shift the playpen, soiling the floor.
Use bricks or anchor the playpen to a window grille to
prevent shifting or collapse of the panels.
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PLAYPEN WITH ALUMINUM PEE PAN.
A playpen with an aluminum pee pan preventing the collapse
of the fences onto the active puppy.
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PLAYPEN WITH ALUMINUM PEE PAN.
A playpen with an aluminum pee pan preventing the collapse
of the fences onto the active puppy.
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2. WIRE CRATE + PEE PAN |
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Wire Crate + pee
pan is the 2nd most common equipment sold by Singapore
pet shops, after the Playpen to confine the new puppy.
|
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Wire crate + Pee Pan is used to confine the puppy
at night only.
Success story: Rubber-mat trained in 10 days.
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WIRE CRATE WITH PEE PAN.
For Yorkshire Terriers and Chihuahuas, a ramp is needed as
this crate has a higher floor level. Pee Pan may rust. |
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3. GRATE + PEE PAN |
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GRATE WITH PEE PAN BELOW. WILL RUST.
Place the puppy on this wire flooring when it needs to
eliminate. Put newspapers on the pee pan and spray
urine drops or commercial toilet training aid on the
newspapers. |
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GRATE WITH PEE PAN BELOW. WILL RUST.
You still need to train the puppy and confine
it to a room or small space to succeed. It takes
about 2 weeks or less if you do full-time training using
the positive reinforcement method.
Pet shop puppies are more receptive to this method.
You can see that the Pee Pan is a bit too small for this
big breed! |
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this Schnauzer is uses the Grate + Pee Pan to pee even as
an adult. He poops on the balcony floor.
Probably he did not have much space on the grating.
Very much loved by the whole family. The family was
advised to buy a new grating as the old one had rusted. It
was great to see him grown up. |
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4. CRATE OR CAGE + PEE PAN
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STAINLESS STEEL CRATE WITH PEE PAN.
A luxury stainless steel cage of 3 feet x 2 feet with a
pull-out pee tray. Note the paper shredding which is a
common complaint of puppy owners.
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ALUMINUM CRATE for numerous puppies.
Each pup is different in temperament.
The school Principal had an anti-social Golden Retriever.
The pup was born nearly dead. He was revived and bottled
fed by the Principal. So he related to the Principal as
his "mother" rather than the other canine members.
That is why he did not bother to socialise with his pack
when I first went to vaccinate him in his home. Later on,
he was happy to be with his canine family. |
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5. CRATE TRAINING
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A method of toilet-training. The puppy is kept
inside the crate with sufficient space to stand and move
around.
Initially, every
hour on the hour, increasing to longer periods of time,
bring him out to pee and then put inside the crate.
Use the N-1 formula where N=number of months. However,
this is NOT a scientific fool-proof formula.
As a guide, a 3 month-old puppy can be crated for 2
hours. Start with 1 or 2 hours first. Puppies should
not be confined in a small crate for over 4 - 6 hours.
This method is very successful if you have a full-time
homemaker or maid to do it properly.
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6. TETHER
METHOD
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The puppy is leashed
around 6 feet to a chair or person so that it can't wander
everywhere to soil the apartment. A balcony may be the confined
area. This tether method is quite successful in paper-training
as the owner has no time to supervise the puppy.
For Siberian Huskies, the leash may need to be
chew-proof. Such leashes are available at some pet
shops. |
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7. ROOM CONFINEMENT |
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Usually the
balcony or bathroom is used to confine the puppy. Newspapers, pee
pan, crates, grate + pee pan are placed inside the room for 2-4
weeks. The baby-gate at the door permits the puppy to see the owners
but not come out. |
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CASE STUDIES |
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Toilet training your apartment puppy starts immediately you bring the
puppy home,
using praise and rewards rather than punishment. |
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Kindergarteners & 3-month-old puppies - what is the common
connection?
Start toilet training on day 1 of purchase/arrival. Start
them young. |
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Many pet books to read. The National Library and the 20
community libraries have pet books for your children to read about
puppy care and health.
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A whole new world for the young generation of Singaporeans
if they are motivated to excel and know what to do.
Go to the library to tap its treasures of knowledge?
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MORE CASE STUDIES |
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INCORRECT POSITION OF BEDDING.
Many Singapore puppy owners position the feed bowl in the
front and the towel bed at the back of the crate.
The poor puppy has to step on its stools and urine just to
go to its bed or water bowl/bottle. |
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MOST PLAYPENS SOLD IN SINGAPORE'S PET SHOPS HAVE NO
DOORS
3-month-old Siberian Husky at 3rd vaccination.
Successfully paper trained in a playpen with door in an
apartment. This puppy goes to the playpen
(newspapers on cardboard) in the living area next to the
kitchen to eliminate and is free to wander around the
apartment.
|
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If you let the puppy out to play
for an hour during the first 2-4 weeks of toilet training, watch for
signs of elimination.
Sniffing and turning may be signs that the puppy is going to pee or
poop. Quickly and quietly carry the puppy to the newspapers or
toilet area and say: "Pee here".
You need to be observant as some Singapore owners complain that the
puppy is too fast for them! Have you been "out-gunned" by your
puppy? |
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PUPPY'S PREFERRED TOILET AREA
One owner shared with me her house-breaking training. I
followed up with her after one year during the annual vaccination.
The surprise was that the Pom preferred the "puppy training pads" or
"diapers" rather than newspapers.
Follow up 1 year later. The Pom was successfully "diaper"
trained. |
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Confine inside kitchen/maid's bathroom area.
Big breeds may need to be toilet-trained inside the bathroom
or balcony as they pee and poop in larger amounts.
Outdoor elimination will be preferred.
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Two siblings.
The 2nd sibling is not stupid to share a soiled grate with
the brother. Coprophagia - insufficient food? |
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To successfully re-home a submissive urination-Chihuahua
requires knowledge and a routine for him for first 2-4
weeks. But children and other family members distract and
upset the routine! |
 CONCLUSION.
Spend time toilet-training your new puppy.
If anything happens to
you and you are forced to give up your dog, a well trained dog is
easier to get adopted.
Many small breed and pedigree puppies cannot adapt to
community living at NANAS which is mainly a non-kill
animal shelter and they may not be accepted.
In animal shelters
all over the world, most puppies are put to sleep after
3 days as there is insufficient kennel space for them.
Therefore, toilet-train your new puppy well and if things
in life do not turn up well for us, our dogs should be
able to get a new home as they are so clean and pose no
problems to the new owners.
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DR SING'S DRAFT REFERENCES &
RESEARCH INTERVIEWS - TOILET-TRAINING OF SINGAPORE PUPPIES
13.
Toilet-training your first Singapore puppy
- Overview. This webpage.
12.
First Toilet-training Research blog
11.
Second
Toilet-training Research Blog
10.
Third Toilet-training Research blog
9.
A Separation Anxiety Dog.
8.
A Newsletter.
7.
Frequently Asked Questions6.
Toilet-training mistakes
5.
The pee trays and other matters.
4.
An overview of puppy toilet-training in Singapore.
3. Pet owners' education
kongsing.blogspot.com
2. Pet shop operators' & breeders' education
sinpets.blogspot.com
1.
toapayohvets.com picture stories. |
TOA
PAYOH VETS
