The Miniature Schnauzer - Not toilet trained after 2 months

1. Miniature Schnauzer, Male, born on Sep 17, 2006. Now over 4 months old.
2. Problem - Not toilet trained for the past 2 months.
3. Working couple in their thirties. Wife at home in the morning.

The owner consulted me as the puppy became lame after hitting his right paw on the wall while playing ball with the owner. His 3rd and 4th digits of the right paw were painful but should be OK. "Is the puppy toilet-trained?" I asked the owner. Toilet training is a big problem in Singapore's apartment puppies of small breeds. It is a common problem in many doggie books I read too.

Why is the puppy not toilet trained after 2 months at home?
It is a challenging question for a veterinarian to answer. It takes a lot of consultation time to ask questions of the owner. Busy vets just do not have such time for the owner but it builds a good relationship and helps the puppy who may be disciplined or scolded for soiling the apartment.

1. Housing. Playpen. On the left half, a wire grating (flooring) with pee pan. The owner puts the puppy pads (diapers) onto the pee pan from the 2nd month. On the right half is the sleeping area. A water bottle is attached on the right upper end. No feeding inside the crate.



2. Feeding outside the playpen.
Feeds 2 times/day. Finish eating in 5 minutes.
Poops 4 times/day at unknown times. Overnight, he poops x2.

2.1 What is the problem - why the puppy does not poop after eating?
The owner plays with the puppy for 30-60 minutes after eating.
After playing the puppy poops on the floor tiles anywhere in the living area. This is not what the owner wants. "He does not poop inside the playpen or onto the grate. The grating has been used for the past one month.

2.1 Solutions: Eat, poop inside the playpen. Then play with the puppy after he has pooped.

3. Pee. He will not pee onto it because it is soiled and my wife and I are not around to clean it," the owner said. Pees only when carried onto the grate or put inside the playpen when the owner is at work.

4. Recommended schedule:

4.1 9 am & 7 pm
Breakfast & dinner. No playing with the puppy till he poops onto the grate. This may not be so easy initially.

4.2 If taken out of the playpen, play near the playpen. Observe for signs of sniffing, circling, looking at the floor, squatting. Carry the puppy onto the grate. Do not miss the signs till it is too late. Spend a short period every evening e.g. 2 hours, as it may be too tiring to do for hours. However, such training will benefit both parties in the long term.

4.3 If the puppy is home alone, he is put in the playpen. He will not pee more than 1 time onto the grate. In this situation, cover the floor with newspapers or puppy pad. The problem is that the puppy shreds both. So, it is rather expensive to use the pads.

4.3.1 However, the newspapers should cover the whole floor. (I forgot to tell the owner about the newspapers covering 100% of the flooring even if the puppy shreds --- it is easier to write and think of the solutions when writing). This is the better option as it is inexpensive.

4.3.2 However, the puppy pads can be taped onto the floor tiles. Probably the puppy can still shred it but the owner has not tried this before. So, he does not know. I told him that the puppy pad is meant for the puppy to pee onto it, not to be put under the grating in the pee pan. Some Singapore owners do that but it is not meant for that purpose. The puppy pad has a urine smell to attract the puppy to eliminate onto the pad. In this case, the puppy has shredded it. So, the owner uses it incorrectly by putting below the grating. The problem here is that the puppy pees once onto the grating and will not eliminate more than one time!

4.3.3 According to my notes, I suggested a bigger area for the puppy e.g. common bathroom or kitchen. It is good to write down notes when discussing the case. The owner suggests using the panel of fences forming the playpen to be the "baby gate" so that the puppy cannot get out of the kitchen to the living area. It was useful idea as it saves money buying a baby gate. The puppy does not feel confined too much as in the playpen.

Useful exchange of ideas.

4.3.4. Neutralise the urine smell on the floor of the living area, common bathroom or kitchen with white vinegar:water 1:3.

5. I showed the owner an example of a Chihuahua who is "grate-trained" by the owner. It is in a recent blog. The Chihuahua just goes into the crate (which has a grated floor). The pee pan holds the puppy pad. He eats inside the crate. Poops onto the grate floor. Poo is removed quickly. His bed is outside the crate.

6. I hope the owner will provide me the feedback and a picture. The puppy will be happier companion as cleaning up takes up a considerable amount of time for a working couple. Some senior citizen mothers also complain about such chores. Toilet train the puppy young. This Miniature Schnauzer still has hope.

54. Browny's Fear Imprint Periods - Follow up on No. 52.

Jan 25, 2007

EMAIL QUERY

...@hotmail.com> wrote:

Hi Dr Sing,

I managed to take some more pixs. Hope they are useful to you. I have increased the resolution this time, guess it's much more clearly. Can you answer a few questions for my understanding.

1) Will dog feel lonely if they sleep alone? These few days Browny often hide at one corner instead of sleeping at his bed and he looks miserable. But When I place his bed beside me while I trade in the night, he sleeps soundly. Do they feel frighten at night?



Answer:
SOMETHING (e.g. noise? lightning? lizard? cats fighting downstairs?, some naughty boy knocking on your door past midnight? ) had frightened him during his "fear imprint" period.

He feels unprotected as he does not have a "den" (4 walls of a cage). He "hides" in one corner because the corner is the space between the vertical wall and the side of his big cushion bed. In that situation, he feels secure in case "predators" attack him (wild dogs have a den or hole in the ground with only one opening).

With you around, he feels secure and able to sleep. Many puppies do sleep alone at night and do not feel frightened. Some owners switch on a small light.

The "fear imprint" period is the time when the dog gets easily frightened and remembers the incidents. There are 2 fear imprint periods. I believe it is around 3-4 months of age and around 6-9 months of age, but you need to check this out.

2) He looks worried and afraid when I bring him down for a walk. He just refuses to walk and his tail was between his legs. How to train him to be bolder?

Answer:
MANY CHIHUAHUAS are timid. They shiver and tremble at the vet clinic. Your dog has not been socialised much by the breeder --- meeting people, going out, going to strange places and noises, different smells.

It takes time to slowly get him to be exposed to the outside world. Give him basic obedience training outdoors. Praise and treat. Training to last around 5 minutes. Make training fun. Use a clicker training method if you have time.

3) He is a bit small in size. Recently I have change his food to a brand which is
holistic food. What other supplement can I provide? beside the yellow
vitamin which Dr Teo has given.


Answer:
HE IS BORN SMALL-SIZED. He is not thin when I saw him last time. Does he like the new brand of food? If you have fed him people food, he may not be eating much dry food.

53. Kopi is 9 months old - What is "drip drip?" Rachel asked.

Kopi's owner is quite hard to track down as she is an extremely busy career woman. Lots of paper work. I went to her office without appointment once. She was at the dentist. I managed to see her 2 days ago.

"He stops eating his breakfast," her eyes lit up when she spoke about Kopi. "I took away the food bowl after 45 minutes. I asked a pet shop owner in the East Coast. She told me that Kopi, being a male, may be more interested in females. Does he drip drip on the floor? Some male dogs do that. Terrible... He may need to be neutered. Ask your vet...."

"Small breeds like the Chihuahua are very finicky eaters. They are very smart. They know that if they don't eat, the owner will change the brand of food. And that is one reason. Sometimes, they have tasted people food and will not want to eat the dry kibble. Did you give him food from the table?" I asked.

"Yes," Rachel's mother said. "Some minced meat."

"So, that's the reason Kopi does not want to eat the dry food. He hopes and gets people food."

"Does he urine mark your walls?" I asked.

"Only one spot. But he does urine mark outside the apartment at the common corridors and I have to clean them."

"Yes, many male dogs do urine mark." I said. "Best to neuter him early to stop this anti-social habit."

Rachel's mother rolled her eyes up. It seems to be cruel to neuter him.

"You can train him not to spray urine onto common corridors. Bring him downstairs to do it on the grass," I said.

"Yes, he goes down at 4 pm to wait for Rachel to come back from school. Every child is excited to see him."

"He is very friendly and good looking," I said. "How's Rachel coping with Kopi?"

"Rachel is very close to him. So, she seeks less attention from me." Mum sighed with relief. "But she may be distracted from her homework."
The poor child had piano and ballet lessons, I believe. Whether it is good or bad, I don't know but it sure broadens the child's mind.

"Only thing I can't explain to Rachel," the mum said. "Rachel kept asking me what the pet shop owner was talking about the 'drip drip'?"

I guess the birds and bees lesson has to wait till Rachel grows older. It is really difficult to be a mum nowadays, with so many questions from a 7-year-old.

52. Puppy training pads on pee pan --- less smelly?

Young man with an interesting self-employed job.
Chihuahua was easily trained as it was young. Male, Born 30 August 2006.

Important points
1. Too late to carry the chihuahua when he has pooped. He poops 2x per day, after meals.
2. He usually poops inside the crate.
3. However, he is very clean. So the poo must be cleared before he would poop.
4. Puppy training pad (diapers) is meant for urine only. Put onto the pee pan. Last around 4 days. Saved on changing all the time. Less smelly.
5. Now he goes to the crate to eliminate.
6. If he poops outside, put the stools inside the crate and tell him to poop in
the crate.
7. If he is caught having "accidents", let him finish his elimination. If you catch him, he would run away to hide below the sofa.

lst 7 days, used newspapers. Friend recommend pads. Put some urine spray onto the pads.

2nd week - repeat training. Goes to the cage to toilet. An IKEA puppy bed is put outside and beside the crate.

51. Urine-marking male Chihuahua

"Anything vertical will do," the Chihuahua owner laughed. "Garbage bins, trees, lamp posts and edge of walls of the void deck...

"When he is home alone when we work, he urine marks in 3 spots in the living and dining areas. He sprays urine on the leg of the dining table."

"How about the beds in the bedroom?" I asked.

"No."

"Urine marking makes the apartment smelly over time. The owners cannot smell the stench of urine because their noses are not sensitive anymore. Friends will not want to visit you after a while."

This is not a toilet training problem. Neutering the male Chihuahua at 6 months of age will likely stop the urine-marking habit. Now he is one year old. It may still be possible. Likely solutions if you don't want to neuter the male dog are:



* exercise downstairs every evening even though you may be tired from work. Morning exercise is not possible as the owners can't make the time. The owners said that the dog will start to urine mark if he is not exercise outdoors.

* neutralise the urine marked areas with white vinegar:water 1:3 so that the dog can't smell the area to urine mark. But this may not solve the problem.

* distract him from urine marking by offering him attention or reward. But he only urine marks when the owners are at work. So, not a practical suggestion!

Small breeds like the Chihuahua gets away with urine marking because their urine pool is small. Chihuahuas can also be trained easily not to urine mark.

"Well, there is one way to prevent urine-marking," I said. "One owner told me a very effective method. The male dog must not be exercised near any vertical object outdoors and not to see other male dogs urine marking!

"I can suggest that you confine him to the kitchen area when he is home alone. He may urine-mark your kitchen cabinets. Try and train him not to urine mark in the living and dining area as visitors can smell the accumulated stench of urine."

I don't know what suggestion he would accept. Daily exercise is still the best alternative. But Singaporeans work 12 hours a day. It is a dog-eat-dog world nowadays. So, it is difficult for people to exercise the dog daily.

50. World Peace?

It is very difficult for an amateur like me to get attractive pictures of HDB flats in Singapore.



The pictures may be of interest to maids who may work in HDB apartments.



I try my hand at writing a message for a company. How to do one which is not boring to read? I chanced upon the HDB apartment picture.



Some bug in the Adobe Photoshop 6.0 software. I could not scale the fonts or use any fonts. I copy the wordings from Frontpage text. Then I paste onto the pictures which are under Adobe Photoshop. As I could not adjust the size of the fonts, I am forced to use 3 pictures.

Surprisingly, the overall pictures and text looked ok. In this project, the text is meaningless without a picture. What type of picture? A war picture? I don't have any.

A picture of peace and tranquility with the text written as if it is a 3-picture postcard? Substitute 2 other pictures for picture no. 2 and 3. Then, this will be much more interesting?

I hope the Company accepts this concept and wording.

49. HEALTH - Puppy - Diarrhoea - Food Diary

1. NEW PUPPIES

Loose stools, watery stools, blood in stools during the first week after purchase. Smelly stinky diarrhoea, bloody diarrhoea. It is difficult to say which case will recover. Very ill or dehydrating severely -- consult your veterinarian.

Possible causes:
1. Stress. Change to new environment. No time to rest.
2. Water - giardia.
3. Lactose intolerance - eating milk or dairy products.
4. Parasitic infection - anti-parasitic drug. Give acidophilus and bifidobacteria.
5. Chewing and shredding - swallowing.
6. Food sensitivity/allergy - wheat and other grains -> flatulence/intestinal gas. Lactose intolerance is the commonest. Sugars and grains. Use a Food Diary DAY 1, Tiem, What did my puppy eat/drink? How did he/she feel and act?
7. Sudden change of diet

48. TRAINING - Kopi is slapped when eating poop

Friday Jan 12, 2007

Rachael's mother spoke about Kopi eating poop yesterday. When she caught him doing it, she said "No," and slapped lightly Kopi's cheek. Kopi dared not eat poop in front of her.

Would this method of negative reinforcement be successful. I need to follow up. A chihuahua at 6 months may be in the 2nd fear imprint stage. So, it is easier to train as Kopi remembers unpleasant experiencs. Much time needs to be spend in training.

When I asked the previous owner, Kopi did not eat his own stools. He had 2 other puppies to play with. Here, he was alone in his crate when his owners are busy.

Kopi seemed to be obedient. When the mother said, "Sit there", he would not move.

Catching the puppy misbehaving is the best way to train him.

47. Follow-up on Kopi - poops everywhere and ate poop.

January 5, 2007

Kopi is the 6-month-old male chihuahua now in a new home since around December 16, 2007. A working couple, a senior citizen grandmother and a maid. The dog has been rehomed but his toilet training has been disrupted by the family's lack of toilet training routine and distractions from the 7-year-old Rachel, an only child.

I went to see the owner at her office as it is much easier to know what's happening than over the phone.

Her mum said, "Rachel spent so much time with her dog that she is neglecting her homework. Previously, Rachel wanted the parent's company whenever possible. Now, she spends time with this chihuahua."

But her main grouse was that Kopi pooped everywhere on the tiled floors. The dog was fenced in a bigger area by blocking a part of the corridor behind the main door. The dog was no longer crated. "He shits everywhere on the floor if let out from the crate. As much as 5 times a day! He does not eliminate on the newspapers inside the pee pan." Although the maid cleaned up, this is not a good habit and usually cause a lot of unhappiness.

Kopi has a "disgusting" habit. He ate his own poop.

SOLUTIONS?

1. POOPS ON TILED FLOORS, NOT NEWSPAPERS.

1.1 As he is a grown up chihuahua, there is less worry about low blood sugar level. I advised that feed be given to him twice per day. Within 15 minutes, take the feed away if he does not eat or has not eaten much." Now, the feed is left for 45 minutes.

1.2 No playing with him till he poops inside the crate. Just leave him alone after breakfast and dinner.



1.3 No food treats at all. I don't know if the grandmother gives any treats.

1.4 Most likely, Kopi was used to pooping outside the newspapers before being re-homed. The feel of the tiled floor stimulates her to poop on it. But the only solution is to give him a routine of feeding, exercise and elimination.

1.5 Know the elimination times. There was a record but it may be difficult for the maid to do this consistently, I guess. I asked for the record.

1.6 Pooping more than 5 times a day is not normal for a 6-month-old. I can attribute this to feeding being given for longer periods than the 15 minutes, outside food and most important, distractions from the 7-year-old daughter. The maid and grandmother may distract him too but I cannot confirm this.

1.7 If crated, Kopi poops on the newspapers on the left 50% of the crate. However, yesterday, poop remants were seen on his bed. Did he pick up the stools and ate them on his bed? This was a new development. He had chew toys but must be bored with them.

1.8 Covering the tiled floors of the corridor with newspapers? This may be an obvious solution but needs a lot of newspapers. Reduce the area by 50%. The crate area plus another similar area behind the main door.

1.9 Confinement to the crate when NOT supervised for at least 2 weeks may be the best solution.

1.10 Toilet training takes a long time if the dog is not confined and gets distracted by children or other family members. It takes as long as 3 months.




EATING POOP

2. My research shows that this is a very difficult problem to solve.

2.1 I advised using slices of pineapple inside his food. Some success reported.

2.2 Anti-poop powder sold by pet food manufacturers. Success varied. Some owners told me that this powder must be given daily. The bad habit returns. I don't see much information on this method.

2.3 I think the best method is to remove the stools promptly. That means, a routine of feeding and exercise. Record the elimination times. Restrict feeding times to around 15 minutes twice a day for this chihuahua.

2.4 Negative reinforcement training --- spanking. The owner gripped Kopi's muzzle as he started to eat his poop, gave a slight spanking and said "No." This worked sometimes but she is working and does not consistently and persistently trains.

2.5 Negative reinforcement training --- loud noise. Throw a can of coins, squirt water onto him from water pistol and drop a can of stones. These methods had been suggested by various dog owners.

2.6 Positive reinforcement training --- food treats. When he eats poop, distract and give him a food treat. Then lavish praise. Or get him out to play (a form of reward).

2.7 Start young. If the puppy had been monitored at a young age for 24 hours a day for the first 7 days, it is possible to get rid of this habit. But then, not many owners have the time or patience to do it. This includes waking up at least once past midnight to clear the newspapers of stools --- the puppy may bark or make noises to ask for newspapers to be removed and the owner just does not have the energy to get up to do it.

2.8 Hiding the evidence to prevent being punished? During my research, one write said that the dog ate the stools to prevent by spanked by the owner. No evidence of eliminating in the wrong places! I believe we should not anthropomorphise --- thinking that the dog's poop eating behaviour is due to his guilt or ability to hide the evidence. On the other hand, this may be possible if the owner just spanks the dog after he had misbehaved.

Correction of bad behaviour like stool eating has to be done during the act. Doing much later makes the dog frightened of the owner. The owner assumes the dog feels "guilty" and runs away to hide as he had done something wrong. The dog sees a fierce big person about to cause him pain. He runs to hide. And eliminates in hidden areas or behind the sofa, reinforcing the owner's belief in anthopromorphism!

46. The "stubborn" Corgi pees and poops off the newspaper

January 1, 2007.

Peeing or pooping off the targeted newspaper is a common complaint during my survey of over 400 puppies. Why does the puppy do it? If only they can talk.

As far as humans are concerned, the misbehaved puppy is "stubborn" as in this case. "Vengeful, Purposedly did it..."



The young man with two ladies had brought the Corgi for consultation. The Corgi had vomited for the past few days, esp. in the morning. Otherwise, she was normal. She had no fever. I felt the full stomach with my fingers. The Corgi shook her body and hunched her back when I touched a soft lump of around 5 cm in her stomach. It was not a great pain. Discomfort. What was this lump?

"Did she swallow something like a ping pong ball?" I asked. The young people did not think so. Was the full stomach her breakfast as this was in the morning. Was it a fermenting durian seed as the young man's mother recalled that the Corgi had grabbed a durian seed and swallowed it.

X-rays might not reveal the seed. So, it was conservative treatment and observation for the next 3 days.

I enquired about toilet training.

"This Cardigan Welsh Corgi is stubborn," a young lady stated. "She pees and poops outside the newspapers."

"The dog had grown up. Could the papers be too small in area?" I asked.

"Two pieces of the Singapore Straits Times were provided. She would step on the 2nd piece and eliminate outside the edge of the papers.

"I think she wants attention. We scold her for doing it."

"Yes, shouting is a negative reinforcement training. Shouting is better than no attention."

But I did not think that this dog would want to get attention as she was well cared for. It was hard to imagine how the toilet location was like. So, the owners drew a sketch of her toilet area. From what I saw, the probable reasons could be:

1. The toilet area was too small as the newspapers were side by side and she was against the side of the cabinet. She was facing the sink, one newspaper of 70 cm away. Maybe she did not want to walk right up to the first sheet next to the sink and position herself to eliminate on the second sheet. This could be a reason. Why? I don't know. Congested toilet area?

2. The urine smell may be on the 2nd sheet of the newspapers. So she stepped onto it but eliminated at the edge since she used only 1 sheet.

3. The owner did not change the soiled newspapers regularly. The first sheet could be soiled by urine and the dog disliked stepping on it.

SOLUTIONS?

1. White vinegar:water 1:2 to neutralise the toilet area.
2. Placed the second sheet of soiled newspaper near the sink.
3. Praise and give reward (food treat) when she performs. Or take her downstairs as a reward. That means, time must be spent on re-training. Perseverance as this make take some days.
4. Change the toilet location if possible.

I asked for feedback 3 months later. I doubt I will get it.