The Cocker Spaniel steps on stools when excited.

"Is the American Cocker Spaniel toilet trained after 1 month with you?" I asked the happy, tall and slim mother of 2 handsome boys on this fine Sunday afternoon. It was like going back to the past for me on seeing the 2 brothers now that my 2 sons are young adults. It was the last case, a vaccination on this fine Sunday afternoon.

"He steps on the stools when he is excited," the lady said. "He poops 3 times a day, within 5 minutes after eating at 8 am, 12 noon and 8 pm."

Now, it was good news to know that the puppy pooped promptly inside the play pen. It was already one month and the puppy still stepped on her stools. Why?

Failure to reduce the newspaper coverage of the floor of the playpen
The pet shop operator selling the puppy had advised covering the entire floor of the playpen with newspapers. Soiled newspapers should be removed except for the last sheet. This was done for the past month. The puppy pooped on the newspapers away from the feed and water bowl combination set and slept next to the set (north of the set).



"The newspapers should be reduced in area so that the puppy just poops on the papers. The papers become the toilet location. " I said. "In this way, she becomes paper-trained."

"I did not know that," the lady said. Is it too late now?

Playpen is too small?
It is possible that the puppy has grown bigger and the 4 panels of fences forming the playpen make a too small area for the puppy. Another 2 panels to enlarge the playpen may be a solution but I had not proposed this as the apartment may be too small to accommodate this extra space.

In any case, the playpen fences should be taken out and the puppy should go to the newspapers to poop after eating. "Praise and give a food treat when the puppy poops on the newspapers," I advised.

Peeing on the 2 floor mats near the bathroom
"Friends told me that puppies like soft areas to pee," the lady commented. "I have removed the 2 'rugs' as I did not want the puppy to pee on them. She had peed on the carpet in the bedroom."

"Most puppies prefer soft flooring depending on what type of flooring they are brought up. Where does she pee on now?" I asked.

"She pees on the floor tiles near the bathroom, where the rugs were positioned" she said.

"Put soiled newspapers with her urine smell onto that area and let her be paper-trained by praise and food treat reward," I advised.

Pooping area
The puppy poops soon after eating on the newspapers in the playpen. Now, how to train her to be paper-trained in one spot? I advised moving the playpen near the bathroom , take out the panels and let the puppy poop near the bathroom. It sounds difficult as the puppy is quite active.

No distraction by the children till after elimination.
The 2 boys may have distracted her as well. I did not enquire whether the boys were present when the puppy was fed.

Neutralise the bedroom carpet.
The urine smell must be neutralised with white vinegar:water at 1:3 so that there will be no urine smell when the puppy later goes to the bedroom. Presently, the puppy should be confined to a smaller room (outside the bathroom) till she is paper trained. However, she should NOT be confined to the playpen as it may be too small for her now.

Will these advices work? I don't know till I see the puppy 3 weeks later for the 3rd vaccination.

59. The Golden Retriever puppy does not go to the bathroom by herself

Sunday Mar 18, 2007

The last case was a busy IT career couple in their early 30s, coming in with a Golden Retriever for her 3rd vaccination and lots of questions about the puppy care.

"Have you heard about Marriage Convention in Suntec City?" I asked as I saw the couple holding hands at one time. I presumed the Convention was for married couples in Singapore. It was advertised on radio FM 90.5.

"No," the couple answered.

"I guess you don't tune on to 90.5 which is for baby boomers."

"We listen to 98.0 or 95..." We were one generation apart.

"Did you know about the Convention?" I asked Groomer Mark. He was from the baby boomer generation.

"Yes," Mark said. "It is meant only for couple with marital problems."

I thought it was just an educational convention.

Anyway, the Golden Retriever puppy could be the family member since the couple asked so many questions over the one hour.

For the benefit of time-pressed couples in similar situations, I record my advices on toilet training of a bigger breed living in the apartment in Singapore.

CASE STUDY

Golden Retriever, female, 4 months old
Seller: A home breeder in an apartment. The puppy was housed on tiled floor in a balcony area with other puppies.

3 weeks after purchase.
The puppy does not go to the toilet location on her own.

The toilet location - a bathroom. She sleeps on the tiled floor, under the sink (a favoured area for a den as it provides safety from 'predators'). She pees on the newspapers only.
Overnight, the newspapers is wet suggesting peeing overnight (no water intake after 10 p.m advised by me, to help her to control her bladder till after breakfast).

She poops twice per day after breakfast and dinner, outdoors. After eating, she is immediately taken outdoors, downstairs. She pees a bit. When the couple comes home at around 9 p.m, the puppy had peed on the newspapers. They don't know her peeing times as during weekends, the puppy is taken outdoors and not at home.

Based on a formula of N-1, where N= age in months, the 4-month-old puppy should be able to hold her urine every 3 hours. This is just a guideline. So, after breakfast at 8.30 am, she would pee at around 11.30 a.m, 2.30 p.m, 5.30 p.m and 8.30 p.m, 11.30 p.m, 2.30 a.m , 5.30 am.

From my survey of 400 puppies, the past midnight peeing is usually once. So, it is likely to be around 2.30 - 5.30 am. Stop giving water past 10 p.m in this case will enable the puppy to control her bladder and it will not be harmful for the puppy as she has water for the whole day.

So, she does NOT pee much when brought downstairs at 8.30 a.m and 9.30 p.m.

The couple was working long hours 5 days a week. To prevent the puppy peeing inside the apartment when let out, the owner has leashed her.

"When you let the puppy out of the bathroom toilet in the condo living area, monitor her closely for behavioural signs of elimination," I said.

"I did," the lady owner would look for signs like sniffing and turning around and pull the puppy's leash to get her into the bathroom. "I didn't know you monitored her," the husband rubbed his sleep-deprived eyes.



"Did you give a treat after she pees in the toilet when you bring her there?" I asked the lady.

"No," she said.

"Since your puppy is always looking for food, she would be most pleased to be rewarded with a food treat and would perform well," I said.

So, a food treat would be advised in successful toilet training. Sometimes it is as simple as that.
The leash is long enough for the owner to pull the puppy to the toilet location but it does not help to train the puppy to go on her own. How to do it?

"Go toilet," I said to the lady owner when she sees signs of sniffing etc. Carry the puppy to the toilet location instead of pulling the leash.

Or give the short command and pull the leash. I forgot to tell her that as our discussion was not so well structured as my writing.

Will it work? Will she be able to remember.

"Neutralise the apartment with vinegar: water 1:3," I said to the lady. "Put the mixture on a piece of cloth or towel and wipe onto the floor. Rinse the floor.

"Smells of urine inside the apartment makes the puppy wanting to pee there. Vingear is an acid and neutralised the puppy urine which is alkaline."

"Will Dettol do?" the lady asked. Dettol is famous in Singapore as a disinfectant as well as in Hongkong, especially after the SARS viral outbreak.

"Some owners tell me that Dettol works but I don't know whether Dettol is acidic or not. There are enzyme deodorisers used by some owners too."

"You already have a schedule for the puppy after breakfast and dinner," I said. "Puppies, like small children crave routine. Except that during weekends for the past 3 weeks, the couple had brought the puppy out. So, there was no time for indoor training."

For new puppy owners, it is best to give a fixed schedule of indoor toilet training for the first 2-3 weeks for the whole 3 weeks including weekends.

But it will take a longer time and eventually, this couple should be successful in asking the puppy not to pee inside the apartment.

Short commands like "Pee Pee", lavish praises and a food treat have been used very successfully in toilet training amongst Singaporean puppy owners.

SOFT STOOLS
The puppy did have raw hide treats daily to chew. She also shreds newspapers. For the past 3 months, she had soft stools and raw hides with "milk flavour" may be a reason as some puppies are lactose (found int he milk) intolerant. Treatment for soft stools was given. There were many questions like how to prevent the puppy chewing off the bathroom piping, as this was the first puppy.

BED
The puppy would sleep under the sink inside the bathroom when the couple was at work. She would pee on any towel or rug used as bed. So, the tiled floor is the bed. She does pee on the newspapers as she was brought up in that way by the home breeder who was a school principal.

I hope this article is useful for time-pressed couples.

How many times does a 4-month-old Boxer pee a day?

E-MAIL QUERY <....@nf.sympatico.ca> wrote: Hi I have a 4 month old boxer puppy? How many time should she pee? It look like twice an hour. is that to much? E-MAIL REPLY Mon, 19 Mar 2007 07:25:37 +0800 (CST)
From:	"Dr Sing KY" Add to Address Book Yahoo! DomainKeys has confirmed that this message was sent by yahoo.com.sg. Learn more
Subject:	Re: How many times will a 4 month old pup pee

Generally, a 4-month old pup pees around every 3-4 hours.

If it is really twice an hour, on average, for the past 24 hours or more, get your vet to check for an infection.