85. Plastic grate + pee pan house breaking

Thank you for your email. My reply is in CAPITAL letters below.


E-MAIL TO DR SING AND DR SING'S REPLY IN CAPITAL LETTERS

From: ...@gmail.com>
Subject: Help for toilet training
To: judy@toapayohvets.com
Date: Monday, May 31, 2010, 11:36 AM

Hello Dr. Sing,

I am a first time dog owner and has specially taken one week leave to toilet train my dog. I feel a bit frustrated now that I am not seeing any results.

IT TAKES 4-8 WEEKS OF CONFINEMENT AND TRAINING TO SEE SUCCESSFUL RESULTS

I just got my toy poodle named Ginger, close to 3 months old, back home on Saturday afternoon. I have set up my playpen as per the photo attached.

I have been trying hard to train her to get up onto the Pee tray. Sometimes she pees on the pee tray (that's when we confined her to just the pee tray) by a fence in btw. Yet most of the times, she will pee outside the Pee tray-Black area.

THERE ARE A FEW REASONS FOR THIS BEHAVIOUR.
1. YOUR PUPPY MAY BE USED TO PEEING ONTO THE SOLID FLOOR. YOU NEED TO LET ME KNOW WHAT TYPE OF FLOORING SHE WAS USED TO AT THE BREEDER'S HOME. IT MAY BE JUST TILED FLOORS. SO THE PEE TRAY BLACK AREA CLOSELY FEELS LIKE THE TILED FLOOR. CHECK WITH THE BREEDER. I suspect that your new puppy has no experience with this yellow plastic grate as the breeder or seller never uses it. It is usually sold to puppy buyers. The puppy has been used to another type of grate or flooring and so you do not expect her to eliminate on it.

URINE SMELL. For the yellow grate, you need to put urine smell (tissue paper with puppy's urine smell onto the pee pan. This pee pan is below this yellow grate. I hope you know what I mean.

2. YOUR PUPPY MAY BE THE TYPE THAT IS VERY CLEAN AND FUSSY. YOU WILL NEED TO WASH THE GRATE everytime she pees on it and also to get some urine smell onto the pee pan.

THE YELLOW THING IS CALLED THE GRATE + PEE PAN WHICH COLLECTS URINE BELOW THE GRATE. THE BLACK THING IS ALSO A PEE PAN OR PEE TRAY.

The spot she always pee outside the pee tray is the spot closest to us, marked "X" .Weirdly that's the area where we feed her food.

SHE HAS NO CHOICE FROM THE LAYOUT OF YOUR PLAYPEN. THE BACK OF THE BLACK PEE PAN IS WHERE SHE SLEEPS. THE YELLOW GRATE IS AVOIDED BY HER, I PRESUME. SO SHE HAS TO PEE ON THE FRONT PART OF THE BLACK PEE PAN.

MANY OWNERS HAVE PROBLEMS WITH TRAINING THE PUPPY ON THIS YELLOW PLASTIC GRATE + PEE PAN BECAUSE THE PUPPY IS USED TO THE WIDER METALLIC GRATE. GO AND VISIT PET SHOPS SELLING PUPPIES AND YOU WILL KNOW WHAT I MEAN OR SEE MY PICTURES OF GRATE + PEE PAN IN MY WEBSITE. YOUR PUPPY IS ONE OF THEM.

When she pees correctly on the pee tray, i will say "Good" , "Pee pee here", pat her and give her a treat.

PRAISE AND TREAT IS CORRECT. HOWEVER, DID YOU WASH THE YELLOW GRATE + PEE PAN? YOUR PUPPY MAY AVOID STEPPING ON IT AS SHE CAN SMELL IT AS UNCLEAN.

Sometimes, I like to say "Pee pee here" at the pee tray and get her to come to the Pee tray and put her in the peeing position. But she doesn't pee most of the time.

IT TAKES AT LEAST 4 WEEKS OF TRAINING AND CLOSE MONITORING AND TEACHING. YOU CANNOT EXPECT RESULTS IN ONE WEEK. KNOW THE HISTORY ABOUT HOW THE PUPPY PEES AT THE BREEDER AND LET ME KNOW.

Question 1: May I know if my method is correct? Cause weirdly after treating, the next time she still pees wrongly.

METHOD OF ORAL COMMAND, PRAISE AND TREAT IS CORRECT. BUT CAN YOUR REALLY STAY WITH THE PUPPY 24 HOURS. I DOUBT YOU CAN DO IT. SHE PEES EVERYWHERE INCLUDING THE FRONT OF THE BLACK PEE PAN.

THE SOILED YELLOW GRATE AND THE BLACK PEE PAN NEEDS TO BE WASHED PROPERLY. URINE SMELL ON THE BLACK PEE PAN (FRONT PART) NEEDS TO BE NEUTRALISED WITH VINEGAR:WATER AT 1:3 TO PREVENT MORE PEEING THERE.

Question 2: She got two ways of peeing. One is semi squat (the usual way), the other is " she will jump onto the fence-Legs on ground, hands on the fencing and pee. Is that normal?

YES. SOME OWNERS OF PUPPIES DO TELL ME THAT THEIR PUPPIES GRIP THE FENCING TO PEE. MOST LIKELY THIS IS BECAUSE SHE HAS NO SPACE OR IS TRYING TO AVOID THE FRONT PAWS STEPPING ON THE SOILED AREA. IF ONLY PUPPIES CAN TALK.

Question 3: For the past 2 nights she has been here, she poos in the early morning (eg 3-4am, 10am). I have peeped once before and saw that she poos with her legs on ground and hands on fencing. Do I have to stay up to make sure I catch her in the act and correct her when she poos?

IF YOU SLEEP NEAR THE PUPPY, YOU CAN DO THE HOUSE-BREAKING WITHIN 1-2 WEEKS. BUT THIS MAY NOT BE PRACTICAL FOR YOU. POOPING WITH FRONT PAWS ON THE FENCING IS DONE BY SOME PUPPIES, ACCORDING TO SOME OTHER OWNERS. I DON'T THINK IT IS ABNORMAL.

Question 4: Do I have to give her water often? I think maybe restricting her to peeing during certain hours could be better. So can I only give her water before play and during food time. Is that sufficient?

STOP ALL WATER AFTER DINNER OR 8 PM TO GET THE PUPPY HOUSE-BROKEN EARLIER. WATER AT ALL TIMES ADVISED. FOOD SHOULD BE GIVEN FOR 15 MINUTES AND TAKEN AWAY TO ENSURE THAT THE PUPPY DOES NOT EAT ALL DAY LONG. DO NOT DISTRACT THE PUPPY DURING FEEDING TIME AND SHE POOPS USUALLY WITHIN 30 MINUTES AFTER EATING. THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE IF YOU KEEP PLAYING OR DISTURBING HER.

My dog is very hyper. She doesn't seem to listen to my cue. When I say NO in a fierce manner, she doesn't really seem to catch it.

YOUR ORAL COMMANDS TAKE TIME TO BE USED TO. PROBABLY YOUR PUPPY DOES NOT KNOW WHAT YOU WANT. USE TWO WORDS INSTEAD OF 3 WORDS OR A SENTENCE AND USE THE SAME TWO WORDS FOR HOUSE-TRAINING.

You just need to be patient and keep at training. No other way.
See one case report at:
http://www.bekindtopets.com/dogs/20100158Grate_Training_Shih_Tzu_puppy_ToaPayohVets.htm

It may be useful for you. Let me know if you have any queries.


Draft report in this blog. Update is at www.toapayohvets.com