DRAFT. TO FINALISE REPORT LATER.
TOILET-TRAINING 2 SPITZ PUPPIES
E-MAIL FROM OWNER
July 19, 2009
Hi judy,
I hope this is not too much
trouble for u. I recently
bot 2 japanese spitz
puppies. They are with me
for 3 weeks now. The first 2
weeks, i admit i make some
mistakes in the house
breaking training.
Now i have confined the 2
puppies separately in 2 play
pen. When the puppies are
inside the play pen, they
usually most of the time
would pee n poo on the pee
tray. When i open up the
play pen to let them play
ard, they would pee on other
places. One pee very far, so
i thought he prob couldnt
find his way back. The other
one pee abt 20 cm away from
the pee tray. Why is it that
when the play pen is opened
up, they forgot where they
shld pee just like how well
behave they are when they
are confined in the play
pen.
Can u give me some advice as
to what i shld do? I am so
close to pulling out all my
hair.
Thanks n regards
Name of Owner |
E-MAIL REPLY FROM DR SING
From: Kong Yuen Sing <99pups@gmail.com>
To: ...@yahoo.com.sg>
Sent: Sunday, 19 July 2009 2:55:33
Subject: Re: Pls help me, i need
advice on housebreaking my
puppies.
I am Dr Sing. Thank you for your
e-mail.
1. In reply, I presume you have
two puppies coming out of the 2
playpens at the same time.
2. The two are then given a much
bigger area to play. They forget
about their pee tray.
3. Ideally, you should permit one
puppy to come out to an extended
area which is around 2X the area
of the playpen (e.g kitchen area).
Open the playpen gate and monitor
the puppy. If he goes to the pee
tray, praise and give food treat.
If he shows signs of wanting to
pee, carry him quickly to the pee
tray. Be observant.
4. The other puppy should be
confined and not be seen by the
other puppy while you train this
one.
5. Repeat paragraph 3 with the
other puppy.
6. In cases where there is only
one puppy, it takes 2-4 weeks of
confinement inside the playpen 90%
of the time before they know that
they must go to the pee tray to
eliminate when they are let out of
the playpen into a bigger area
(not the whole apartment, just the
kitchen or bathroom as an
example). It is not just 1 week as
that was what I presumed you did.
7. Therefore, go back to the
basics as mentioned in paragraph
3.
E-MAIL REPLY FROM OWNER
Date: Sun, Jul 19, 2009 at
8:06 AM
Subject: Re: Pls help me, i
need advice on housebreaking
my puppies.
To: Kong Yuen Sing <99pups@gmail.com>
Dear mr sing,
Thank you very much for your
prompt reply. I really
really appreciate it. I will
listen to your advice and do
as u said. I will definitely
write back once the house
breaking training is
successful for the 2
puppies.
A big thank you.
Name of Owner |
FOLLOW-UP E-MAIL FROM DR SING
From: Kong Yuen Sing <99pups@gmail.com>
To: ...@yahoo.com.sg
Sent: Friday, 20 November 2009
8:17:02
Subject: 2 puppies - toilet
training in July 2009
Dear Ms ...
I am Dr Sing from Toa Payoh Vets.
We corresponded in July 2009
regarding your 2 new puppies and
their toilet training. I hope all
are OK now in November. Do you
mind letting me know how you got
the 2 puppies toilet trained?
E-MAIL REPLY FROM THE SPITZ
OWNER
On Thu, Dec 17, 2009 at 7:02
AM, ...@yahoo.com.sg> wrote:
Hi dr sing,
Sorry for the late reply.
Yes they are toilet trained
now.
Well out of desperation, we
hired a trainer to come to
our place n teach us how to
toilet train the 2 puppies.
Basically he came to see how
we set up the playpen. The
big mistake we made was
putting the pee tray on the
outer side in the playpen.
The pee tray should always
be behind where they will
usually walk, jump and
sleep.
At first they are in the
living room. We told the
trainer that in future we
like them to pee/poo in the
kitchen area. So we moved
the playpen to the kitchen.
Due to the setting of my
kitchen, We know that the
puppies will walk along 3
sides of the playpen while
the other side is the wall
so they won't be there
often. So we placed the pee
tray leaving space for them
to lie down and walk along
the 3 sides. So in a way,
the pee tray is behind where
they move ard.
They stay in there for abt a
week or 2 and of course
occasionally we let them out
to play. While out playing
the female went back to the
pee tray to do her business.
So we started to let her out
most of the day time and
only put her inside the
playpen in the nite. After a
few days later, the male
started doing the same. So
we let the 2 out in the day
and put them inside the
playpen in the nite. At the
same time we expand the
playpen size n give them
more space.
1 or 2 weeks later, we
remove the playpen and let
them out day and nite. They
are already toilet trained.
Once in a while they make
mistake by pooing outside.
They hardly pee wrongly
though.
Now that they are 8.5 months
old now. They don't make
mistake anymore.
Hope this helps.
Regards
Name of Owner |
E-MAIL FROM DR SING
Many thanks for your feedback. It
will be very useful for owners
with 2 puppies and for me to
advise other owners with 2
puppies. There is a lot of
questions asked by puppies about
toilet training in my practice.
Is it possible for you to give me
an estimate of the length and
width of the playpen and the pee
tray at that time? The standard 4
panels of fencing for a playpen is
3 feet x 2.5 feet. Was yours much
bigger since you need to put 2
Spitz puppies in one playpen. Is
it 6 feet x 2.5 feet? An estimate
will do since it is so long ago.
Is it possible for you to email a
drawing/sketch of the floor plan
of the pee tray being against one
side of the wall so that the pups
could walk along 3 sides by
drawing and then taking a pic with
your handphone if you don't use
camera? Do you have a picture of
the floor plan of the time you
toilet train them and email to me
the picture? It will be much
clearer as I may be interpreting
incorrectly.
Thank you once again for your
detailed reply. I wish you a Happy
Christmas and a Happy New Year.
 CONCLUSION
It is a big challenge to get
1 puppy to eliminate in the
pee tray (pan). With 2
puppies, it can be very
frustrating.
It seems that the location
of the pee tray is
important.
Locating in the front part
of the play pen means that
the puppies have to step
over them to get out and
this makes them soil their
paws. Being clean by
instinct, they will avoid
the pee tray and so it was
difficult to pee-tray train
them initially.
A house-visit by a dog
trainer was important as the
housing plan and management
was reviewed during the
house visit and this
resulted in success. I
presume that the 2 puppies
were pee-pan trained
together and that the
pee-pan is washed
frequently. Is it a
grate+pee pan? A follow up
is necessary.
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TOA
PAYOH VETS