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Mum said, "He bites everybody.
He barks back when scolded. He bites if we spank him. He pees
everywhere."
"If you neuter him now, his 'kuku' will not develop to the adult
size. He may have difficulty urinating later on as his body
matures and his male organ is juvenile. I suggest 6 months of age
to neuter him.
The pup was a rascal at home.
But he was rather quiet and docile when I examined him. I can't
imagine him being a nuisance at home.
"He has the heart of the lion," I said. "He is the alpha male and
is testing both of you and knows that he can dominate both of
you.'
I asked the fair skinned teenager, "I must say that the puppy is
not afraid of you. You have to be like the RSM (Regimental
Sergeant Major) in the army. You give commands in a loud voice so
that the puppy respects you."
Mum laughed, "My son is not in the National Service yet. He is
still studying."
"Puppies bite to communicate with people or they are teething.
Whenever the puppy wants to bite, you grasp his muzzle with one
hand and spank your hand over his muzzle. At the same time, you
say 'no biting' loudly and firmly. As this puppy is young and
impressionable, he will learn to behave. However you must catch
him misbehaving to be effective " I demonstrated the technique to
the owners.
The young man said, "I read in the internet that you hold the neck
of the puppy to discipline him."
"How do you do it?" I asked him. He did not demonstrate.
"You hold the scruff of the neck," I showed him. "Some dams carry
the puppy on the scruff of the neck. Some puppy books advocate
this method to discipline the puppy. Dams will quickly nip on the
progeny's skin to stop the painful bites of play-biting." As I
gripped the puppy's scruff, he emitted a loud scream as if he was
being murdered. I put the puppy down so as not to distress the
owners.
"As for him peeing everywhere,
what is his peeing habit?" I asked.
Mum said, "The puppy will pee onto the newspapers on the pee pan
when he is crated. But when he is let out, he will pee everywhere
in the apartment."
"Is your crate too high for the puppy to climb into?" I asked.
"Yes, the door is too high," the young man said.
"So the puppy could not go back to the crate to pee if he needed
to. You can't blame him."
"What should we do?" the mum asked.
"Buy a bottle of white vinegar from the supermarket to neutralise
the puppy's urine smell. Dilute 1 cup of white vinegar to 3 cups
of water. Use a piece of cloth to soak this solution and then wipe
the floors of the apartment. Do not use a mop as it will have a
lot of urine smell."
I continued, "In the meantime, put the puppy confined in the
kitchen and take out the pee pan with newspapers. Put it on the
floor. Take some puppy urine from the soiled newspapers. Put it
onto the 2nd layer on the pee pan."
Mum frowned on the mention of using the kitchen, imagining lots of
pee everywhere. So how could she cook?
The young man said, "Is it OK
if I put him in my bedroom?"
"Yes," I said. "Train him well. His mind is a clean slate at this
age. If you need to neuter him, wait for him to grow up to 6
months of age."
Giving what the clients want is good for business. Sometimes it is
the interest of the puppy that the vet has to consider. There is
always a risk of losing the customer if one does not provide what
the customer wants.
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