"When I put the newspapers below him, he poops a bit and ran to the floor tiles in any part of the apartment to complete passing his stools," the tall Chinese lady said when I asked whether the Pomeranian has had been toilet-trained. In Singapore, most puppies are paper-trained as 80% of the population lives in apartments.

Most 18-week-old puppies should be paper-trained. He was sick and that was why his toilet training was delayed. This Pomeranian was soiling the whole apartment. The mother had to clean up after him. If this goes on, the whole apartment will smell strongly of dog's urine. When he grows up, his stool volume will be more and he may not be tolerated.

So, what's the solution?

The solution lies in knowing the daily schedule for the puppy.

1. Feeding. He is fed twice per day in the living area. Water is freely available from the water bottle. He is home alone from 10 a.m to 5 p.m.

2. His sleeping area is a wire crate with a wire flooring and a pee tray below. Early morning, he will bark loudly to be let out to do his business outside the cage. This is good. No puppy wants to soil its own den. In the evening, he will be let out of the crate. He will play a while and goes to the floor tiles to pee and poop, ignoring the newspapers.

Why does he ignore the papers? The paper has no toilet training aid smell nor urine smell. The whole apartment has strong urine smell for him and that is why he goes to the same area to do his business.

What can be done to change his behaviour?

1. In the morning after he barks, put him in a playpen (enclosed area). Newspapers with some urine smell are placed inside the playpen. Praise him when he does his business. Reward. Repeat the same procedure in the evening.

2. The puppy will associate the newspapers as toilet area in time.




3. Vinegar:Water = 1:1. Spray mixture on all floor tiles to neutralise the dog urine smell. Wipe clean. (Various dog books recommend 1:1, 1:3, 1:4).

4. Later, open one side so that the Pom can rush into the toilet area (newspaper).

5. Later, put newspapers in living area an kitchen.

She promises to let me know in 2 weeks if the recommendations are successful.

Toilet Training Your First Puppy in Singapore


Sunday, Aug 18, 2006

The more than one-year-old Pom clung tightly to his owner's shoulders as he came in for his annual vaccination. He looked much like his younger days.



So, was the toilet training successful?

"We confined him by blocking him in a small corner at the kitchen, but he barks a lot and wanted to get out. So, we did not confine him as he wanted to be free. After 3 months he eliminate on the diapers (puppy training pads).

"Now he goes to "diapers" and the tiles at the corner of the kitchen floor. The smell of "diapers" attracted him to pee on them, so no newspapers are used."

"Maybe he like the soft touch of the diapers (puppy training pads)," I was surprised that he could not be paper-trained on newspapers. "Was the vinegar:water mixture effective in toilet training?"

"The vinegar:water mixture did not work," the lady said. "He still peed on the floor in the living and dining areas of the apartment."

"Actually the mixture worked to neutralise some floor tiles," I said. "Dogs have very sensitive noses. You probably had some left over urine smell."

Reasons could be the mop being used was not thoroughly rinsed.

"He still has 'accidents', occasionally by peeing near the main door and another door. He pees a few times but poops twice after meals, per day."

"These are not accidents," I said. "He was urine marking. Does he urine marking home furniture and trees and lamp posts outdoors?"

"Yes," his lady owner said. "He pees on table legs and near the main door and another door."

In this case, he was behaving normally as a male dog. To the owner, he seems to pee a lot. But he was urine-marking. It was good to know he was much loved, diapers or no diapers. Each dog behaves differently. Puppy training pads are good solutions used by many apartment owners in cases where newspapers were not effective.