The most common mistake most
time-pressed Singapore puppy owners in this research is to let the
puppy roam the entire apartment before he knows where he should pee
and poo.
ADOPT BASIC PRINCIPLES OF TOILET TRAINING:
Generally 2-4 weeks of confinement in a small space will be
necessary to toilet-train the puppy. Give commands eg. "Pee here".
Praise, food treats and playtime on successful performance. Monitor
for signs of elimination. Neutralise the urine smell of "accident"
areas with white vinegar:water
Another example, if you use a
grate + pee pan as shown in the picture below, the puppy and the
grate still have to be confined to a small room or playpen. Use
urine smell to attract the puppy to the toilet location, e.g. a
soiled tissue with puppy's urine or commercial pet shop puppy
training aid.
A lot of time in training
the second puppy may be required. It depends on the puppy's
previous paper-training experience and distractions from
family members. The 2nd puppy may or may not adopt the toilet
location of the older mentor.
"Thinking out of the box" is not so easy, but the owner in
this case study did solve the problem of "missing the pee pan
target" by having bigger toilet area being papered using
2 pee trays (one being the "cover") in one location.
Take the puppy out to play for half an hour per day but
observe for signs of elimination --- squatting, sniffing,
turning around.
POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT TRAINING - REWARD
Put the puppy into the confined area quickly, say IN A FIRM TONE "pee here", praise and give food treats.
NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT TRAINING - FEAR
Forcing the puppy to smell his pee or poop when he has an accident
and then placing him in the owner's required toilet area for the
puppy is not advised. The puppy fears the owner and does not know
why he is gripped and force to smell his pee or poop.
Toa
Payoh Vets Clinical Research