|
Toa Payoh
Vets Clinical Research
Making veterinary surgery alive
to a veterinary student studying in Australia
using real case studies and pictures |
|
FLOOR GRATE +
PEE PAN METHOD
IN TOILET TRAINING OF PUPPIES: 4 CASE STUDIES TO SHARE WITH FIRST-TIME
PUPPY OWNERS IN SINGAPORE |
|
CASE STUDY 1.
CONFUSING THE GOLDEN RETRIEVER PUPPY
Dr Sing Kong Yuen, BVMS (Glasgow), MRCVS
First
written: Dec 17, 2008. Updated: Nov 19, 2009
|
From: <...@yahoo.com.sg>
Subject: Golden Retriever Training
To: judy@toapayohvets.com
Date: Friday, December 19, 2008, 8:28 AM
Dear Dr Sing:
I sincerely hope you can provide me with your expert
advise.
I got a Golden retriever puppy on last Sunday, 13 Dec 2008. It
is of 3 months age. I placed it in a cage (4-sided chrome wire
with a top and a wire grating below with a pee tray ). I
placed it in my planter area in the kitchen. There is a toilet
just 2 metres away. There, I placed newspaper on a separate
pee-tray and placed the "urine-smell" chemical on it. My wife
and I took turns and wake up twice during the night to bring
it there to pee and poo. Meal times are at 7am and 7-8pm.
Water bottle is removed at 11pm. After each meal, we bring the
puppy there. I am glad that within 2 days, by Tuesday, 16 Dec
2008, the puppy knows where to go to do its business.
PUPPY IS USED TO THIS ROUTINE FOR 2 DAYS. IT KNOWS THE TOILET
LOCATION AND KNOWS WHAT TO DO. IT HAD POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT
FROM YOU. THEN YOU START ANOTHER ROUTINE. YOU SHOULD HAVE
GIVEN IT 2 WEEKS TO BE FULLY TRAINED BEFORE SWITCHING TO
ANOTHER ROUTINE.
Then we bought a baby gate and sealed off a section of the
kitchen (The sealed area is for the puppy. The cage and toilet
is there too.) The questions are:
1) The puppy now does not want to go back to the cage to
sleep. We need to "force" it back in. We still wake up to
bring it to the toilet. Why does the puppy "hates" its cage
now?
PUPPIES PREFER FREEDOM TO RUN AROUND. IT ASSOCIATES THE CAGE
WITH BEING LOCKED UP AND NEGATIVE FEELINGS.
2) We intend to let the puppy free roam the sealed section
and the cage unlocked. So it can walk around and go to the
toilet by itself.
PUPPY WILL TAKE TIME TO GO TO THE PROPER TOILET LOCATION.
Now the puppy goes and tear the newspaper in the toilet and
eats them. Is it safe? How can we make the puppy go to the
toilet with the newspaper and not tear and eat them?
PAPER SHREDDING IS THE MOST COMMON COMPLAINT from puppy
owners. There is nothing much you can do. Some owners do tape
the newspapers to the floor, edges of pee pan etc. Not safe
if the puppy eats lots of newspapers.
3) We noticed the puppy tends to step on its urine or poo
if its not cleared immediately) and walks all over its area
thus dirtying the area.
STEPPING ON STOOLS IS ANOTHER COMMON COMPLAINT from puppy
owners. Possible cause could be insufficient space or that the
puppy is not particularly clean due to previous confinement in
the cages in the pet shop or breeder's place.
Thus, I removed the wire floor of the cage and placed it on
top of the newspaper and pee-tray in the toilet and secured it
with cable-tie (At least it will not step on its own urine.
But if it steps on the poo, no choice). This is done as I do
not want the puppy to tear and eat the newspaper.
ANOTHER NEW ROUTINE USING THE GRATE (WIRE FLOOR) SERVES TO
CONFUSE THE PUPPY.
But worse off, it now refuse or "is scared" to go to the
toilet to do its business.
PUPPY PROBABLY GETS SCOLDING/SPANKING FROM YOU when it does
not step on the Grate to pee and poo. Grate may be too small,
too dirty and does not feel right to the puppy.
I tried the same routine again, command it to go, coax it
and praise it when its there but the puppy just refuse to do
its business on top of the wire floor with both soiled and new
newspaper below it with the pee-tray.
GRATE + PEE PAN METHOD you are using. First, you need to
confine the puppy such that it has no space but to go to the
grate to eliminate. A clean place to sleep and eat. I presume
your puppy has a lot of space and so does not need to go to
the grate to eliminate.
THE FLOOR OF THE KITCHEN AND NEARBY AREAS IS FULL OF SMELLS OF
URINE AND POO. Did you manage to neutralise the smells? White
vinegar: water 1:3 with a piece of cloth (not mop which is
full of urine smells) to wipe whole floor. Mop needs to be
free of urine smell if you want to use mop.
I experimented by removing the wire floor and it goes back
to pee but now choose to poo on the kitchen tiles. Why does
the puppy refuses just by adding the wire floor. Must I
toilet-train it again?
THE GRATE (WIRE FLOOR) is NOT accepted by this puppy. I
suspect it is too small, not frequently cleaned when soiled
and the puppy does not know how to use it.
Too much space to roam around for the first 7 days and no
ROUTINE for the first 7-14 days. You keep changing toilet
location, toilet and sleeping areas and the puppy is just
confused.
What are your recommendations? Your help is greatly
appreciated. I look forward to yr earliest reply.
YES, YOU NEED TO START ALLOVER AGAIN. Confine for 14 days.
Neutralise smells and a fixed routine. Not all puppies are
comfortable with the grate and pee pan method. If you want to
use the grate and pee pan method, put puppy in one area e.g.
bathroom. Put urine smell into the pee pan. Other floor area
has no urine or poo smell (not always possible). Floor area to
sleep is restricted to a small area. Baby gate can be put
outside bathroom door. After 14 days or less, let the puppy
out to the kitchen (baby gate outside the kitchen door). Then
more and more free areas as the puppy goes back to the
bathroom grate. Obviously, you need to keep the soiled grate
clean.
Unfortunately, the cleanliness of the puppy to sleep and eat
in a clean area depends on its upbringing by the Seller. If it
has been forced to sleep in dirt, it will step on poop.
Generally, you will note that the puppy will prefer a clean
sleeping and eating area and a toilet location further.
However, if you give it a lot of space, it will eliminate
anywhere except its eating and sleeping area.
Hope above suggestions help. |
 One tool used
in this case study is a
grate + pee pan to toilet train
the Golden Retriever puppy. For some owners
of small breeds like the Chihuahua, the dog will pee and poop on the
grate, saving a lot of cleaning.
Newspapers as toilet location - problem
is dirty paws from newspaper ink. Some
owners don't like that.
The grate keeps
the paws clean from urine and stools as the puppy does not step on the
stools. In the case of small breeds with
smaller stools, this tool is great. The problem of paper shredding
and eating newspapers does not exist.
The disadvantage is that the puppy will
never be paper-trained using this
method. The owner NEEDS to remove the
stools stuck on top of the grate and clean the soiled grate
promptly (preferred) as the puppy dislikes soiled areas and
will not eliminate on the grate if he has a choice of other
places, e.g. OUTSIDE the perimeter of the grate.
|
|
CASE STUDY NO. 2 -
SUCCESS IN FLOOR GRATE + PEE PAN TOILET TRAINING. extracted
from Dr Sing's blog: Monday, February 11, 2008 |
"Believe me, all sorts
of masking tape had been used to ensure that the Miniature
Schnauzer cannot shred the newspapers," the young man
said. Half of the playpen floor was covered with
newspapers which are taped at all 4 sides. Still the puppy
shreds them. So, paper training was not possible for one
month.
"What did you do?" I asked.
"I bought a floor grate with pee pan below from another
pet shop. Put urine smell on the pee pan and put the whole
set inside the playpen. Now the puppy just eliminate on
the floor grate. No more dirty paws," the owner was
satisfied with the solution.
Shredding papers is a common complaint of many pups home
alone. In this case, the floor grate with pee pan resolves
the problem.
The owner remarked, "The Miniature Schnauzer would stand
upright, front legs against the playpen to poop onto the
floor grate. Is this normal?"
"No," I said. "A pup will squat to eliminate. He does not
want to step onto the soiled floor grate."
"I don't think so," the owner thought it was part of the
personality of the puppy or breed to stand and poo.
It is difficult for the puppy to communicate with us that
he does not want to dirty his paws. The urine in the floor
grate may be soiled, according to his highly developed
sense of smell. The owner would not think so as the urine
would have had flowed into the pee pan.
"The only support for my saying this is that another owner
with the same situation and breed has the same behaviour
of the puppy standing upright against the playpen panel to
poop onto the floor grate."
It is a pity I don't have the pictures.
|
CASE STUDY 3:
PARTIAL SUCCESS -
HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY GRATE
+ PEE PAN TRAIN YOUR PUPPY
Written: June 14,
2008
Dr Sing Kong Yuen, BVMS (Glasgow), MRCVS
Toa Payoh Vets |
Summary: The
grate and pee pan set has been used by many Singaporean
puppy owners with varying degrees of success. This case
describes the partial success in getting a small breed
dog to step up onto the grate to pee only. The puppy
poops elsewhere unlike a successful case described in
case study 4. |
The grate and pee pan
set has been used by many Singaporean puppy owners with
varying degrees of success. This case shows success in
getting the small breed dog to step up onto the grate to
pee but not to poo. How did the owner do it?
Positive reinforcement training for the puppy
using verbal commands and food treats whenever the puppy
shows signs of elimination (squatting, sniffing). For
the working couple in this case study, it took a lot of
time of many weeks. Training would be done when they
returned home from work.
Clean grate is important. "My dog is very clean.
He does not pee onto the grate if I do not wipe off the
urine after he had peed onto it. I wash the grate with
detergent at the end of each day."
I was impressed as it is not easy as most Singapore
owners failed to get the dog to walk up and step onto
the grate to eliminate. "Does he poop onto the grate
too?"
"No," she said. "He poops on the tiled floor in the
balcony or kitchen. I just remove the poop, washed the
floor with vinegar:acid spray. It was a good idea to use
a spray bottle.
I know of many owners whose dogs just use the grate for
peeing. The reason may be that the grate is too small or
not cleaned after the puppy has had peed. The lady owner
whose left finger had a splint and plaster while trying
to save her dog from being killed by a big dog at the
park, probably did not wipe the grate after the dog had
peed, at the beginning of training. The dog is now over
1.5 years old.
Once the dog is used to pooping onto the tiled floor, it
is difficult to re-train him.
"Why don't you put newspapers onto the two frequented
floor spots where the dog poops so that you can just
throw away the soiled newspaper with the poop?"
The lady said: "The dog used to shred newspapers when he
is alone. So I do not use newspapers.
"The dog has grown up and may not shred newspapers," I
proposed she does paper-training.
In any case, the young couple is very happy with the
dog. He does not urine-mark inside the apartment despite
being a male dog.
SUGGESTION
STAGE 2
But there is some area for reducing her cleaning
workload if the adult dog can be paper-trained to
pee and poo since she is no longer working.
For example, put newspapers on the pee pan. Let the dog
use the pee pan to pee and poop. Use a larger pee pan.
Shredding newspapers may or may not be the adult dog's
habit now. Who knows until we try. If the dog can be
paper-trained, so much washing and mopping is avoided!
But many dog owners have not thought of this 2nd stage
as they are quite happy with the status quo.
"Vinegar:water at 1:4 spray bottle is a good idea. It is
meant to neutralise the urine smell in the pee
pan or floor," I explained to the happy couple who loved
this little rascal whose jugular vein was attacked by a
big dog during exercise in a park. The grate was washed
or wiped by laundry detergent. It seemed to work too as
the dog continues peeing onto it. |
|
CASE STUDY 4:
TIPS FOR THE
FIRST-TIME PUPPY OWNER - HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY GRATE + PEE PAN
TRAIN YOUR PUPPY
Written: June 14,
2008
Dr Sing Kong Yuen, BVMS (Glasgow), MRCVS
Toa Payoh Vets |
Summary: The
grate and pee pan set has been used by many Singaporean
puppy owners with varying degrees of success. This case
describes the success in getting a small breed dog to
step up onto the grate to pee and to poo. Unlike
a previous case of just pee but not poop on the Grate +
Pee Pan. How did the owner do it?
|
Positive
reinforcement training for the puppy using verbal
commands and food treats whenever the puppy shows signs
of elimination (squatting, sniffing). For the working
couple in this case study, it took a lot of time
of many weeks and probably months. Training would be
done when they returned home from work.
Clean grate is important. The owner cleans the
Grate + Pee Pan every 2 days. Stools must be removed
promptly or the dog will not eliminate on the grate.
SUGGESTION.
I did not suggest any new idea as the owners had
complete success using the Grate+ Pee Pan method for
their little breed. The use of a plastic floor grate may
be preferred to a wired one as the latter rusts over
time.
"Is it OK for my dog during the surgery?" the lady in
her mid 30s were more concerned as to whether her dog
would die under general anaesthesia for neuter.
 The
Grate + Pee Pan (Pee Tray) set with a Maltese is
shown in this picture.
For some Singapore owners of small breeds like the
Chihuahua, peeing and pooping on the grate saves a
lot of cleaning of the soiled paws. In using
newspapers, owners complain the newspaper ink
dirtied the paws in white breeds. Some owners
don't like that. An alternative to newspapers is
the the use of puppy diapers (puppy training
pads). |
"99% of healthy
young dogs being neutered do not die on the operating
table," I said. As the dog was docile, I used the 8% gas
anaesthesia to knock him down, put in the endotracheal
tube to connect his lungs to the gas and put on 1%
maintenance dose. No tranquiliser was given so as to
prevent anaesthetic complications. There was no problem
at all.
 The
dog had been so active in humping every towel and other
dogs such that it was anti-social and embarrassing. The
couple were knowledgeable and knew that early neuter was
the solution. The dog had no problem with the
anaesthesia and went home to a happy couple. I recorded
in a piece of paper quickly after the interview before I
forget the details as writing takes days in time-pressed
Singapore. |
|
 CONCLUSION
As each puppy is an individual
and has its previous history from the seller and as each breed
has its own traits, there is no one way to toilet train the
puppy.
Confinement, positive reinforcement training, close
monitoring and training for the first 14-28 days and
neutralising urine smells in non-approved toilet areas and a
routine for sleeping, eating, drinking and exercise form the
basis of toilet training in the puppy. Please
e-mail
judy@toapayohvets.com if you wish to seek advice as
regards toilet-training in your puppy or dog. |
|
 Toa
Payoh Vets
Clinical Research |
|
|
Copyright ©
Asiahomes Internet
All rights reserved. Revised: November 19, 2009
Toa Payoh Vets
|
|
