COMMENTS BY DR SING

1. Confinement in a small space (e.g. crate + pee pan in the picture above) for the first 14 days is necessary to toilet-train the puppy. Giving him too much space is like putting him in a football field. He will pee and poop anywhere. 

2. The dog trainer advised a bigger space using newspapers and leaving the crate door open. This is not good advice as the puppy is not so easily "paper-trained" by this way. The puppy has no motivation to get inside the crate to eliminate too as he associates it with "imprisonment". It is more fun to be out of the crate. He has been crated by the Seller for the past weeks and therefore appreciates freedom. But at what cost to the Buyer? Soiled areas to be cleaned up many times a day.   

The new puppy is does not know that he is supposed to pee on the newspapers. Probably there is no urine smell on the newspapers. The puppy shreds the newspapers (common complaint in paper training). He eliminates near the washer and dryer, as far away from his sleeping area. He dislikes going back to the crate as he associates it with a loss of freedom. 

3. The Seller (pet farm) has trained the puppy to pee and poop inside the crate and pee pan. The puppy associates the feel of the crate with elimination. Therefore, the Buyer is wise to adopt the recommendations of the Seller. Take the puppy out 3X/day for 5-10 minutes to play and confine him. Confinement sounds cruel to many dog lovers and trainers. But is important in the first 7-28 days.

4. Playing with the puppy prevents him sleeping too much during the daytime and helps in making the puppy used to people and the surroundings.

5. After 7-28 days and a set routine, the puppy may be taken out in a bigger space (increase area of freedom by 100%) and closely supervised. If he goes back to the crate to pee and poop, then, he has been "crate" trained.

Increase the area to roam over the next 4 weeks and in the end, this puppy will use the crate as its toilet and sleeps outside the crate.

6. As to paper-training the puppy, it will be another method. Definitely the crate and pee pan housing is not meant for paper-training during the first 7-14 days. Imprisonment and a perceived lack of hygiene are two worries of a dog lover using the crate + pee pan method.

The grate + pee pan method is another alternative used in Singapore. But the owner must know that he has still to confine the puppy (inside a playpen) and train him to use the grate (putting urine smell on the newspapers placed onto of the pee pan). This is not paper-training.

Paper-training. The playpen plus 100% newspapers may be the most practical way. Reduce the newspapers covering the floor over the next 7-14 days as you observe the particular corner used by the puppy to pee and poop. Do not shout or pay attention if the puppy messes up the papers. Just change them when you come home from work (busy working couple).

Paper shredding, stepping on stools and dirtied soiled paws and bodies are to be expected unless the puppy is a "cleanliness freak" and there is sufficient space for him NOT to step onto the soiled area. If the puppy is a cleanliness freak, paper-training can be accomplished in <7 days. This puppy might have been paper-trained by the breeder in his home.  Therefore, know the history of toilet-training when you buy the puppy.