# Help w/House Training my male puppy



## Cohiba0109 (Apr 6, 2009)

Hi everyone!
I'm Johanna from the Sunshine State (Tampa, FL) and I'm very to Havanese forum
About 3wks ago my husband surprised my with a 2.5mth old male puppy named(Cohiba).
We have always loved this breed, especially we had one that lasted sooo long 16yrs old, she passed away of old age.
Well I'm in the process of house training Cohiba but I'm having a few small issues. From day 1 I introduced him to the puppy pad. I take him out and put him on the pad right when I get up in the morning, after he eats in the morning, I also come during my lunch break and take him out, and then as soon as I get home. 
Here's the problem: He pees in his crate when he sees me or my husband come in through the door, and doesnt give us enough time to get him out. Its pretty frustrating!! Also he poops or pees over night in his crate and he does not alert us (barks) or nothing to let us know that he needs to go out, so he just goes in his crate. As a result he sits or lays on his pee and since he's a whitish/cream color you can see the yellow from his pee underneath from where's he sat on. Thus, I then have to give him a bath like almost 3x a week.
I dont want to keep giving him a bath, and I take him out as much as I can but he just doesnt seem to get the point:frusty:
He also sees where the pad is, but still doesnt go to it all the time its like he's just lazy or something.
Please tell me what I'm doing wrong and give me suggestions as to resolving these problems:help:
Thank you,
Johanna


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## DanielBMe (Nov 25, 2007)

Not sure if you tried this but it worked well for my Brando when trying to train him to use the pee pads. If Cohiba pees on the floor or in the crate, take a pee pad and dip it in the pee. That way you get much more of the scent on the pee pad. Then lay it out. If you have him in an enclosed area, such as a play pen, make sure the pee pad is in there with him. He should smell the scent and go there again. 

Also make sure you don't give him any water or food after 8pm and make sure you take him to the pee pad before crating him for the night. If you feed him dinner, say at 6pm, keep him in an enclosed area where there's easy access to the pee pad. Watch him like a hawk. If he looks like he has to go put him on the pee pad and say "go potty". 

It definitely helped with Brando. I also had used my friends pee pad which her maltese peed on. Brando couldn't resist that lol

Each dog is different but it helped me. Good Luck!


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## Cohiba0109 (Apr 6, 2009)

I'm gonna try it and see how he does...I actually went and got that spray that attracts them to the pad or outside....so I dont know we'll see I guess.
I was considering putting half of a pad inside his crate but I didnt want him to get use to and think its okay to pee or poop in there. Nevertheless he thinks its okay to do his business in there.


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## Posh's Mom (Dec 20, 2007)

How big is his crate? If it's too big he's not going to associate it with "den living." Could you instead keep him in an ex-pen or crate set up that has separate places for him to sleep and pee, with pads in the right area? Also, remember a puppy that young can not go more than a couple of hours without eliminating, it's just physically impossible.


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## Cohiba0109 (Apr 6, 2009)

Its a medium size crate max weight is 25lbs so it will be good for him till he's an adult.
The only thing is that it didnt include a divider or such. I take him and put him on the pee pad or take him outside alot. 3x in the morning then at noon and then like 4x when Im home from work. I normally go to bed around 10pm so I take him out before then. All he does is pee alittle here and alittle there, but he doesnt poop at that time. He poops overnight and then I get the surprise in the morning.


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## Lina (Apr 26, 2007)

The crate is WAY too big for him. What I did when first potty training Kubrick and then Hitchcock was to get a cardboard box and place it inside the crate to make it smaller. It should be JUST big enough so that he can turn around in it and lay down. That's it. Any more space and they will pee/poop in one corner and sleep in another. Get a box and limit his crate space and you should see an improvement. You also might want to cover the box with a sheet or pillow case... Kubrick used to tear the cardboard so I put a pillow case over it.


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## Eva (Jun 20, 2008)

Hi and :welcome: to the forum! 
I would try and block off the back section of the crate and enlarge the space as your little one grows. 
He should have enough room to stand up,lay down and turn around but that's it...if the space is any larger he'll use one end to potty in and the other for sleeping.
You could always use an x-pen during the day with a pee pad so that he doesn't have to hold it as long when you're out of the house and if he pees from excitement when your or your hubby comes home it will be easier to clean up after him. 
I love the information on potty training and crate training on this website. it really helped me out when Todd was a little pup. 
http://myladhavanese.com/training.asp

Good luck with your new baby. He's adorable...when you get a chance we'd *LOVE* to see more pictures!


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## Cohiba0109 (Apr 6, 2009)

Lina & Eva 
Thank you for the suggestions.
So in other words to basically minimize the area in his crate to where he can only sit and lay...ok perfect i'm doing that today for sure.
What about the peeing when he sees us and doesnt give a chance to open the crate and let him out part....
Thanks again for the advise!!!


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## Lina (Apr 26, 2007)

That sounds like excitement peeing to me. There are a lot of threads on the subject if you do a search for it on the forum. Here's one of the latest threads on it:

http://havaneseforum.com/showthread.php?t=7969&

Basically, you should completely and totally ignore him when you come home... no hello, no happy voice, no eye contact. Of course, let him out to pee, but just pick him up and put him down on his pee pad (or wherever he needs to go) without speaking to him or looking at him. I think that should help.

By the way, I think we need some more pictures of Cohiba in order to help you out any more.


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## DAJsMom (Oct 27, 2006)

The peeing when he sees you is from excitement. It's a little harder since it's happening in the crate. One of our dogs will do this. It is not a problem if her bladder is empty. We keep it to a minimum by giving her no attention or eye contact when we first walk in. We just walk straight to the back door and let her out. We give her the first attention after she is outside, or better yet, after she has pottied outside. It doesn't hurt her at all, keeps things calm when we first come home, and keeps the carpet dry. It may help if you are very calm when you first come in the door. Ignore the puppy for several minutes, then quietly go over to the crate and let him out-still no eye contact. Walk straight to the puppy pad and give him a chance to potty. You may be able to just walk over and let him out right away if you just don't even look at him or talk to him until he's had a chance to potty in the right place. This isn't being mean, just keep things very calm so that he gets the idea that he doesn't have to get upset or excited and pee. It may take some trial and error to see what works for him. An ex-pen setup might work so that he has a place to potty when you are not home. 

Also, where did your puppy come from? A petstore puppy or one that has been crated a lot may be harder to housetrain, but it can be done. They just don't have any choice but to go potty in their cage and have to learn to overcome that--that there is a better place to go. 

He is a very cute puppy! Congratulations!


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## Cohiba0109 (Apr 6, 2009)

All these wonderful ideas I will definately will put to good use.
And yes we did get him from a puppy petstore so I can understand them going in the crate.


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

You've gotten some good advice here. I'd go back to the first setup we use for our puppies when they are 3 weeks old. He's bigger of course so you will need to start with probably an expen instead of the whelping box. It needs to be sized so he only has room to lie down and a place to potty and no extra space. They have the instinct to start with not to soil their bed. You have to use this to your advantage particularly because he has learned otherwise.

He has learned the wrong behavior in his crate so I would put it aside and make a completely new setup.

He will have to be watched constantly and the instant he does the correct behavior make a big show of praise for him. They learn fast but they have to be set up to succeed. 

Do a search on the forums for potty training threads. There is much information here.


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## Scooter's Family (May 23, 2008)

Are you praising him when he does go? Our puppy, Murphy, is 3 1/2 months old and when he's awake sometimes he goes out 4 or 5 times per hour. He does fine during the night in his crate but his water is taken up at 8pm. Try walking him before bed to stimulate him and maybe he'll pee and poo just before bedtime. You could also feed his dinner a bit earlier if possible. My guys never eat later than 6pm.

Where are you in Tampa? I have family there in Valrico and Brandon.


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## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

All I can say is-YIPPEE-someone in our area!!!!
Welcome guys!


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