# New Havanese rescue...HELP!!



## beenish (Jun 13, 2011)

Hi everyone, Iam new to this forum but excited for all the great advice. We just brought our darling 22 month old havanese home. She was living with a breeder who shows havanese...has quite a good reputation in our area. She was having trouble showing her and decided to give her away. She said that she had chewed her hair on her leg while chewing a raw hide and her hair wasnt growing in properly. Iam not sure if thats the real reason, because she is a very anxious and nervous dog. We fell in love with her and thought she'll come around with love and attention. I think majority of the her life, she stayed in a kennel in the groomers basement and yard with other dogs. She seemed quite attached to her owner though, and i saw her pictures from one show so i think she has had some socialization. But dont think she has been properly house trained. The breeder said she is crate trained. Now here are my problems:

We just got her last night. She is doing great bonding with us and the girls and her anxiety level has gone down a lot. She is less jumpy and is willingly coming to all of us. Very sweet and cuddly! The problem is: SHE HATES THE CRATE!! Iam not sure how she stayed in a kennel all day. Iam off from work so spent the whole day with her, took her for 3 walks...but she was up all night barking in her crate. I thought it would wake up the whole house. She barked and i ignored her for a while but after 30 min, i took her out. She ran to me and was quite clingy. i toook her out and put her in again...after another 30 min of barking i came and slept in the family room with the lights on. She went to sleep. As soon as i left...after about 20 min, she started again. When i turned the lights off...and she couldnt see me...she started barking again. Finally my hubby got up at 5am and he watched tv with her for a while and she was fine. Just hates being alone in the crate. I tried the exercise...and she's better in it..but only if we are very close. Now, i talked to some trainers...one said let her bark and ignore, dont give in. The other said, bring her crate in your room next to your bed and see how she does. Iam confused! Eventually i have to go to work and will have to leave her in the crate alone...advice????

Also, what should our potty training schedule be? She has peed and pooped outside and we made a big deal. But she peed twice in her crate...one was a little anxious pee...but the other was big. She also peed and pooped in her exercise pen twice. Right now, we're watching her all the time when she is out, all trying to put her in the crate or exercise pen. But we literally have to lay next to the pen. Should i put peepee pads in her exercise pen? Can someone give me a schedule and arrangement help...pleeeeease!!!!!


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## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

I would think the crate is too big if your Hav is using it for a toilet. Last potty break after 10pm. He may need another potty break during the night, listen for clues. 

Where are you leaving your Hav during the day when you work? The exercise pen? 

I would tend to bring the crate in my bedroom. When you put your Hav to sleep, let him know "time to go to sleep." Stick your fingers inside the crate when the pup fusses... "time to go to sleep." When she is quiet "good girl."

Love and patience...everything takes time. Relax, take a deep breath, your support system is a few keys away.


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

HI and :welcome: to the forum!!

I have no good advice on the crate, Gucci hated hers to and I did use and xpen occasionally, but for the most part she wiggled her way into my bed with her charm....ound: Which is nice if you love to sleep like me, she loves to sleep in too, so I don't mind her as a bedfellow, and I can tell you the expen wasn't that much better as far as the crying and barking goes but I"m sure someone will have some helpful tips on that.

If she is pottying in the crate from anxiety, then that is more of an anxiety issue than it is a potty issue, some dogs..like some people just need to go to the bathroom when they are feeling anxious, so use that as a sign to take her out if you see that as a pattern, also scheduled water and food feedings really help in the early days of housebreaking making them more predictable.

Kara


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## Lizzie'sMom (Oct 13, 2010)

I guess I would start taking her out every hour and see how that goes and then extend the time. She is older than Lizzie and Lizzie can hold her urine for hours, but not her poop. She probably did not have a routine where she was and just went when she had to.

Lizzie's crate is folded up in storage. She sleeps with us. We went through the crying and barking all night and just decided this worked better for us. We both love having her sleep with us. We have a king size bed and each use regular sized pillows, so she sleeps in-between our pillows. I put her there because she did fall off the end of the bed one night.

Good luck and we need pictures!


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## beenish (Jun 13, 2011)

Thanks for your helpful words everyone...i was freaking out and needed it! Its her third day today and she is doing so much better. I thought about bringing her in my bed, but until she is completely potty trained..its probably not a good idea. The pee in the crate just happened once, i think it was a nervous thing. Yesterday she only had one pee accident, and i think i stepped out for a bit and the girls werent watching her signs...and she peed on the hardwood. She's been doing pretty good otherwise. Iam taking her every couple of hours and we're watching her constantly the rest of the time. 

Last night was better, i put her in the exercise pen with her food bowls on one side and the crate to the other and left the crate door open. She barked and howled for a little bit (which was very hard) and then went to sleep...slept till 7am. I was expecting an accident in the exercise pen but nothinng...yayyyy!!! She just likes being with us, hates being alone. Especially with me....she gets so happy to see me and tries to get on my lap at any cost! I love her already! She was so anxious when we got her...but i think she's settling just fine! She still jumps at loud noises, hates stairs and is cautious. Any advice for that? Also, she is not very playful...gets so tired after walks and plops on the floor as soon as we get home. Iam guessing its all new to her? Pictures coming soon...thanks everyone!!!!


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## Gableshavs (Jun 19, 2007)

I'm attaching this link to the Behavior and Training page of the Havanese Rescue website. You will find your answer to many questions there because many adopters and foster families have faced those same issues before.

When a dog comes into my home I put the crate in the bedroom next to my bed. They are pack animals and want to be with the pack, in this case you. This dog has come from a breeder where it was not alone. Hence the anxiety.

Here is the link to so much excellent information. Enjoy

http://havaneserescue.com/behaviour-and-training


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

beenish said:


> Hi everyone, Iam new to this forum but excited for all the great advice. We just brought our darling 22 month old havanese home. She was living with a breeder who shows havanese...has quite a good reputation in our area. She was having trouble showing her and decided to give her away. She said that she had chewed her hair on her leg while chewing a raw hide and her hair wasnt growing in properly. Iam not sure if thats the real reason, because she is a very anxious and nervous dog. We fell in love with her and thought she'll come around with love and attention. I think majority of the her life, she stayed in a kennel in the groomers basement and yard with other dogs. She seemed quite attached to her owner though, and i saw her pictures from one show so i think she has had some socialization. But dont think she has been properly house trained. The breeder said she is crate trained. Now here are my problems:
> 
> We just got her last night. She is doing great bonding with us and the girls and her anxiety level has gone down a lot. She is less jumpy and is willingly coming to all of us. Very sweet and cuddly! The problem is: SHE HATES THE CRATE!! Iam not sure how she stayed in a kennel all day. Iam off from work so spent the whole day with her, took her for 3 walks...but she was up all night barking in her crate. I thought it would wake up the whole house. She barked and i ignored her for a while but after 30 min, i took her out. She ran to me and was quite clingy. i toook her out and put her in again...after another 30 min of barking i came and slept in the family room with the lights on. She went to sleep. As soon as i left...after about 20 min, she started again. When i turned the lights off...and she couldnt see me...she started barking again. Finally my hubby got up at 5am and he watched tv with her for a while and she was fine. Just hates being alone in the crate. I tried the exercise...and she's better in it..but only if we are very close. Now, i talked to some trainers...one said let her bark and ignore, dont give in. The other said, bring her crate in your room next to your bed and see how she does. Iam confused! Eventually i have to go to work and will have to leave her in the crate alone...advice????
> 
> Also, what should our potty training schedule be? She has peed and pooped outside and we made a big deal. But she peed twice in her crate...one was a little anxious pee...but the other was big. She also peed and pooped in her exercise pen twice. Right now, we're watching her all the time when she is out, all trying to put her in the crate or exercise pen. But we literally have to lay next to the pen. Should i put peepee pads in her exercise pen? Can someone give me a schedule and arrangement help...pleeeeease!!!!!


 So your new girl is 6mo or older? from what you have said she has had vertically no training. And she hates her create.It will take someone home with her for three weeks or more to really be consistent at the house training. She should be taken out at least every two hours and given a huge party like make the biggest deal out of it you can. And find a treat that she love . Mine love chicken. You can get deli meat.I would have the crate by your bed and put your fingers threw it and tell her to go to sleep or shh shh.I started with the crate on my bed but within a week both were just on the bed You can use a old mattress cover or something. Maddie never had a accident on the bed although Zoey had several. Mine are trained to go out and also pads. I like it because we can travel and not worry about going down stairs or elevators.
When you start back to work be careful that your ex pin is tall enough or has a top. Both my girls can climb out of ex pins and gates. And if the crate is in the ex pin make sure it is away from the side because they use that to jump up on and then escape.
At 6mo she should have bladder control but has just lacked training. Havanese are smart little balls of fluff I'm sure she will catch on fast if you are consistent. You still need to address her chewing at her leg that could be so many different things . We want pictures.


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## Kathie (Jul 31, 2008)

Welcome to the forum! I can tell she is already adapting to your household very well and I think all these issues will clear up soon. We would put a t-shirt that I had worn into the crate with Abby and that seemed to help calm her anxiety. She has been in a certain routine for a long time so it will just take time for her to adjust to yours. She probably is not used to getting a lot of exercise, either. We got Abby at about eight months and she went months without playing with toys and then all of a sudden she started to like them!


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## Susan0406 (May 16, 2011)

My pup also really hated her crate, screamed and screamed. So we went with two x-pens and a crate. We put the crate in the x-pens and left the door open. Now she goes in and out of her crate all the time and she really loves it. We also have a potty patch in the pen so that if she really needs to go and we are not around she can go there instead of her crate or the floor. We didn't even have to teach the pup to use it, she just knew to use it. Whisky rarely uses it now and has never used it to poo, but it is there for her. 

When we first got Whisky we thought she might have some separation anxiety, but with a lot of work she has really come along. When we leave her we record her, and she barely makes a peep, mostly just sleeps all day. Now sometimes when we are at home but ignoring her she barks at us, but we just ignore that behaviour too and it is getting better. 

All in all what I am trying to say is things get better! You just have to be patient. 

Do you have any pictures of your pup, everyone on the forum loves looking at pictures


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## Ellie NY (Aug 27, 2010)

beenish said:


> She still jumps at loud noises, hates stairs and is cautious. Any advice for that?


One word answer to the stairs dilemma - cheese (or other favorite treat)! Start first with having her go up the stairs. Place little bits of cheese on every stair and she will slowly climb up as she nibbles her treat. Repeat several times placing cheese farther and farther apart (every two stairs, then three, so on). To teach her to go down, reverse the process. Bring her up one stair, place cheese on the lower stair. Each time place her on a higher stair. Eventually stagger the cheese to every 2 - 3 stairs. Continue until she can navigate the stairs both up and down. It took about 2 days for me to teach Eli to go up and down the stairs. By the end of the week, he was running up and down with no anxiety and no treats. Good luck!


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

Welcome and congratulations on your new baby!!
in just reading your post, I get the feeling that your pup was most likely LOCKED in a crate for far too long and may have quite a bit of fear and abandonment when put in it now, which is totally understandable! Try to keep her within eye sight at all times, even when she IS in the crate, if she can SEE you she will be less likely to freak out!
Especially when it comes to bed time. We crate trained our pup from the begining and have always had her crate next to my side of the bed so she can always see, hear and smell me. Gives them a LOT of reasurance, knowing they are not alone!!


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## Laurief (Nov 7, 2006)

Welcome to the forum, and congratulations on your new baby - she sounds precious!
with my 4 Dogs, and all my fosters, I do the same thing and it really works. 
I put their crate on a chair, right next to my side of the bed. The first night or two they whine a bit, and I just stick my fingers in the crate and they quite down and sleep. This seems to help them also potty train as they become comfortable sleeping, sleep thru the night and learn to hold it. You need to consistantly take her out right away - praise and have a potty party EVERY singe time she potties outside. I promise she will learn very quickly that it is "fun" to potty outside cause she gets lots of attention, praise and sometimes treats. 
Good luck.


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## beenish (Jun 13, 2011)

thank you all for your support. Cindy is doing great...except at night! She still hates the crate...will bark all night in it. Iam not sure what to do...she is not completely potty trained so dont want to leave her out. My kids and all of us cant sleep. She is completely happy when we are nearby but flips out in the crate at night...shakes the crate and barks. I was told to let her bark...and ignore...but i feel bad for her and my kids who are not getting any sleep!!! Pics to come soon...she is ADORABLE!!!!!!!!!


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

Where IS her crate?? It should REALLY be IN your room, next to your bed.
You will see a massive difference if she can SEE and hear you ... put your fingers through the crate so she can lick you and just know you are THERE!


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## DonnaC (Jul 31, 2011)

We had intermittent success with crating at night, too. And, it sounds like it was the same issue as you're having -- Baxter was used to sleeping companions and missed them. I moved him to my height next to the bed, and that helped some, but we still had nights where he would bark (he has a piercing bark!) and 1 or 2 a.m., and I would have to get him out so he would not wake dh. What now seems to finally have worked was saying to dh: if we were his mama, we would ignore him. She would not let him interrupt her sleep like this. DH, can you just try to ignore him and help him get through this?

We set 6:30 for the absolute earliest we would get him up. And, in three nights, he was consistently waiting until that time to put up the greatest fuss. He wills still whine a couple of hours earlier. I put my fingers in the crate and shh him, and he quiets down.

One other thing -- we started keeping him up a bit later the night before. Baxter's previous owners were ranchers, and we wondered if he was on rancher time. That may also help. So, at about 10, I play ball with him, or something active, then take him outside, and THEN we start trying to settle.


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