# Joys of a New Puppy



## raeshan (Nov 18, 2013)

Thought I'd like to start a thread to share how things are going with our new Havanese puppy Ginger. I will try to come back every few days to give an update on how this are going.


----------



## raeshan (Nov 18, 2013)

*Week 1*

So we brought Ginger home on Ground Hog Day. She was 9 weeks old and so sweet even from day one.

**Tip Number 1: Listen to the breeder about temperament and which puppy fits your family.

When went to pick the puppy up, I wasn't sure if I would even get one of the pups. But as you can imagine, as soon as we met the puppies we knew we wanted one. The breeder had multiple females to choose from, so we played with them for a while before deciding which one we wanted to take home. Even though I was drawn to the colorings of another girl, the breeder recommended our Ginger for our family. She felt she was more laid back and could handle having our two girls attention. She was so right. From the very beginning, Ginger has been so tolerant and accepting of the abundant love that my girls give her. Mom and Dad are constantly having to remind them to give her space, but Ginger never seems to mind. Your breeder has observed the puppies for many weeks, so remember to get their insight into the personality of the puppy. They really do know best.

I was prepared for Ginger's arrival and had a crate, toys leash, collar - all the essentials. We even purchased bells for our door to make sure Ginger would have an easy way to tell us when she wants to go outside. I had everything we needed to get us through the first few weeks, but I did get and expen a couple of days later, since I needed a better place to keep her when I couldn't watch her other than my laundry room.

From day one, our new Havanese girl was a joy to be around. Not too jumpy or over excited. House breaking has gone very well so far, and I can say that so far, it has been because of our diligence. We don't leave her unattended except for when she is napping, and we take her out every hour and after every sleep. (Let me mention, that I am fortunately between consulting projects currently, so I am not having to manage house breaking with a full-time work schedule. I realize that this is not a typical scenario with most owners.)

Sleeping/crating has also gone extremely well. I was prepared for our first few nights to be rough, but I was so surprised. We had only a few minutes of whimpering the first night, and that was it. For the first few nights, we put Ginger's crate in our living room and I slept next to her on a couch. (I wanted to lessen the disruption to my husband's sleep.) If she started to cry, I would tap her crate and tell her "No". After the second night, I haven't had to make any corrections at all. She goes in her crate and goes to bed. We have had a few nights where I have had to take her out in the middle of the night, and I have had a few nights where she has slept from 10:00 to 7:00. Amazing, right? After a a couple days of doing well, we moved her crate to our bedroom at night. Still no crying. She really is doing well. My mother would tell you it's because we are using "a special puppy".

**Tip Number 2: Have a stuffed puppy friend for your new puppy.

This tip I get from my Mom who used to breed Shelties. Get a stuffed puppy and get either your scent on it, or the scent of the puppies Mom and litter mates (even better). At bedtime, put the stuffed puppy in the crate. My mother also recommended having a ticking clock outside the crate. I did both, and our nights have been great!

So things are really going pretty well. Only real problem is the puppy biting. I know it is completely normal, but oh my her teeth are sharp. We are doing all of the recommended strategies and having a toy to give her to bite on is probably the best. She has gotten both my oldest daughter and me with those teeth. This will be our biggest growing pains I think.


----------



## raeshan (Nov 18, 2013)

*Ginger and the Cat*

I haven't mentioned yet that we have an older cat that has never been around dogs before. Our biggest concern about getting a dog was how the cat would respond. Has anyone else had to introduce a puppy to an older cat?

Of course our cat isn't happy that the puppy is here and she stays upstairs in our house most of the time. The puppy is mostly not the downstairs, main floor. e have allowed them to interact through a gate, and the cat swats at the puppy to tell her to stay away.

I sure hope they will be able to coexist happily.


----------



## DawnH (Jan 21, 2014)

It sounds like you have a smart little girl and that you're doing the right things. I introduced Manny to my neighbors cat and he seemed to like the cat, but he's terrified of dogs! Go figure.


----------



## jabojenny (Sep 18, 2011)

I have two cats, they are sisters and turned 8 this past December. The pack has it's moments but everyone sleeps in our bed together very peacefully. I do crate the dogs when I feed the cats and I also have a cat tower that they hang out on when we're all downstairs together. They cats used to sleep on the couch until I bought stairs and now the dogs are up there. They aren't the best of buddies but I don't think anyone is unhappy about coexisting. Just be careful that Ginger doesn't corner your cat in a moment of playfulness. Mae is much more annoying to them then Tim ever was but we're working on "leave it" when she gets rambunctious and so far so good.


----------



## raeshan (Nov 18, 2013)

*House Breaking Thoughts*

So Ginger has been with our family for a week and a half. She is 11 weeks old today and this are some things that I have observed.

1. As long as crate is small enough it works. We bought a crate that she will likely out grow, but we haven't had any accidents in it. My neighbor who has a Shi-poo one month older than Ginger used a larger crate, and her pup started peeing the corner of the crate.

2. Ginger will hold it all night in her crate, but goes every 30 minutes in the morning. I will take her out as soon as she gets up. If she doesn't poop at that time, she will need to go out again within 15mins. She then will need to go at least 3 or 4 times in the next couple hours. I guess her system gets moving after she eats breakfast, and she has to keep going out frequently.

3. Once we get past 10am, she can seem to get back on a every hour trip outside. We also take her out immediately after she gets up from a nap.

As long as we are diligent, she doesn't have accidents. If we slip, she slips. Fortunately, she is having her accidents in her expen that has a floor, so cleanup is easy. I guess if she is going to go inside, that is the best place.

We are teaching her to ring a bell to go outside and when we take her out, she rings the bell, but she isn't yet going to the bell on her own. I guess that will take more time.


----------



## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

When they are young puppies it can feel as if you'll ALWAYS be running them out every few minutes. I found with Leo that 4 months, 7 months and about 11 months yielded significant advances in the amount of time that he could go between potty trips. At a year he now tells me very clearly when he needs to go out so I don't worry about giving him free reign. This does take time and preventing accidents really helps them understand where their appropriate potty place is.


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

raeshan said:


> 1. As long as crate is small enough it works. We bought a crate that she will likely out grow, but we haven't had any accidents in it. My neighbor who has a Shi-poo one month older than Ginger used a larger crate, and her pup started peeing the corner of the crate.


That's partly crate size, you are right, but it's also partly early training. It sounds like you got Ginger from a reputable breeder, who, most limey, already put some time and effort into potty training, and who SURELY kept their area nice and clean for them.

By definition, a "Shi-poo" came from (probably) a puppy mill, or at VERY best, from a backyard breeder. She was probable raised being allowed to pee and poop anywhere she felt like it. So she has no concept of keeping her bed clean the way Ginger does.

It is entirely possible that your friend will have a longer, more difficult imd training her puppy than you will with Ginger.


----------



## mmkenn (Feb 7, 2014)

*Following you stories!*

Hi,

Thanks for the updates! I am following your stories so we can apply all your lessons learned when we hopefully get a puppy in the spring/early summer.

Thanks,
Peggy


----------



## raeshan (Nov 18, 2013)

Ginger will be with us 2 weeks tomorrow and i just have to say that I am so happy with this breed. She has met all my expectations and is just the sweetest puppy.

We had her in the second class of puppy kindergarten today, and she has mastered everything they have asked. She is surrounded by larger golden retrievers, labs, boxers and German shepherds, and is calm but not timid. She is really one of the stars in the class. She sits for greeting, walks with a loose leash, sits, lays down...all at only 11 weeks old.

She has been great with kids, other dogs and every person she meets. She is just so sweet.

When I researched breeds and told my husband the cost of a Havanese, he was shocked at how expensive they can be. He is now telling people what a great dog Ginger is and how she is worth the cost. I couldn't agree more.

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## Lalla (Jul 30, 2013)

raeshan said:


> Ginger will be with us 2 weeks tomorrow and i just have to say that I am so happy with this breed. She has met all my expectations and is just the sweetest puppy.
> 
> We had her in the second class of puppy kindergarten today, and she has mastered everything they have asked. She is surrounded by larger golden retrievers, labs, boxers and German shepherds, and is calm but not timid. She is really one of the stars in the class. She sits for greeting, walks with a loose leash, sits, lays down...all at only 11 weeks old.
> 
> ...


So glad it's all worked out so well, raeshan. But even when they are far harder to house-train, they are still worth the effort and are the most wonderful dogs. Cuba is still causing me grief from time to time as far as house-training is concerned but in every other respect she is a wonderful little dog and much beloved by my husband and me, and Tycho my Coton. She's super quick to learn everything except where to pee!!! We'll get there. Karen is so right about the need to give them a really good start when they are tiny; I think my breeder produces beautiful dogs (Cuba's grandfather has won Best in Breed at Crufts three years running), but is perhaps too busy to supervise very early potty training. I'm not sure; maybe it's just Cuba, but it has been a bigger struggle than I've ever had before. And she is totally worth it!


----------



## raeshan (Nov 18, 2013)

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## raeshan (Nov 18, 2013)

*Thoughts from week 2...*

Thought I share some thoughts from the last week with Ginger. She is really doing great.

Steps...
So when we brought Ginger home, she couldn't go up or down the steps. After 2 weeks, she is doing both. Chasing the cat was the motivator to go up, and I had to use treats to encourage her to go down. At first I was trying to keep her from going up the stairs, because I didn't want her to get trapped upstairs and have an accident. Now I feel a bit better about her going upstairs because I know she can come down on her own. We haven't found any accidents from her trips upstairs&#8230;so far, so good.

House breaking...
The house breaking is still going pretty well. She still is only having accidents in her expen, and I think she has only been having those once a day. She has only rung the bell to tell us she wants to go outside once. She rings the bell well, but only when we ask her if she wants to go outside. I wonder too that she thinks my putting on my coat and boots means time to go outside. The snow has been crazy this past week. I am thinking that I won't take away the expen until she is telling us she wants to go outside&#8230;and who knows how long that will take.

Sleeping&#8230;
Night time is still going very well. She usually crashes on her floor around 9:30pm. We take her out around 11pm before we go up to bed. She goes in her crate without a problem and then is up around 6:30 to 7:00am - depending on when my husband or I get up. She also sleeps a good bit each day. I have been surprised how much. She really is still just a baby.

Puppy Biting&#8230;
Probably one of our biggest areas of constant correction. Her little puppy teeth are so sharp. We do our best to tell her no and give her a toy when she gets mouthy, but often we have to walk away from play because she just can't help herself. I am sure this will be the case for months and she goes through teething.

Running away&#8230;
Ginger is so social, she wants to go see every neighbor or dog that she sees outside. I now have her on a leash or under close supervision when we are outside. We luckily live on culdesac with very little traffic, so I can allow her a bit of freedom to work on boundaries. I am following Karen's advise on not chasing her, and usually, a whistle and run in the opposite direction gets her running to me instead. We will be working on recall a lot in the next months. I really want her to be reliable.

My time&#8230;
I have to admit that being between projects right now has helped with all aspects of bringing Ginger into our home. I can be diligent about making sure she gets exercise, following our housebreaking schedule and establishing boundaries. I am sure it would be much harder if I were working everyday. I can say that she does offer a bit of distraction and I am looking forward to a time when she won't require so much supervision. My house Hasn't had a deep cleaning since she arrived.

Socialization&#8230;
Ginger is doing great with other people, dogs and kids. I don't know if that is the breed or the fact that she is getting exposure. We have met almost all the dogs in the neighborhood, and she isn't frightened and just wants to play. Some of the dogs she meets aren't very pleased to meet her, but I think it's the puppy energy that is hard for older dogs to handle.

Love&#8230;
After 2 weeks, I can say that my family is so in love with Ginger. She has been such a wonderful addition to our family. She is work, but it is sooo worth it!

Bye for now!


----------



## raeshan (Nov 18, 2013)

*Success&#8230;maybe*

We had a major success today - Ginger rang her bells to go outside to poop!

Yeah&#8230;

Though I later found a piddle at the top of our stairs.

It is still a good sign, so I am going to hold fast to the success.


----------



## Ditto's Mom (Apr 29, 2007)

YAHOO Ginger! Good job little one.


----------



## Celesthav (Mar 20, 2013)

Ginger is so cute! Love the picture of her between the railings. She is doing very well. I used to tell my hubby that Maggie had us well trained ringing the bells. We would ring them each time she needed to go potty. She caught on very fast, to the point where it was a game. She just wanted to go outside to play. At about 6 mos, she started ringing the bells to only potty. And, now 8 mos, she's still ringing bell to potty outside. 

How's the teething? Sounds like Ginger is going after fingers, arms...etc. she's cutting adult teeth. My breeder gave me a Himalayan (Yak) chew. It's size small, 3 to a pack and last awhile at Ginger's age. Well worth giving her the chew whenever she's wanting an arm. 

You're smart to follows Karen's advice concerning no chasing. I'm now trying to reverse the ill effects. : / Always have Ginger wear a harness and be on a leash. You can never tell when she might be frightened by a sudden noise.

Cheers!
Jeanne


----------



## bonnieanclyde (Jan 28, 2014)

Ginger is the name of our family dog  She is a wheaton, but similar coloring! Sounds like everything is going great with you guys


----------



## raeshan (Nov 18, 2013)

*Accidents Happen*

Just when you feel like you can give a puppy a small bit of freedom&#8230; 3 accidents in one morning. 2 in her xpen, one at the top of the stairs.



Just proving you have to stay diligent.


----------



## mmkenn (Feb 7, 2014)

Ginger sounds like lots of fun! Congratulations on the progress! Here's hoping she progresses nicely on the housetraining!

Love the pictures!


----------



## raeshan (Nov 18, 2013)

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## Carli (Nov 5, 2013)

She is ADORABLE! Its little cuties like this that make me think im going to end up a crazy havanese woman with 20 dogs haha

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## MarinaGirl (Mar 25, 2012)

Ginger is so cute! I especially love the pictures of her with her head on the ground! :clap2: -Jeanne-


----------



## sandypaws (Aug 8, 2012)

Love that cute little face. She looks very cuddly.


----------



## raeshan (Nov 18, 2013)

Ginger will be 13 weeks tomorrow. Funny that just like with kids, you give their age in weeks when they are little. When does it start to sound strange using weeks? 3 months old sounds better than 14 weeks, so I am guessing I will make the transition soon.

She is doing really well. Only a few accidents lately, and they have a been on our second floor. The "funniest"was when I was outside shoveling snow. She found some papers on the floor - breeder did have her paper trained. The papers just happened to be paperwork for my taxes. Just a little gift for the tax man.

She continues to sleep well, eat well and is socializing with other people and dogs well. Our only issue continues to be the puppy biting and her excitement around the kids. All normal and she isn't any worse than any other puppy I've been around. I just hope that she will grow out of it.

We have a tie out now for when she is outside. She doesn't go out alone, but gives her more freedom than our short leash. We put her on it if there is any risk of her getting distracted and running to the neighbors. Karen gave me good advice on teaching a good recall, and so far we have been good to follow it. "Come" is now a very positive command, and Ginger has been responding and returning to me. It feels good to know we have started well and I hope we can keep it up.

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## raeshan (Nov 18, 2013)

Took Ginger to a groomer yesterday for her new puppy grooming: she got her bum trimmed, nails clipped and pads trimmed. They recommended thinning her face a bit and I was happy with the result. She was good for them too. The daily brushing must be getting her conditioned to the grooming. Here is her post groom pic:









My sister in law thinks she looks like a fake dog in this pic.

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## Carli (Nov 5, 2013)

Cute!!!


----------



## mmkenn (Feb 7, 2014)

raeshan said:


> Took Ginger to a groomer yesterday for her new puppy grooming: she got her bum trimmed, nails clipped and pads trimmed. They recommended thinning her face a bit and I was happy with the result. She was good for them too. The daily brushing must be getting her conditioned to the grooming. Here is her post groom pic:
> 
> View attachment 77970
> 
> ...


She is so adorable! Love the updates!!


----------



## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

Very cute and she does look like a stuffed toy!


----------



## Ditto's Mom (Apr 29, 2007)

Awww what a cutie!


----------



## raeshan (Nov 18, 2013)

*Our First Sleepover*

My sister and brother in law were going to be having my daughters over for a sleepover and they asked if Ginger could come too. I am sooo lucky to have them!

So, my husband and I had an evening without the kids and puppy and I got to sleep in past 7am.

The best news was that she didn't have any accidents in their house - hooray!

Only problem was the 5:30am wake up call. They told me that she went back to sleep after a quick pee. I sure hope that was the case.


----------



## raeshan (Nov 18, 2013)

*Housebreaking Set Backs*

I am sure that it is a lack of my own diligence, but after doing super in the housebreaking department last week, Ginger has had a bunch of accidents in the last couple days. The most frustrating thing is that we will be outside and she comes in and goes about 5 minutes later.

I know I just have to be patient&#8230;.


----------



## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

In case misery does like company - Molly is right there with Ginger with the potty accidents. She is 13 weeks old and is also very good at going soon after we come in from outside. I think I need to get some stock in paper towels and Nature's Miracle!


----------



## lfung5 (Jun 30, 2007)

She is adorable

The best way to housebreak them is not allowing them to have accidents. Make sure you have both a pee and poo command. If you take her outside and she doesn't pee, put her back in the crate for 15 min. Once she does her business, you can give her a little freedom but you must always be watching. Always keep and eye on them. If you can't keep a close eye on them, they should be in a crate or x pen. I always took my guys out every 30 minutes. It was a pain but it paid off! 

The more diligent you are with this, the faster the housebreaking process will go

Good luck!


----------



## raeshan (Nov 18, 2013)

Molly120213 said:


> In case misery does like company - Molly is right there with Ginger with the potty accidents. She is 13 weeks old and is also very good at going soon after we come in from outside. I think I need to get some stock in paper towels and Nature's Miracle!


Ginger is 13 weeks also. Born on Nov. 28th. Will be good to know someone is right there with me.

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## raeshan (Nov 18, 2013)

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

Ginger is really a beauty. Is she a chocolate sable or something else?


----------



## Carli (Nov 5, 2013)

Will be intereasting to see her colouring in a few months, i reckon she will turn white  Keep us updated with pictures! 

On the potty training, as linda said, out every 30 mins then they will barely have the chance to go inside. Milo has just turned 5 months and i take him on 3 or 4 walks a day and thats all the peeing he needs to do. It went by so so fast, no more running outside with him 100 times a day yeeey :-D


----------



## raeshan (Nov 18, 2013)

Molly120213 said:


> Ginger is really a beauty. Is she a chocolate sable or something else?


Ginger is a chocolate sable. I love her coloring now. Her breeder did say that she will likely turn cream colored as she ages. Will be interesting to watch her change.

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## raeshan (Nov 18, 2013)

I haven't posted in a while, but things with Ginger continue to go great! We have officially passed the milestone that she is ringing her bell to go outside consistently!! You can tell she gets it and wants to go outside if she can. The bell works great! The entire family springs into action when she rings it to make sure she gets outside promptly.

For 15 weeks old, I am very pleased with her progress. I wouldn't say she is completely house broken, as I am sure she could still have an accident, but it is so nice for me that she has a clear way to tell me she needs to go outside.

We do get the occasional requests to go out when she just wants to watch the birds, but I don't mind taking her out and putting on her tie out if she wants. We are lucky to live in a quiet culdesac neighborhood.

The daily brushing and "grooming" is paying off. No mats yet and she has gotten so used to it. She still will occasionally try to bite/play with the brush, but she is getting better and better. I hope it makes her future sessions with the real groomer less stressful.

Puppy excitement and snapping is still our biggest issue. She does well with me, but she gets so excited with my daughters and their friends. I have lately been trying to be around as much as I can so I can correct her as needed. She is just a puppy, and I know it takes time. Now that the weather is improving, I hope to take a good long walk first thing in the morning to burn off that energy.

She really has been a hit with friends, family and neighbors. Everyone just loves her. I have been posting Ginger pics to Instagram. I try to post at least once a day.


__
http://instagr.am/p/lYDIkQG1ub%2F%5B/
[/color]


----------



## raeshan (Nov 18, 2013)

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## bigbadboss101 (Mar 29, 2014)

Very nice looking dog! And thanks for this thread and updates.


----------



## Bomopirate (Feb 3, 2014)

What a pretty puppy!


----------



## morriscsps (Aug 17, 2010)

Awww! She is getting big.


----------



## raeshan (Nov 18, 2013)

Happy Easter and Spring Everyone!

I realize that I haven't posted much these past weeks, but since Ginger will be 5 months old this week, I thought it would be good for me to give a quick update. I will start with the main puppy topics:

Housebreaking:
I hesitate to say Ginger is 100% housebroken, as I am sure that as soon as I say she is, there will be an accident, but she is really doing great. The only recent accidents have been because "the humans" in her life, rush her to come back inside. She not only uses her bell to tell us she needs to go outside, but we can also take them with us when we visit friends/family, and she will ring them there also. I can say that our timing was perfect. I knew that I would have February through April between projects, and that I could have focused training time with a puppy. It has paid off. 

Sleeping:
Ginger is still sleeping in her crate at night. My husband and I both feel like she could be allowed out of the crate to sleep, but she would want to sleep in our bed, and we aren't quite ready to allow her to sleep with us all night. We know as soon as we allow it for one night, she will want to do it every night. She like her crate though, and there have even been a few evenings when she went in it to go to bed on her own. She typically crashes around 9:30pm and we have to wake her up for one last trip outside to pee when we go to bed around 11:00pm. Most mornings, she wakes up at about 7:00am when my husband and I get out of bed.

Time Alone:
As I mentioned, I am between projects right now, so Ginger is only left by herself for short periods of time. The longest being about 4 hours. On most occasions, it is simply an hour or so. We do put her in her crate when we will all be gone, and she always cries. Not sure how long it lasts, but hopefully she calms herself quickly. She is always thrilled when we get home, and so far, she hasn't peed in her crate. At this point, I don't think I will let her roam free by herself until she stops chewing. Who knows want she'd get into if she had the run of the house.

Eating:
We feed her 3 times a day now, but she never really seems to finish all of her food. Since the housebreaking is going well, we leave anything she doesn't eat out for her to eat later and if anything is left at 8:00pm, we take it up so she does;t eat too close to bedtime. Some days she eats all 3 meals, and other days she eats less. She is going well and thriving, so I guess it is working.

Growth:
at 9 weeks when we picked Ginger up, she was 4.37 pounds.
at 12 weeks she was 6.12 pounds
at 16 weeks she was 8 pounds
I am guessing she is about 9.5 pounds now

Teething/Behavior:
Ginger is a puppy and does like to chew. We have lots of toys/chews for her, and they satisfy her as long as our girls don't leave toys on the floor. Plastic dolls are too tempting, and it is amazing how quickly she can chew off a hand. The good news is that it is helping my girls learn to keep their toys off the floor. I am also becoming great at crafting hand/foot/arm "casts" with masking tape. The Barbie house looks like an emergency room.

She is still mouthing/snaping, but since the razor puppy teeth have fallen out, at least it isn't as painful. We try to discourage the behavior, but it is still our biggest issue. She jumps up a little on people, but understands the "off" command so it hasn't been too bad.

Ginger continues to have a pretty laid back temperament. She barks some, but mostly to get you to play with her. In comparison to other dogs we are around, she is very quiet. We are discouraging the barking as much as we can.

Grooming:
I still try to brush Ginger once a day, but it has lately been working out to be every other day. So far no mats. (I am dreading the blowing coat stage.) So tolerates me brushing her, trimming the hair around her eyes, and cleaning her eyes (there has been a lot of goop with the onset of Spring). I have been ginning her a bath at least once a week. She even lets me blow her dry. She is getting pretty shaggy, and I will probably need to get her first cut soon. I have to admit that I am pretty nervous about it. I love the cute, fluffy look of her coat. I don't want her shaved yet if I can avoid it.

Wining over the family:
Over the Easter holiday, we had lots of family in and out of our house. They all just love Ginger. She did so well with everyone. My husband has a very big family, and on Easter Sunday, we had over 30 people at our house and she handled it all like it was an everyday occurrence. No barking; no nervousness; no begging… people were picking her up and giving her so much attention and she loved every minute. My father even suggested that we breed Ginger so he could get one of her pups. "She is just the kind of dog I would like to own". 

I never even heard of the Havanese breed before we started looking last fall. I am so glad that I did my research, found a good breeder and took a chance on this breed. Ginger is work, but she is sooo worth it!


----------



## bigbadboss101 (Mar 29, 2014)

Thanks for sharing. That is a very nice read. Good to see nice progress!


----------



## raeshan (Nov 18, 2013)

Looked in Ginger's mouth and she has now lost all her puppy teeth except her canines on the left. Top one is very loose and bottom one is still holding tight. Looks like we won't have to pay extra to have them pulled during her spaying. Yeah.


----------



## nlb (Feb 26, 2012)

Great pictures! Great to see other chocolates now that I have one too!


----------



## raeshan (Nov 18, 2013)

Took this today. 5 months old.


----------



## sandypaws (Aug 8, 2012)

Such a cute little teddy bear! Love that face.


----------



## Ditto's Mom (Apr 29, 2007)

Ginger is such a pretty girl.


----------



## mcb14 (Jan 4, 2014)

Ginger is so beautiful. Our Abby is 15 weeks so I find your updates very helpful too.


----------



## raeshan (Nov 18, 2013)

It is 9:00pm and Ginger has crashed after a long day.









If you have followed this thread, I have mentioned the stuffed puppy that has been with Ginger since the day we brought her home. This is still her favorite toy. She sleeps with it and on it. She also loves to play fetch with it.

My mom sure was right to suggest us having a stuffed "litter mate" for Ginger. It is so cute to see how attached she is to it.


----------



## raeshan (Nov 18, 2013)

Ginger is loving the spring weather!


----------



## sandypaws (Aug 8, 2012)

Ginger is so cute! Glad she's enjoying the nice weather. I am too.


----------



## jsmith2615 (Feb 9, 2014)

I love reading your updates!!!! Our Rudy is almost 12 weeks and I find your info very helpful!!!!! Ginger is a cutie!!!


----------



## raeshan (Nov 18, 2013)

Thought I'd share a new update since I had some free time toDay, while I procrastinate the needed house cleaning.

Ginger is 5 1/2 months old now - 24 weeks. She continues to be a terrific dog for our family. She is a wonderful ambassador for the Havanese breed, because everyone she meets just loves her, and can't get over how good of a temperament she has. They love her silky coat and her coloring, but it is really her temperament that wins them over.

Housebreaking:
At 5 1/2 months, I can say that she is housebroken. Woo Hoo!! We haven't had an accident in weeks, and she is very good at telling us she needs to go outside either with a paw at the door, or ringing her bells. As I have posted before, her success has a lot to do with my being home during the day. We never had to provide an area for her eliminate in the house, so I don't think it ever became a habit for her to do. She had accidents, but they were typically our fault for not getting her outside. Being home allowed me to be diligent with keeping her confined or supervised - minimizing accidents. It seemed like a long process, but now looking back we did well.

Sleeping:
Ginger is still sleeping great in her crate at night. She had one night when we all fell asleep together in bed and neither my husband nor I woke up to take her outside and put her in her crate. We all slept fine that night, so I know she would be fine if we let her sleep with us, but we think we will keep using the crate for a while. She is comfortable in it, and it is good that she knows that it is her safe place.

Eating:
I fill Ginger's bowl 3 times a day; morning, afternoon, evening. Somedays she eats everything, but most days she has food left in her bowl. We luckily haven't had any eating issues during the 3 1/2 months we've had her.

Separation:
My family is made up of myself, my husband and 2 daughters. Ginger loves all of us, but she is especially attached to me. I am her pack leader. I feed her, have trained her and establish all of her boundaries. She listens great to me and follows me where ever I go. My husband is a little jealous that she doesn't follow him around as much. With her devotion to me, we know that she really misses me when I am gone. If I leave and she stays home with my husband, she cries for a short bit and then usually goes off by herself to nap. We know she cries when the entire family leaves, and she has to stay in her crate or expen. I am guessing this is just normal behavior. 

Behavior:
Ginger usually has the most energy in the morning, so we try to get her outside to play or out for a walk. Now that we have our fence, we can go outside and play freely - which is sooo nice. You can tell she just loves it. With the weather getting nice, Ginger is outside as much as she can be. She plays with my daughters, watches the neighbors, the birds, the occasional deer or turkey that passes through the neighborhood. She has even started taking her chews out to bury in the front yard. (This was so cute in the beginning, but I don't want to replace the chews when she can't find them). 

On the days when we had had activities and Ginger has had to be left alone for longer periods of time, we can tell that she has more pent up energy. When we get home, all she wants to do is play and interact with us. This can be so hard, because often we have activities in the evening, and when we get home it is bedtime. Walks before we leave, or after we get home really help. At this point, the longest time period we've left her, without our neighbor stopping in, is 6 hours. We generally used the rule - a dog can be left as long as their age in months - as guideline over the past months. She is spoiled though, she really is not left alone very much, and most times, it is only for an hour or so.

As Ginger is getting older, I can tell she is testing limits. She hasn't chewed up any shoes or furniture, and we haven't had any Barbie's in the ER lately, but she has started shredding paper: both toilet paper and paper left on the floor. I have been trying to catch her in the act so I can give her a correction and "Leave it" at the right moment, but catching her isn't always easy. She is also not responding to "Come" as well as in the past. I have been trying to keep treats with me to help reinforce the command, but many times, she just isn't interested. She is still mouthing quite a bit too. I feel like I am constantly saying "No biting". To be honest, most of the times that I get frustrated with behavior, she is trying to get my attention. I have't been working as much on behavior training lately, and I need to start again. I think a second level class may be in my future.

The Cat
Ginger and the cat have finally established a relationship of mutual interest. The cat tolerates her and will even play with her at times. After the first month of complete hatred from the cat, we are happy they now can coexist.

Rides in the Car
Ginger loves going in the car with us. In most cases, trips in the car have been fun things. Visiting family and friends with dogs, pet store, dog park...mostly pet friendly. She also loves going to Kindergarten and Preschool drop off/pickup. When it was cool outside, I would even take her when I had to run in quickly to a store, but I have stopped taking her on those trips. I don't want to risk the car getting too warm and I really don't think she likes being left alone. She cries and barks - sure signs that she is just better left at home. When she does come with us in the car, we take her old crate for her to ride in. I belt it to the passenger seat (since she always wants to be at my side), and she snuggles in while the car is in motion. She has tried to sit on my lap, but it makes me uncomfortable when I am driving. I worry that I am not in control with her on my lap, so I have made my lap off limits when I am driving.

Dog Park
We have taken Ginger once to the dog park and she loved it! She can run in our yard, but she doesn't get to play with other dogs. Our closest dog park has a small dogs area and big dog area. We took her in both areas and she did great. No aggressive, small dog behavior in either area. She just loved playing and chasing the dogs. I will say that I was a bit more cautious in the big dog area. 

Problems:
I am sitting her trying to think about what our biggest problems are now that we are approaching 6 months, and it is nice to say that there aren't any big ones. If I had to come up with a few, I would say:
* Jumping on little kids. Ginger doesn't jump up on adults, but she does on kids. Most don't mind, but the little ones get a little startled. I try to correct her, but we need to work on it more.
* Mouthing - She stil mouths quite a bit when playing. She doesn't have any puppy teeth left, so no more razor blades, but it still can hurt a bit.
* Grooming - I was very diligent about brushing/combing Ginger every day, but I have been skipping days lately. This is my problem not hers. Just need to make sure I stay in the habit.
* Shredding : I know this one is common. Just need to keep correcting her in the act and hopefully she will understand that we don't shred.

See - just common puppy problems. She really is doing great, and we are just loving her!


----------



## raeshan (Nov 18, 2013)




----------



## Serenissima (Feb 26, 2014)

Simcoe was just as mouthy when I got her at 5.5 months - it'll go away soon enough! If she plays tug, one good way to deal with mouthyness is to set her up so that your hands are on either side of her mouth almost touching it on the tug toy. When she inevitably makes tooth contact, scream and pretend you're really hurt. At this point she should apologize (bowed head/pleading eyes and she might come up and lick you) and you can begin tug again. With that, Simcoe was out of tooth contact within two weeks.


----------

