# Advice for Behavior Issues



## Dani Heart (Jun 29, 2018)

Hello Everyone! My name is Danielle and we have a precious havichon named Oliver. He's currently 8 months old and a total stinker!! I need some help/advice and just reassurance that these issues can be fixed. I found the site yesterday when searching for solutions. 

A little backstory, our fifteen year old Maltese passed last summer and having had two bichons growing up I already loved the breed and knew they were good with children. We had a friend with a havanese and they adore him. I found a local breeder (that only brwe eeds havachons with great reviews) and my ten year old picked out this little cutie. We also have a one year old so after four months of him not sleeping very well, my parents offered to take him and attempt to housebreak and crate train. 

My mom has gates everywhere and has been at the end of her rope. We do not want to have to rehome him because he is the sweetest little lovebug snuggle bunny ever. So kind and gentle with the kids, won't take a single thing away from the baby and I know he's going to turn into a great dog IF we can just survive his toddler antics. 

Current issues... 
* Jumping on the table. LOVES to be on the kitchen or dining table. I know this is a havanese trait. 
* He ignores no, completely. 
* Chewing. My poor mom has holes everywhere in the carpet. 
* He thinks the carpet and rugs are pee pads. 
* He'll be outside for twenty minutes to potty and won't go. Come straight in and tinkle on the carpet or do his big business in the bathroom. He loves to poo in the bathroom or closet LOL! 
* He looks for trouble. Paper, toys, anything he can find and he takes it under the sofa, beds etc where you cannot reach him and destroys it. 
* is not crate trained. Barks excessively. Otherwise he doesn't bark hardly at all (a big change from the yippy maltese)
* sleeping from about 8-5:30 and then he's up. We would prefer 6:30  but it's better than the 4:30 previous wake up calls

We want to resolve these things so he can be here and we can take the gates down and trust him. Oh, my husband and our two kids have moved in with my parents for six months until we find another house. We just sold ours. So with a misbehaving puppy, gates in every room, weights on chewed carpet spots, and food not being able to be left on the table, it makes things a little more chaotic. 

He is not neutered yet. But we plan to do that soon. I know he's still a baby and will "outgrow" things but we don't want him to tear up the house in the meantime and we want him to have boundaries, and obey too. 

We are not opposed to obedience classes or anything that would help. We do probably love on him too much so he sees us as playmates and not authority 

Any help would be so much appreciated. 
Danielle


----------



## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

yeah it sounds like you have waited too long to address these issues. Some things improve with age, but most do not. I recommend getting a trainer come in and give you some help .


----------



## Meli (Apr 25, 2018)

Welcome!! 

I'm a newbie as well, but hopefully I can help even if it's just some reassurance 

I get nervous when it comes to sending a puppy somewhere else to be trained. Just because they become trained not to pee in one house, doesn't mean that will automatically transfer over when you bring him home. Just be aware and expect to have a "retraining" period. It takes a lot of time and effort to housebreak these pups. If you do a search here on the forum you'll see it took some of the pups 12+ months to be completely reliable.

For the chewing - what do you have for him to chew on? Oreo loves to chew. Constantly! If he isn't sleeping, he's chewing. So we make sure he has plenty of chew toys and we rotate them so he doesn't get bored. If he starts to chew on something he shouldn't, we firmly tell him no and then redirect him to his chew toys. Just like with a baby, we have to keep eyes on him at all times. If Oliver is destroying carpet, how much time is he spending unsupervised? If he can't be supervised at all times, is there a space in the house that doesn't have carpet? 

If Oliver is outside and doesn't potty, but you know he has to, then you should crate him as soon as he comes back inside. Wait about 10-15 min and then take him back outside again. Repeat this until he goes potty outside. Oreo HATES being outside by himself. So if my husband puts him in the yard by himself he will just bark and cry until he brings him back in...and then he'll potty inside. When I take him out, I tell him "go potty" and he'll pee right away. But he usually takes his time finding the right spot to poop. If he doesn't go, I know to watch him very closely when we come back in to avoid any accidents, or to seclude him if I can't keep my eyes on him completely, then try again in a few minutes. 

Crate training - you would've thought someone was torturing Oreo when we would put him in a crate. The whining and barking were insane. We started giving him a small kong with some peanut butter inside, only when he's in the crate so he started to associate his crate as somewhere positive. We just went on vacation this week and brought his crate along. When it got late and he was tired, he walked into his crate on his own to take a nap. He stayed in there sleeping with the door open. 

Sleeping from 8-5:30 seems like a big stretch for his age, but hopefully someone else with more experience will weigh in on that one. Oreo is only 6 months and we're lucky if he can make it 7 hours overnight before he's crying to be let outside. And that's rare and only if he didn't drink any water before bed. Usually after 6 hours he's barking nonstop to be let out, and he RUNS to the yard, squats and pees for what seems like an eternity lol. 

Best of luck with Oliver. He's adorable and sounds like a perfectly normal pup. I'd hate to see him rehomed over issues that can be corrected with time and effort.


----------



## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

I have some thoughts on a couple of your issues. Putting a young dog to bed at 8 pm is early if he is waking up too early to pee. I always wake my dog up if she is asleep and take her out right before I go to bed, which is usually between 10 and 11 pm. Then they should have no problem holding it until you get up. I would think that most dining tables are too high for a dog to jump on unless they jump on a chair first. Pushing the chairs under the table everytime will hopefully eliminate this problem. Your dog is not fully potty trained and is chewing things in the house that he should not be. He needs to be supervised at all times and confined when you can’t have eyes on him. He should not have access to any carpeted areas until he is fully trained and those areas have been fully cleaned of all traces of urine. If he is not crate trained you can try to get him used to it by leaving him for short periods of time before coming back. If this isn’t working you should have an expen set up on a tiled area of your home. Or use the gates to make an area in a tiled hallway or powder room. Puppy proof your house to remove items you don’t want chewed up. Use bitter apple spray on things that can’t be moved. Have plenty of appropriate things for him to chew on. It sounds like he has been given too much freedom in the house, too soon. You need to go back to square one and treat him like a brand new puppy and hopefully you will get better results. Good luck!


----------



## Ollie"s Mom (May 23, 2014)

If you want to house train a puppy you can't just open a door and hope they go out and do their business. He should be taken out on a leash right after he wakes up, after playing, after eating and after naps. He should have a command word that he can recognize as his go potty word and be given huge praise when he does the right thing. Maybe even a treat. Crate training should be on a schedule not just at bedtime, but put him in his crate during the day as well for quiet time both for him and you. I actually had my puppies on a schedule for nap times just like babies. They needed the break and lord knows so did I. To this day Ollie, my 4 year old have goes into his crate for an afternoon nap and he wants it. I cover my crates completely with a big blanket, like a den. They settle down in there, it is their place. You are going to have to start from scratch as if he is an 8 week old puppy, with no freedom until he gets things. I think your parents have let him develop too many bad habits and you need to start over.


----------



## Marni (Apr 1, 2017)

When you take him out on a leash praise and treat when he goes. Set your kitchen timer so that he gets outside every hour. Get help from a trainer. You have to provide bully chews and cheese chews that he loves so that he wont ruin property. Goodness, you have your hands full. 

Crate training is very important and gives him a place to settle down. Put something over the crate, I use an airline blanket, so that it is dark.


----------



## Dani Heart (Jun 29, 2018)

davetgabby said:


> yeah it sounds like you have waited too long to address these issues. Some things improve with age, but most do not. I recommend getting a trainer come in and give you some help .


Thank you. I appreciate your advice. I contacted a trainer about a month ago and never heard back so I will have to look into another option for training if Oliver is going to stay with us. I know a trainer is going to be necessary, especially for obedience.


----------



## Dani Heart (Jun 29, 2018)

Thank you for your advice. 

Oliver goes outside most of the time. 90% I'd say. He goes to the back door and grabs his leash or hits it. It's a very lightweight least and we hang it on the door knob. When he is upstairs it's a free for all, all carpet and he doesn't go down and try to tell us he wants to go out, he just goes anywhere lol. 

The peanut butter trick is a good idea. I'm going to try that for sure. Even just for a short amount of time (maybe during meals) if he'd go into his crate that would be wonderful. Then hopefully we can extend that. 

I can also try taking him out later but he passes out cold around 8, sometimes we can't keep him up past 7:30 at night.


----------



## Dani Heart (Jun 29, 2018)

Molly120213 said:


> I have some thoughts on a couple of your issues. Putting a young dog to bed at 8 pm is early if he is waking up too early to pee. I always wake my dog up if she is asleep and take her out right before I go to bed, which is usually between 10 and 11 pm. Then they should have no problem holding it until you get up. I would think that most dining tables are too high for a dog to jump on unless they jump on a chair first. Pushing the chairs under the table everytime will hopefully eliminate this problem. Your dog is not fully potty trained and is chewing things in the house that he should not be. He needs to be supervised at all times and confined when you can't have eyes on him. He should not have access to any carpeted areas until he is fully trained and those areas have been fully cleaned of all traces of urine. If he is not crate trained you can try to get him used to it by leaving him for short periods of time before coming back. If this isn't working you should have an expen set up on a tiled area of your home. Or use the gates to make an area in a tiled hallway or powder room. Puppy proof your house to remove items you don't want chewed up. Use bitter apple spray on things that can't be moved. Have plenty of appropriate things for him to chew on. It sounds like he has been given too much freedom in the house, too soon. You need to go back to square one and treat him like a brand new puppy and hopefully you will get better results. Good luck!


Thank you. We will try to keep him up later or wake him before bed. He falls out cold, like a wet dishrag about 8 and it's hard to wake him.

Also he has been given a lot of freedom at my parent's house. Too much Im certain. There is a kitchen area that it tiled and he can be put in there. He does really well about 80% of the day. There are just some tweaks that need to be made.


----------



## Dani Heart (Jun 29, 2018)

Ollie"s Mom said:


> If you want to house train a puppy you can't just open a door and hope they go out and do their business. He should be taken out on a leash right after he wakes up, after playing, after eating and after naps. He should have a command word that he can recognize as his go potty word and be given huge praise when he does the right thing. Maybe even a treat. Crate training should be on a schedule not just at bedtime, but put him in his crate during the day as well for quiet time both for him and you. I actually had my puppies on a schedule for nap times just like babies. They needed the break and lord knows so did I. To this day Ollie, my 4 year old have goes into his crate for an afternoon nap and he wants it. I cover my crates completely with a big blanket, like a den. They settle down in there, it is their place. You are going to have to start from scratch as if he is an 8 week old puppy, with no freedom until he gets things. I think your parents have let him develop too many bad habits and you need to start over.


Typically he goes to potty very well outside. I can set him down and say "go potty" and he will within a minute or two. I have been praising him big time. Kisses, snuggles, telling him good boy etc. We've only been here since Tuesday so my Mom is usually the one in charge. She's been treating him like a grandpuppy and very very lenient on him. He gives her more trouble than anyone.

As for crate training I am going to try short spurts in there when the baby isn't asleep and see how that goes.


----------



## Dani Heart (Jun 29, 2018)

Marni said:


> When you take him out on a leash praise and treat when he goes. Set your kitchen timer so that he gets outside every hour. Get help from a trainer. You have to provide bully chews and cheese chews that he loves so that he wont ruin property. Goodness, you have your hands full.
> 
> Crate training is very important and gives him a place to settle down. Put something over the crate, I use an airline blanket, so that it is dark.


He's doing great with going to the potty most of the time. If I can confine him to the kitchen it would help a lot. The carpet and upstairs is where the issue is mostly. I've been giving him extra attention when he goes outside and does his business.

He does need some chews. I will find some. He's bored and looks for trouble.

It sounds like crate training is the way to go. He naps on the sofa or a dining room chair right now, what a stinker. My mom has let him run around and do whatever he wanted apparently lol


----------



## Dani Heart (Jun 29, 2018)

Thank you all so much for the advice. I replied individually and now want to post an update kind of collective reply also. 

With the one year old, homeschooling, me working from home every night, a very small condo with NO yard, the almost eleven year old and my husband working second shift, I was extremely overwhelmed. Oliver was confined downstairs to out hardwood and did pretty well. He would tinkle on the pee pad at the back door or in the small grassy patch. My daughter could not walk him though because there was no fence or privacy and large dogs sometimes ran into the yard and scared her and him. My parents took him to help me out and even though the hoped he could come back and live with us eventually, they knew he might not be able to. They mainly wanted to keep him so my daughter wouldn't lose her fur baby. 

We came to their house this past week to stay while ours was on the market. The realtor wanted it available to show at any time. Once I got her I realized how much my mom was dealing with. Baby gates everywhere, everything chewed up, and she was just overwhelmed too. So I looked online for some help and guidance. 

I had contacted a havanese rescue a couple of months back but because he was a mix, she wouldn't take him. She did say she had a friend who was interested but I didn't hear back. I'm assuming that it just wasn't meant to be. 

The past week has been extremely difficult and I am sitting here feeling overwhelmed myself. We will be here for a few months until we find a new house to purchase or possibly build. I can see clearly that my mom is way too lax on him and has basically let him run all over her and the house. I know she's not the perfect "fit" for him though I am of course grateful they loved my daughter enough to try to take her puppy for her. 

I'm unsure which was to go with this. Do I think he can be trained, yes. Do I have the time to do it myself? Not really. I'm not sure I have the time to give him exactly what he needs. I wonder if we are the "perfect" family for him or if possibly there is another family that has dealt with these issues successfully in the past and maybe can give him what I can't. I've had my dogs until they passed so this is a new thing for me and leaves me with a very guilty feeling like I'm throwing him out and hurting her in the process. I've been very emotional over the whole situation

I appreciate all of your advice and opinions so much. Now if someone could just tell me the right thing to do for him and all of us lol.


----------



## Ollie"s Mom (May 23, 2014)

I hate to say it, but it sounds like you have way to much on your plate to deal with a puppy, any puppy, right now. They are a big job and take a lot of time and energy. I think a respectable rescue would be an option. There is the Havanese rescue and they take mixes. Please just make sure they are not a puppy broker, but a caring rescue that has good qualifications and take excellent care of their rescues. I never tell people to give up their dogs, but it sounds like you just can't handle this at this stage of your life. It is a tough call, you need to decide what would be best not only for you, but for Oliver too. Whatever you do, do not give him to a shelter with a kill policy, please be careful.


----------



## wrldtravlr345 (Aug 14, 2017)

Hugs to you!! I can relate to your post as I was very overwhelmed at first too. Can I ask about exercise? Our Hava is now 14 months old and still is very puppy like. He has lots of energy and is very naughty when he hasn’t had his 1.5 hour walks a day. Is there a neighbourhood kid or dog daycare that can help you? We have a dog walker and he goes to daycare one day a weeek. I have a 4 year old and 12 yr old and it has been hard to do my kids schedules and attention for our Bailey but we are on a good system now. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

As PP posters have mentioned. ex pen and crate are key to providing those boundaries. He sleeps in his crate, covered with towel and when we are going out he always stays in his ex pen with a tasty treat and then he’s not howling when we leave or worrying about him wandering those house looking for trouble. We also still close bedrooms and bathrooms doors.p when we are home. Havs love paper!!

One problem we are still working on his the ju,ping on table! Our chairs mostly tuck in but he is such a smart dog, he know how to jump on the seat and move it a bit out. Such a stinker! Kids are trained to remove their plates immediately and tuck their chairs in. Very frustrating still!

They are a wonderful breed and I hope it works for you and your family.

Good luck and keep us posted!


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

It really does sound like you and your mom have tried your best under very trying circumstances, but it hasn't been the best for Oliver. Yes, of course, he can be retrained to behave properly in the house, but it will be even harder work for the humans at his age than with a young puppy. It might be best if you could explain to your daughter that the best thing for Oliver is to find a family for him that has the time and experience to train him to be the best Oliver he can be.

You certainly have a lot on your plate even right now, and more coming up. This might not be the right time for you take on the SIGNIFICANT amount of time and close attention needed to retrain an adolescent dog. Sometimes life gets in the way. And having to choose to place a dog with someone who will have the time to do the best for him is not wrong. It doesn't make you a bad person in ANY way. 

Have you spoken to the breeder? In general, people who purposely produce mixed breed dogs aren't great breeders, but it would be worth a call to see if she could help you place him. Most contracts from good breeders of purebreds REQUIRE that you involve the breeder in the placement of any dog they have bred.

Good luck, no matter what you decide. He sounds like a darling little guy who has just sort of grown up with love but without proper guidance and training. It sounds like you are in a tough situation right now too. These things happen!


----------



## Tux's Mom (May 24, 2016)

I agree with Karen. Havanese are very intelligent dogs and need lots of supervision and training especially when young. Tux stayed in his exercise pen next to my desk and went outside every 45 minutes to pee. This schedule can be harrowing for someone in your situation. I was exhausted, but was only having to deal with one puppy, and NOT two children a puppy, and work! You had a wonderful thought, but not a good idea unless you have the time or resources to train a young dog. You might want to consider an older dog who has lost his family and needs a good home. Now you know what you require in a pet in your special circumstances. It's important that you get the right tempered dog that has already been trained.....if indeed you still want one.


----------



## Marni (Apr 1, 2017)

Good luck. These babies need grooming and plenty of attention and are not for everyone.


----------



## RoccoChoco (Aug 25, 2017)

Honestly, my Rocco just turned a year old and he does some of these things. He sometimes jumps on the table and steals napkins ripping them to shreds. He will also go after throw rugs from time to time. If they are that much of a problem, take them up. I had to take one up in front of the refrigerator recently. He wouldn’t leave it alone. He peed on the upstairs carpet the first time his feet touched it. (He was house trained downstairs on hardwood.) I think they associate it with grass or something strange under their feet, I read it’s not that uncommon, but until you get him under control downstairs first do not confuse him further and let him up there! It took several times before Rocco learned that peeing on the carpet was not acceptable! He also went through a short period after he starting lifting his leg where he started marking certain spots inside the house. Probably around Oliver’s age. I had to watch him like a hawk and go back to square one with house training again. Luckily it didn’t last long! He does love his crate, we have been lucky there. I trained him to go in on his own with treats. The crate is also inside an exercise pen so he has freedom to go in and out while we’re gone or just too busy to keep an eye on him. When we first got him at 12 weeks he had access to the kitchen only until he was house trained. Then I slowly introduced him to other rooms a little at a time. I’m finally free of the gates now! What worked well for Rocco is a clicker. You can pick one up for about $2 at the pet store. First introduce him to it with treats because he’s going to be like what the heck is that? Click, treat, click, treat. Oh when I pee and I hear a click I get a treat now too! Yippee!!! Right after he goes, click then treat. I also used the clicker to teach him, sit, stay, lay, basically everything! Treats are your secret weapon, lol. Rocco will do anything for a treat! Oliver’s still a puppy, a puppy that had to switch homes and basically owners in the middle of it all! He’s so cute and it sounds like he has a loving home. I don’t think its a lost cause, I think there just need to be more routine/discipline and EVERYONE in the house needs to be on the same page! I hope it works out! Good luck!


----------



## Mikki (May 6, 2018)

This home schooling, working mom, with a baby, living temporarily with her mother while selling your house and then will move into a new house has WAY TOO much on her plate to try and train much re-train her beautiful dog. IMO .... place this pup with a good rescue group. It will be easy to find a good home for her.


----------



## PinkMellow (Aug 23, 2018)

Little Stella is a very curious puppy who likes to try to chew on anything she can get her mouth on. Generally what I do if I see her doing this is I distract her and then give her her bone to chew on. Specifically I need to give her her bone and not another type of toy to satisfy that chew urge. It usually works pretty well! If she is not taking the bone and very fixated, I make a loud noise, which startles her. Today I got her to stop chewing on our coffee table drawer knob like that. She wouldn’t take the bone today so I slapped the ground very loudly. She stopped, looked at me, then started one more time to chew and I slapped the ground again. Then she left the knob alone and licked the table instead. Most of the time the bone distraction works well on its own though.

For potty training, I found that praise alone was not enough motivation for her to want to go outside. So we have a baggie of tiny cut up bits of plain chicken breast and we taught her the potty & poop command. (We initially just had potty but she seemed to think that was only pee so we added “go poop” as well). Each time she went, we gave her a little tidbit of chicken. Going outside used to be a huge ordeal where we’d sit outside for ages, she’d throw a little temper tantrum in the grass then we’d go in and she’d go inside like your dogger, now she has started to paw at the door on her own and goes pretty much immediately when she gets to the yard. Very nice! (And we’ve only had her a week!) 

For kennel training, she is just starting to sleep through the night. Kennel training is all about patience and persistence. You must put them in the kennel and keep them there every night. They may bark for HOURS to begin with!! Maybe even all night!! But the only way for this to stop is for them to learn that barking doesn’t work. If your dog starts barking in the middle of the night randomly he may have to go potty, when you take him out don’t acknowledge him at all, no positive attention, just remind him to go potty then bring back in and put him back. First night Stella barked for like 2 hours, next night was 30 minutes, then 10 minutes consistently. Though it may take much longer if someone has already responded to the crying as that reinforces the behavior. 

Hope any of that helps!


----------



## Melissa Brill (Feb 22, 2017)

Danielle, what state are you in? If you go on facebook there's a Havanese rescue page - I have seen owner placed adoptions there - full and mixed breeds (https://www.facebook.com/groups/975925575754914/) and lots of people desperately looking to take one in. I wish I (ok, really my husband) was ready for a second. I really really want one, but right now traveling with 2 is not realistic (especially since my husband and I often travel separately and he's not ready to travel alone with a dog).


----------

