# Havanese potty tells



## Szyworld (3 mo ago)

I will be bringing home my new pup in a few weeks. Currently the breeder has the pup potty trained to the pads but I will be crate training and outside potty training. I am in Florida so other than rain and hurricanes the outside conditions are always nice. 
I have a 6yr Australian shepherd and when he was puppy he and I had a failure to communicate for a few weeks. His “tell” that he need to go potty was to start nipping at my hands and feet. I of course saw this as a puppy behavior to be corrected and did not understand what he was telling me. Once I figured it out his house breaking was a breeze. He is a herding breed so it makes sense that he would nip. What are some of the ”tells” that I should look for with a Havanese pup. 
FYI he will also be on a structured schedule for going out in the beginning so he won’t need to tell me but I would like to know what to look for. 
The potty training is the one thing that made me hesitate to get a havanese because there are so many that say it’s difficult but I am hoping by crate training, using a schedule and the assistance of my Australian Shepherd that I will not have any problems 🤞 Thanks


----------



## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

You will need to have nothing else to do, like answer the phone, in your life if you go with outside only. The people that have the most accidents inside are the ones that want to start with outside only. These little puppies have metabolisms that are Flying. Their hearts sound like little motors running. They need to go often, and you may have five seconds notice to read their signals if you are paying attention. You have to pay attention All The Time.

They are Easy to train, if started early, and correct habits developed by the time they are three weeks old.

There is No reasoning on their part about it. It's all about developing habits. Think human baby wearing a diaper, or rather one that is not wearing a diaper.


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

I agree with Tom 100% All Havanese puppies that are indoor trained properly to start with learn to potty outdoors without difficulty. People who INSIST on outdoors only have the most difficulty and it takes the longest. These are the people who think it is "hard to potty train Havanese". Because they INSIST on trying to train them like a kind of dog they are not.


----------



## gabbygool (Oct 27, 2021)

IMO Enzo was really easy to potty train because he came home trained on a pee pad. I think I would have preferred a litter box but that is how his breeder does it at home. Even when we brought him home, once we set up a pee pad and showed him where it was he went on it consistently. Otherwise I took him out pretty much every half an hour (when awake), but on our porch which had a grass patch set up (we lived in an apartment on the second floor & i was very nervous about parvo, it's high in my area). His tell at the time were disengaging with play to go sniff for a potty spot. It's very subtle with these dogs but not impossible to tell. Basically if you have them on a schedule and use proper management tools (playpens, crating, indoor potty options, plenty of potty opportunities, etc) your puppy should do well. Also, never punish for accidents or startle the puppy. They happen, and they aren't the end of the world. Just continue to be consistent with it and it should go fine. With consistency, Enzo at about 15 weeks was going to the door already to ask to potty.


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

gabbygool said:


> IMO Enzo was really easy to potty train because he came home trained on a pee pad. I think I would have preferred a litter box but that is how his breeder does it at home. Even when we brought him home, once we set up a pee pad and showed him where it was he went on it consistently.


For future reference, and for other people reading this who get a puppy started on pee pads, it is DEAD EASY to switch a puppy from pee pads to pellets in a tray. Put you pee pad in a tray, first with no grid. When the puppy has gone on it a time or two, put the grid over it. They will continue using it with no problem. Then, after a couple of days, sprinkle a handful of pellets on top of the pad (under the grid for a day or two, increasing the pellets over a couple more days. By the end of a week, you can do away with the pad completely, and just use pellets. Voila! The change is complete! 

MANY puppies will accept the pellets readily, without even this slow a change over, but I've NEVER heard of a puppy who wouldn't accept this. Even older dogs who still use pee pads can usually be switched to pellets this way.


----------



## gabbygool (Oct 27, 2021)

krandall said:


> For future reference, and for other people reading this who get a puppy started on pee pads, it is DEAD EASY to switch a puppy from pee pads to pellets in a tray. Put you pee pad in a tray, first with no grid. When the puppy has gone on it a time or two, put the grid over it. They will continue using it with no problem. Then, after a couple of days, sprinkle a handful of pellets on top of the pad (under the grid for a day or two, increasing the pellets over a couple more days. By the end of a week, you can do away with the pad completely, and just use pellets. Voila! The change is complete!
> 
> MANY puppies will accept the pellets readily, without even this slow a change over, but I've NEVER heard of a puppy who wouldn't accept this. Even older dogs who still use pee pads can usually be switched to pellets this way.


I will try this! When he was little he tried chewing on the pellets and when I put the tray on top he just slept on it 🤦 He hasn't seen the litter tray in a while so I might be able to reintroduce it to him though now he is used to going outside.


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

gabbygool said:


> I will try this! When he was little he tried chewing on the pellets and when I put the tray on top he just slept on it 🤦 He hasn't seen the litter tray in a while so I might be able to reintroduce it to him though now he is used to going outside.



And if he sleeps on it for a bit? Not the end of the world...


----------



## LWalks (Feb 7, 2021)

Agree with what’s been shared! Even if you want to have them eventually use outside exclusively, it’s SO much easier to start w a tray when they’re so little. And honestly, if you don’t work at keeping it up with the indoor potty, most will transition on their own to going outside. Both of mine were started on trays (my older guy exclusively until 16 weeks bc we lived in an apartment at the time and I worried about parvo) and for the little one we did indoor and outdoor since we now have a small yard. Both always preferred outside when given the option, and stopped using the indoor potty naturally after a while. When it rains and they’re being brats about going out, I sometimes regret not having worked harder to maintain the indoor potty as an option, but at the time I was just happy they were going in one of the places they were supposed to!


----------



## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

I will chime in here as one of the minority that never used an indoor potty set up. I used a crate to potty train Molly and my Bichon before her. It can be done successfully but it required my undivided attention. I do not work outside the home and I treated potty training like a full time job. There are times when the weather is just awful that I wish I had started off with indoor training so think about that when making your decision about potty training. I do have an expen set up in my basement for times when the weather is just too bad to go out to potty and lucky for me Molly will use it.


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Molly120213 said:


> I will chime in here as one of the minority that never used an indoor potty set up. I used a crate to potty train Molly and my Bichon before her. It can be done successfully but it required my undivided attention. I do not work outside the home and I treated potty training like a full time job. There are times when the weather is just awful that I wish I had started off with indoor training so think about that when making your decision about potty training. I do have an expen set up in my basement for times when the weather is just too bad to go out to potty and lucky for me Molly will use it.


There is no doubt it can be done, but it is a LOT more work! Kudos to you for getting it done!


----------



## Melissa Brill (Feb 22, 2017)

krandall said:


> I agree with Tom 100% All Havanese puppies that are indoor trained properly to start with learn to potty outdoors without difficulty. People who INSIST on outdoors only have the most difficulty and it takes the longest. These are the people who think it is "hard to potty train Havanese". Because they INSIST on trying to train them like a kind of dog they are not.


I got Perry at 8 months (from a rescue) and didn't do indoor potty - but now I wish I had! It would be so much easier in so many circumstances to have that option. I didn't even think about it as I had always had bigger dogs and didn't even consider it might be a thing for small dogs to have an indoor potty.


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Melissa Brill said:


> I got Perry at 8 months (from a rescue) and didn't do indoor potty - but now I wish I had! It would be so much easier in so many circumstances to have that option. I didn't even think about it as I had always had bigger dogs and didn't even consider it might be a thing for small dogs to have an indoor potty.


Honestly, I am not sure it would have been possible with an 8 month old puppy who had never been introduced to it earlier…


----------



## Melissa Brill (Feb 22, 2017)

krandall said:


> Honestly, I am not sure it would have been possible with an 8 month old puppy who had never been introduced to it earlier…


I feel like he did use cloth pee pads at some point before I got him because for a while he would use the throw rug in front of the door (when he'd go to the door and I didn't get there fast enough -- when it was removed he didn't have any accidents there he would just wait for me to open the door) AND the welcome mat on the patio  but I doubt he was ever specifically trained for it.


----------



## vssinfl (5 mo ago)

Szyworld said:


> I will be bringing home my new pup in a few weeks. Currently the breeder has the pup potty trained to the pads but I will be crate training and outside potty training. I am in Florida so other than rain and hurricanes the outside conditions are always nice.
> I have a 6yr Australian shepherd and when he was puppy he and I had a failure to communicate for a few weeks. His “tell” that he need to go potty was to start nipping at my hands and feet. I of course saw this as a puppy behavior to be corrected and did not understand what he was telling me. Once I figured it out his house breaking was a breeze. He is a herding breed so it makes sense that he would nip. What are some of the ”tells” that I should look for with a Havanese pup.
> FYI he will also be on a structured schedule for going out in the beginning so he won’t need to tell me but I would like to know what to look for.
> The potty training is the one thing that made me hesitate to get a havanese because there are so many that say it’s difficult but I am hoping by crate training, using a schedule and the assistance of my Australian Shepherd that I will not have any problems 🤞 Thanks


I have been following this thread because I really wanted to train my little one on a pee pad. She has been with us for three weeks. The breeder used a litter box which we tried also Everytime we put a pad down she took it in her mouth and ran with it around the house like it was a toy. So I gave up and started taking her outside. Is there something special to do with a pad? It would make my life easier if she did go on a pad. But I must say if I take her out every 4 hours she has not had an accident. And she does sleep through the night. Just cutious


----------



## Sdeek (Nov 27, 2021)

Dusty was trained using a crate and outside. When he was about six months, maybe younger, a trainer introduced him to a bell on the door. He uses a front door bell when he wants to go outdoors and the back door bell to go on a grass pad on my balcony. I live on the bottom floor of a condo building. He’s almost fourteen now and will occasionally have an accident in the house. I put out pee pads and if it’s the middle of the night or I’m not home he uses them.


----------



## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

Put the pee pad in a potty tray with a grate covering the pad. Should solve the issue of her running off with the pee pads. Look at the posts in the puppy area. Krandall posted a link a couple times to one you can get on Amazon. Issac uses his occasionally still and I don’t worry about leaving him for a bit longer because he has a potty option in his puppy pen.


----------



## Syllean (11 mo ago)

I wish that I'd been able to find a potty tray in Canada early on for Worf. I tried pee pads and he always ended up tearing them up. I've only recently got him to the point that he's only had 1 accident in 6 weeks...my friend came over on his birthday and he got too excited.

I had a lot of trouble with him pooping in my sister's apartment when we visited last month. I think his first road trip confused him. Do you think I can train him to use a tray now that he only goes outside?


----------



## Melissa Brill (Feb 22, 2017)

vssinfl said:


> I have been following this thread because I really wanted to train my little one on a pee pad. She has been with us for three weeks. The breeder used a litter box which we tried also Everytime we put a pad down she took it in her mouth and ran with it around the house like it was a toy. So I gave up and started taking her outside. Is there something special to do with a pad? It would make my life easier if she did go on a pad. But I must say if I take her out every 4 hours she has not had an accident. And she does sleep through the night. Just cutious


Is there a reason why you would prefer a pad to a litter box? I would think a litter box would be less stinky 

Otherwise I'd say a pad with a grate over it would work to keep her from running with it.


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Melissa Brill said:


> Is there a reason why you would prefer a pad to a litter box? I would think a litter box would be less stinky
> 
> Otherwise I'd say a pad with a grate over it would work to keep her from running with it.


Litter boxes are DEFINITELY less stinky than pee pads. They are also cheaper and better for the environment. They only advantage to pee pads is that some people may feel that they are more convenient. I don’t find them more convenient, because the smell bothers me so much that I need to change them pretty much every time the dog pees on them.


----------



## BaileySea (2 mo ago)

Bailey was potty trained exclusively with crate training and going outside since 9 weeks old. His breeder use a pee pad. I used a pee pad once, and since then he has been using a potty bell to let us know when he needs to do his business. He is my first dog and turned out he was super easy and has had perhaps three accidents before he was reliably potty trained in a month or two.


----------



## Szyworld (3 mo ago)

BaileySea said:


> Bailey was potty trained exclusively with crate training and going outside since 9 weeks old. His breeder use a pee pad. I used a pee pad once, and since then he has been using a potty bell to let us know when he needs to do his business. He is my first dog and turned out he was super easy and has had perhaps three accidents before he was reliably potty trained in a month or two.


Thank you for telling me this. I was surprised by the how few people were crate/outside potty training. I was really starting to worry about it. It was relatively easy to potty train my Australian shepherd with the crate So I was planning on using the same method with the puppy. I never did need to use the bells with my Aussie because he was able to communicate with me when he needed to go (I did miss his tell at first). I can easily get bells and use them. Though my Aussie will also pick up on using the bells and knowing him he use them to just get my attention even when he doesn’t want to go outside. lol
Thank you again


----------



## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

If you use bells as a signal for going out to potty you will probably find that your pup will also go through a period of ringing the bell when he wants to go out to play rather than solely to use the potty. Others they have worked through this with their pup need to chime in to help you know how to manage it.


----------



## Szyworld (3 mo ago)

Update, I brought the puppy home on Tuesday and so far so good with the potty training. He even took to the crate super fast. I am using his own napping patterns to set a routine. It seems for every hour he plays there is a 2 hour or longer nap. He has already learned to sit at the back door if he needs/wants to go out. He is now only needing me to take him out once during the night I am hoping that by next week he will be sleeping through night without the potty breaks.


----------



## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

Sounds like you are making great progress


----------

