# Housebreaking a Havanese



## maximom (Mar 26, 2014)

In the past with my large breed dogs I always used a combination of crate training, and the umbilical cord method (keeping them tied to me at the waste so they don't have the chance to sneak off to pee and so I will see their signals right away). And of course I'd never scold a dog for an accident they did a while back, they'd have no idea why I am mad. My breeder likes puppy pads. I'm wondering if I should try them, they are new to me. I'm worried they will end up only wanting to use a puppy pad and not want to go outdoors though. Anyone have experience with this?


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## ringoblack (May 3, 2012)

Our Button is 3.5 years old and she has the re-usable (washable) pee pads. They come in handy overnight or during the day if we miss her signals. She prefers to go outside and will hold it for outside. The pads are a good backstop though. 

We started her out as a puppy on the pads and had the same concern as you that she would prefer the pads to outside, but that has not proven out. She prefers outside now. As for the paper pads, our experience with them has been that they are useless. Our dogs as puppies just shred them like paper and don't seem to piddle on them.


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## MarinaGirl (Mar 25, 2012)

My experience with the washable pee pads is that dogs can't distinguish between them and bath mats or area rugs so I would caution you about that method. My Hav was trained to go outside but I also have an indoor potty system (Rascal Dog) with fake grass that Emmie uses 1-2 times a week. There are other methods that are effective too, such as a litter box or a grate system like UgoDog.

-Jeanne-


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## maximom (Mar 26, 2014)

Are adult havanese dogs not able to hold it for long? I've never had an issue with my larger dogs doing inside even if left alone 8-10 hours. Is that not the case with a havanese because of smaller bladders? I'm a stay at home mom so am home lots anyway, but just curious.


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## Rayven (Jul 3, 2013)

I didn't want to use puppy pad either. So I bought human pee pads from the pharmacy. They are the ones a hospital uses on the bed. I choose them so they wouldn't have the "pee here" scent. I didn't want my Ivy looking for that smell to do her business. I only used the pads when she was in her x pen, other that that I watched her like a hawk and put her outside to go. When in her x pen she ALWAYS peed on the pad even though there was no scent to it.

She was very easy to train despite my breeder not doing any training before I got her.


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## ringoblack (May 3, 2012)

MarinaGirl said:


> My experience with the washable pee pads is that dogs can't distinguish between them and bath mats or area rugs so I would caution you about that method.
> 
> -Jeanne-


We were worried about that with Button but after putting our area rugs down one by one, and keeping the pee pad in it's same location, we didn't have a problem. By that time she had learned the location of the real pee pad. I guess its location, location, location.


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## MarinaGirl (Mar 25, 2012)

ringoblack said:


> We were worried about that with Button but after putting our area rugs down one by one, and keeping the pee pad in it's same location, we didn't have a problem. By that time she had learned the location of the real pee pad. I guess its location, location, location.


A problem that often occurs is if your dog gets used to having a soft surface under their feet when defecating, it's not easy for them to distinguish between approved and unapproved substrates when away from home. The last thing you want is for your Hav to pee on the carpet, mats, or furniture at family and friends' houses, stores, etc.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

maximom said:


> In the past with my large breed dogs I always used a combination of crate training, and the umbilical cord method (keeping them tied to me at the waste so they don't have the chance to sneak off to pee and so I will see their signals right away). And of course I'd never scold a dog for an accident they did a while back, they'd have no idea why I am mad. My breeder likes puppy pads. I'm wondering if I should try them, they are new to me. I'm worried they will end up only wanting to use a puppy pad and not want to go outdoors though. Anyone have experience with this?


Your method should work fine, but my breeder says that their puppy buyers who have the most problems with accidents are those who insist on outside only. My choice with Kodi was that I wanted to maintain an indoor potty solution for really foul weather here in the north east, but have him most of the time go outside. My experience, and that of almost everyone here on the forum that has used an indoor potty solution is that they very quickly and naturally learn to use the outdoors, and then soon PREFER to use the outdoors. Then, if you want to maintain an indoor option (FANTASTIC when you are on the 8th floor of a hotel at a dog show!  ) you really need to WORK on maintaining their interest in the indoor option. As an adult, Kodi goes outdoors almost all the time. If the weather is REALLY bad, and you say, "Use your box," he'll look at you, sigh, and go use the box. 

I don't think there is a single person on the forum who has WANTED to transition their dog to outdoors, who has had a problem with it. There are a couple of people who choose to ONLY let their dog use an indoor potty, but that is their choice, not because they couldn't train the dog to go outside. The much more common "problem" is people who get away from the indoor potty completely then wish, for one reason or another, that they hadn't.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

maximom said:


> Are adult havanese dogs not able to hold it for long? I've never had an issue with my larger dogs doing inside even if left alone 8-10 hours. Is that not the case with a havanese because of smaller bladders? I'm a stay at home mom so am home lots anyway, but just curious.


Honestly, I don't think any dog of any size should HAVE to hold it for 8-10 hours. That would definitely be pushing it with a small breed dog. (not just Havanese) 4-6 hours doesn't seem to be a problem for Kodi. He often doesn't ask to go out more often than that, even when I'm home, and although he has his litter box available at all times, he rarely uses it if the time he's left alone is under 6 hours. &#8230;and he's is VERY rarely left alone for longer than that.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

MarinaGirl said:


> A problem that often occurs is if your dog gets used to having a soft surface under their feet when defecating, it's not easy for them to distinguish between approved and unapproved substrates when away from home. The last thing you want is for your Hav to pee on the carpet, mats, or furniture at family and friends' houses, stores, etc.


Yes, we've had a LOT of forum members whose dogs have mistaken washable pee pads with area rugs, and it has become an on-going problem. It works for some people, but I sure wouldn't take the chance. I want the indoor potty surface to be something that smells looks and feels COMPLETELY different than anything else in the house. We can set up a litter box anywhere, and Kodi knows exactly what it's for, and wouldn't think of using anything else. We took him back to visit his breeder (who also uses litter boxes) and he marched himself right over and used one of their litter boxes.


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## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

I agree that 8-10 hours is too long. Leo can go 5 maybe 6 hours but we rarely push it that long. Through the years, having had mostly larger dogs and Cardigan Welsh Corgis which are just big dogs with short legs, I can say that housetraining a Havanese takes considerably longer. It just takes them a longer period of time to develop a "tell" and to use it consistently which requires consistent diligence on the part of the owner to prevent mistakes. This diligence must be maintained for longer than you will have experienced with your larger dogs. Leo was trained to outdoors only and had only 2 pee accidents and no poop accidents until he was close to a year but paying attention to his potty needs felt like a fulltime job especially when he was younger. About 11.5 months, when we had such cold nasty weather, we had a couple of accidents inside but we just reverted to expen and closer supervision and he seems back on track. Many of my larger dogs were 100% reliable with housetraining and a consistent "tell" by the time they were 10-12 weeks of age. Just need to prepare and know that it will take longer but that your pup will housetrain with consistent effort on your family's part.


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## maximom (Mar 26, 2014)

Even at night?? They can't hold it longer than 5-6 hours??


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

maximom said:


> Even at night?? They can't hold it longer than 5-6 hours??


Noooo! They do fine over night. Kodi comes up to bed with us around 8PM, and goes out in the morning when Dave gets up, around 6AM. But just like with us, it's not such an issue when they are sleeping, and not active.

Kodi was reliably sleeping 8 hours at night at 12 weeks.


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## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

maximom said:


> Even at night?? They can't hold it longer than 5-6 hours??


No, overnight, after the first couple of nights, is usually 7.5-8 hours just because that's my night. Leo goes out right before I go to bed and first thing when I get up in the morning. I think it's too long to expect during the day.


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## Carli (Nov 5, 2013)

I had Milo on disposable pee pads at first, but when he was 3 months old i was advised by the trainer to just get rid of them completely. I was worried, but wow it all seemed to work out very fast. At first i couldn't take my eyes off him for one second, i was always running outside with him but within a few weeks he was out of the peeing all the time phase.

Now he's 5 months old and he hasn't had an accident in the house for a month and a half and i completely trust that he wont! Im so happy that this has been an easy process for us and i am very proud of him.

Anyway moral of the story is, i think the pee pads just add unnecessary time to the house breaking process, unless you plan for him to use it in the future (bad weather conditions or so) then it is good for him to be trained to use it.

And heres a pic for good measure &#128522;









Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## sandypaws (Aug 8, 2012)

Very cute picture of Milo. What a handsome little guy he is!


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## maximom (Mar 26, 2014)

Oh I'm glad people just meant during the day, I was starting to seriously doubt my breed choice!

Milo is adorable, great pic


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## Lalla (Jul 30, 2013)

krandall said:


> Noooo! They do fine over night. Kodi comes up to bed with us around 8PM, and goes out in the morning when Dave gets up, around 6AM. But just like with us, it's not such an issue when they are sleeping, and not active.
> 
> Kodi was reliably sleeping 8 hours at night at 12 weeks.


Metabolism slows overnight and as Karen says, dogs and humans alike have the capacity to hang on for far longer than during the day when they/we are active and are eating and drinking, which we tend not to do in the middle of the night.
I'm still having problems with Cuba and accidents indoors, despite the fact that she is trained to use and indoor litter box. She'll use it if she's confined, which she still is at night, to her ex-pen (although she's only needed the box once in the last several months). But in the day she doesn't seem to be able to equate the box with peeing and I still occasionally find a puddle or poo on the kitchen floor. She'll go for a month with no accidents and then suddenly, even if the back door is open into the garden, she'll have no sense that that is where she should go. It's really difficult. The gaps between accidents get longer, however, and I'm ever hopeful that, with enough diligence on my part, that one day she'll get it; she's a year and ten days old now.


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## maximom (Mar 26, 2014)

Wow I really hope I don't have to deal with potty training at a year! I guess small breeds mean small bladders.


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## Lalla (Jul 30, 2013)

maximom said:


> Wow I really hope I don't have to deal with potty training at a year! I guess small breeds mean small bladders.


I don't think it's that the bladders are smaller - so is the quantity drunk. I suppose we should at least be grateful that the amount that comes out the other end is small, too, when it comes to clearing up a mess! And, at least if you feed raw, the poo is really tiny and dry, too. But it's still a Bad Thing when you can't seem to manage to get the message across that indoors, other than in a litter box, is a major no no. Errgggg. I must trawl through past threads to see if anyone else has had it the way I'm experiencing. I really don't think it's my fault (for once!), I've housetrained other dogs with no problems. And it's not because Cuba is a difficult dog to train - in every other respect she is FAR cleverer than any other dog I've trained. It's confusing.


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## morriscsps (Aug 17, 2010)

Yeah, it takes a year before they are trustworthy. It is completely baffling to a large dog owner. I don't get it. You just suffer through it.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Lalla said:


> Metabolism slows overnight and as Karen says, dogs and humans alike have the capacity to hang on for far longer than during the day when they/we are active and are eating and drinking, which we tend not to do in the middle of the night.
> I'm still having problems with Cuba and accidents indoors, despite the fact that she is trained to use and indoor litter box. She'll use it if she's confined, which she still is at night, to her ex-pen (although she's only needed the box once in the last several months). But in the day she doesn't seem to be able to equate the box with peeing and I still occasionally find a puddle or poo on the kitchen floor. She'll go for a month with no accidents and then suddenly, even if the back door is open into the garden, she'll have no sense that that is where she should go. It's really difficult. The gaps between accidents get longer, however, and I'm ever hopeful that, with enough diligence on my part, that one day she'll get it; she's a year and ten days old now.


Lalla, Kodi didn't have many accidents past the early puppy stage, but I am convinced that it was mostly because *I* was so well potty trained! I knew his schedule, and made sure he got outside when he needed to go. If I wasn't home, he was in his pen, where he was 100% reliable. Then, quite suddenly, just a couple of months short of his second birthday, he barked at the door to go out, for the FIRST TIME. From that time on, we quickly learned that we could let our guard down. Something had "clicked" in his furry head, and he'd figured out that if he barked at the door, we'd take him out. I have no idea why it took so long, or why, at that moment, he "got it".


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## Lalla (Jul 30, 2013)

krandall said:


> Lalla, Kodi didn't have many accidents past the early puppy stage, but I am convinced that it was mostly because *I* was so well potty trained! I knew his schedule, and made sure he got outside when he needed to go. If I wasn't home, he was in his pen, where he was 100% reliable. Then, quite suddenly, just a couple of months short of his second birthday, he barked at the door to go out, for the FIRST TIME. From that time on, we quickly learned that we could let our guard down. Something had "clicked" in his furry head, and he'd figured out that if he barked at the door, we'd take him out. I have no idea why it took so long, or why, at that moment, he "got it".


Hope springs eternal!!


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## Ruthiec (Jun 18, 2013)

The pet flap sorted our issues out, but I know that Charlie wouldn't be 100% reliable if he couldn't come and go so freely. This was confirmed when he had to wear his Elizabethan collar recently and so couldn't fit through the flap - puddles and poo on the floor if we didn't get up early enough to let him out.


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## SharonW (May 4, 2014)

I have a question about pee pads. We are bringing our new pup home the end of June. I don't think pee pads were around when our last dog was a pup, so this is new to me. I like the idea, but I have few questions. Do you secure them to the floor, if not do the pups shred them. One of the posts said that Havanese, and I'm sure other breeds, like to shred newpapers etc. Do you prefer a pad with scent and is the scent noticeable?


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

I am going through puppy training right now, Oliver is 11 weeks old. From the beginning we put a puppy pee pad in a sectioned off area in a large crate Oliver uses for naps and overnight. The front of the crate has his bed, blanky and stuffy. I then took an old piece of 6" baseboard we had lying around the garage. I cut it to the exact width of the crate, I lay it flat so it is maybe an inch high, covered it with an old hand towel tightly wrapped and made that the separation into the pee pad area which takes up the whole back half of the crate. The idea is he has to step up and over the baseboard to get to the pee pad so it feels like a different room from his sleeping area. The baseboard is on top of the pee pad so the pee pad doesn't shift around. He never uses it during naps, he does pee through the night, never poops. He knows his command word for going potty and he is taken to a gravel area outside which is his outside potty area. He never makes an attempt to use his pee pad during the day. Never has, he only uses it at night and it has made our life really comfortable as he is crated for bed at midnight and he doesn't wake us till 8 a.m. I think they are a godsend.


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## bigbadboss101 (Mar 29, 2014)

We have been waking at 4:30 depending what time we go to bed.


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## SharonW (May 4, 2014)

Thank you for the information, Ollie's Mom. I think I can adapt that idea to fit our situation. I have two crates and I will put one in our bedroom for night and I may not
need the second crate. I have a small room approximately 6' by 3.5' that I will use when I cannot keep close eye on her. It is in the middle of the house so she won't be too far from me. Of course, we will use a gate she can see through and not shut the door. I hope that we won't need the room after she is potty trained and she can use her crate. I am so excited about her and I am trying to think things through before she gets here. I have always had small dogs, never a Havanese, so I don't know why I am so anxious about this one. It may be because I'm retired and have more time to dwell on it.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

maximom said:


> Are adult havanese dogs not able to hold it for long? I've never had an issue with my larger dogs doing inside even if left alone 8-10 hours. Is that not the case with a havanese because of smaller bladders? I'm a stay at home mom so am home lots anyway, but just curious.


IMO, 8-10 hours is too long to leave any dog to "hold it", large or small. Asking them to hold it unnaturally long times is not good for them physically. Think about it this way. Except for over night, how often do WE "hold it" for 8-10 hours? Why should they?

That said, the BIGGEST reason to maintain an indoor potty system for a small coated breed is owner-convenience. There are days when the snow is so deep here that Kodi can't get off our steps until we are plowed/shoveled out. There are also days of driving rain, and Havanese coats are not even a TINY BIT weather-proof. They suck up water like a sponge, and a strong wind parts their soft coats right down to the skin. So I LIKE to be able to tell him to "use your potty" in foul weather. He also uses it first thing in the morning, so I don't have to get heavy clothes and boots on to take him out. We also have coyotes that come very close to the house, and when I know they are right outside (we can hear and often even see them when they are very close) I don't want to take him out, even on leash.

Finally, I often travel to shows with Kodi and stay in hotels. I'd MUCH rather have him use his potty in the room first thing in the morning than to have to get dressed and take him down 7 floors for his early morning pee outing! 

The experience that almost everyone has is that once their Havanese discovers going outdoors, if you WANT to maintain the indoor option, THAT is the one you have to reinforce heavily. It is easy for them to drift out of the habit of using it in nice weather, then refuse to use it when it's horrible out. Many people let this happen, and end up being sorry that they haven't maintained their dogs willingness to use both.

I don't think I've yet heard of a Havanese that refused to go outdoors (or even continued to prefer the indoor option) past puppyhood unless it was the owner's choice.


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