# Housebreaking??



## lonnieluv (Apr 25, 2017)

Lonnie is 14 weeks and he is so sweet but def a little rascal. I am home and take him out almost hourly!! Is it normal for pups this age to still have multiple accidents??? Today I took him out first thing to pee and poop and then he came in and 5 min later popped on the floor??? Oy!!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

lonnieluv said:


> Lonnie is 14 weeks and he is so sweet but def a little rascal. I am home and take him out almost hourly!! Is it normal for pups this age to still have multiple accidents??? Today I took him out first thing to pee and poop and then he came in and 5 min later popped on the floor??? Oy!!


Training a puppy is ALL about preventing accidents. That means that it is up to the owner to confine them unless you can supervise EYES ON, EVERY SECOND. Your puppy does not really understand that he is being taken outside to potty. If he happens to go, it is a happy accident, and you have a "party" with him. But if he doesn't go, it only means that he didn't need to go right then. He doesn't understand that that was his "opportunity".

How easy puppies are to train has a lot to do with how well the breeder potty trained them. All of mine came from breeders who put a lot of time and effort into litter box training them. So they understood completely to use a litter box if it was close to them when the urge it. That DIDN'T mean that they wouldn't have a mistake if the urge hit on the other side of the kitchen though! It was my job to make sure that at the first signs, I scooped them up and either brought them to the litter box or outside.

Your puppy will learn, but he will learn MUCH faster if you prevent him from having accidents as much as possible.


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## Hava Novice (Aug 30, 2016)

Ditto to Karen's comments. I wish I could find the link to the guide that I found online and went by religiously. I did copy it, but the author did not want it shared without it being attributed to him and I didn't save his name, but an important part of what it said was ... after waking in the morning – carry him/her to the spot, after naps – walk him/her to the spot, and what I found to be VERY important - 5-10 min after a drink and 20-30 after meals - walk him/her to the spot. If he doesn't go when you take him out, take him back to his crate and try again in 10 minutes, and like Karen said "have a party" and really praise/treat him. I kept Oreo confined at all times in the beginning unless I knew for certain that he had been successful with his pottying, and then just gave him freedom for maybe 20 minutes. I learned his behaviors that indicated he had to go, and would take him out immediately. I also learned that the 20 minutes after meals didn't apply to him at breakfast. He only had 2 poop accidents, but they were both within a minute or two of his finishing breakfast, so after that I would scoop him up and take him out as soon as he finished his last bite. If you are vigilant, you will learn his schedule, and will be able to head off accidents before they happen, and that speeds up the training process tremendously. Of course, it really is you who becomes trained initially, but once you are trained, he will follow suit. Good luck!


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

Tux used to have to go outside every 45 minutes, or right after excessive activity. It wore me out, but as he got older, each month would allow me a few more minutes in between trips. (My health improved because I was up constantly taking him out). I had pee pads down and kept him in his exercise pen when I couldn't have constant eyes on him. They want to please you, so don't scold a young puppy for having a teeny weeny bladder that won't hold a lot. Be happy whenever he goes potty outside even though you are exhausted. LOL

He is now a year and 3 months. I feed him four times a day (7 AM, 10:30 AM, 4:30 PM, and 7:30 PM) and take him out right after feeding. He is on such a regular schedule, he never has accidents. He eats thawed frozen diet of 78% meat and bone product.


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## lonnieluv (Apr 25, 2017)

Great advice. He is confined to my kitchen and I also crate him. He hates being in the crate and cries/barks when I put him in the crate and I'm in the same room.

I have 3 kids so it's a bit difficult to keep my eyes on him every second. We will have s few good days and then a few with accidents. We're both doing our best...


Thank you for the feedback. I will def try to be better at keeping an eye on him. Hard to tell if he's peeing as he doesn't lift a leg...


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## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

Good luck with the potty training. If you aren't already doing so, reward him with attention/treats whenever he's quiet in the crate, and ignore him whenever he cries/barks . . .


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

lonnieluv said:


> Great advice. He is confined to my kitchen and I also crate him. He hates being in the crate and cries/barks when I put him in the crate and I'm in the same room.
> 
> I have 3 kids so it's a bit difficult to keep my eyes on him every second. We will have s few good days and then a few with accidents. We're both doing our best...
> 
> Thank you for the feedback. I will def try to be better at keeping an eye on him. Hard to tell if he's peeing as he doesn't lift a leg...


Try an ex-pen rather than a crate for confinement during the day when you can't keep your eye on him. With 3 kids, of course you can't keep your eye on him all the time! That's what confinement is for.  And most young puppies don't lift a leg, so that's not unusual at all.


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## Hava Novice (Aug 30, 2016)

I remember it being so hard to tell whether Oreo had peed cause he was so fluffy and so close to the ground! I did finally notice that his tail bobbles up and down a little when he's going, so that was my sign that he had success. In addition to having my kitchen gated off, I also used a pen for Oreo. I still use the pen if I am leaving the house, or am going to be in another part of the house for a prolonged period. He only had one accident in his pen, and that was my husband's fault for having let him gulp a bunch of water right before he put him in his pen, and not going back 20 minutes later to take him out. You do have to pay really close attention to their intake, and time your potty trips accordingly.


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## Genie1000 (Apr 13, 2017)

Expen and pee pads are a life saver here too


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## karidyne (Apr 28, 2017)

I am currently housebreaking Migo so I think I'll give my input as well. You have gotten great advice so far though!



lonnieluv said:


> Great advice. He is confined to my kitchen and I also crate him. He hates being in the crate and cries/barks when I put him in the crate and I'm in the same room.


Migo used to do this, but from the moment I brought him home I ignored him and never gave in (unless he had to potty at night). We've had him for about two weeks now and he is much better. If he does cry, it's only an initial whimper and he stops. If you have given him attention for whining or barking before it will just take longer for him to catch on, but he will with consistency. Eventually the puppy will do something inside his crate to keep himself busy instead of relying on you. It helps to tire him out before crating. Otherwise, he's bored and a bully stick only helps so much.

The pen is really great for indoor potty training. Migo's breeder had already started that for us, and he never had an accident _in his pen_. The reason why I switched to crate and tether was that I wanted Migo to eventually go only outside and the pen made it more difficult for me to supervise him. I would catch him after he peed on his ugodog, but my goal was to train him to go on command. I think it's definitely worth to give the tether/crate a try if you want Lonnie to potty only outside (we haven't had an accident since). If you like the pee pad/ugodog then the pen is the way to go for now.


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## Genie1000 (Apr 13, 2017)

I think the big thing is finding what works for you and your lifestyle among the many awesome suggestions you're getting. 
Penelope is a little over 14 weeks now. We are almost empty nesters here and so we've converted one of our daughters rooms into the puppy room. It's got linoleum flooring coming on Wednesday. We have a expen and crate set up with in. 
When we can watch her like a hawk or we know she's empty, she can be in the living room with us.
When we're home but not watching she's in the puppy room with pad. 
When we have to leave, we use the expen with pad and crate.
She hadn't pooped in the house since the first week home and when she pees she's on the pad or outside.
Once in a blue moon, she pees on the floor and that's generally user error on our part.
This is working for us and she's really smart and seems to prefer outside for potty.
It's a process. Lonnie and you will figure it out!


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## DuketheDog (May 1, 2017)

consistency is key! After reading so many things about Havanese being harder to potty train I'm SOOO happy with the success I have had with my puppy. 
Knowing your dogs cue's is super important when and how they start sniffing. right now we are at the point our pup has a distant look he looks at us with this weird look on his face and we say OH that the potty look, Duke OUTSIDE! He books it for the back door and pee / poops outside, when we are gone he can and will hold it for about 4 hours.


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## lonnieluv (Apr 25, 2017)

Thank you all for your great suggestions! I don't want to get too excited but we've had 4 days with no accidents. I think I've been better about crating him, if I can't supervise what he's up to, and also maybe taking him out more and he must be better able to hold it. Def feeling more optimistic!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

lonnieluv said:


> Thank you all for your great suggestions! I don't want to get too excited but we've had 4 days with no accidents. I think I've been better about crating him, if I can't supervise what he's up to, and also maybe taking him out more and he must be better able to hold it. Def feeling more optimistic!


Four accident free days is a GREAT step in the right direction!!! Keep up the good work! (but don't get discouraged if you still have a "miss" here and there!  )


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## lonnieluv (Apr 25, 2017)

Hahaha! Yep, day 5-- 2 misses! So bummed. We were off our weekday schedule so perhaps that's why...

Don't know what's with him but I have friends who have other toy breeds and then say they almost never had accidents. Oh well...


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

lonnieluv said:


> Hahaha! Yep, day 5-- 2 misses! So bummed. We were off our weekday schedule so perhaps that's why...
> 
> Don't know what's with him but I have friends who have other toy breeds and then say they almost never had accidents. Oh well...


They were lucky. There are a lot of toy breeds that are MUCH harder to potty train than Havanese. There are some breeds that are almost impossibly to get reliable. (Yorkies and Chihuahuas in particular) ...And a LOT depends on how much work the breeder put into early potty training. The better trained they are before the go home, the easier it is once you get them. I was lucky that my breeders both did such an excellent job. Mine were absolutely reliable in an ex-pen or small room with a litter box from the day I brought them home. Larger spaces took more time, but we had a "safe" base of operations, where they understood completely what the expectations were, and we could work from there.


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## Marni (Apr 1, 2017)

I love, love Lonnie's coloring. Like labor, when you have a well trained adult dog you will disremember this time in your lives. Kosmo is just over six months and accidents are rare now, he had no training in his kennel. It was frustrating but the personality of this breed makes for so many belly laughs and smiles, not difficult at all to take accidents in stride and refuse to react negatively. However, being a sensitive breed, potty accidents will later happen behind things, because a Havenese can hear your sigh. 0


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## lonnieluv (Apr 25, 2017)

Thanks for all the support! I need it! I know it takes time...just was feeling so hopeful. He is a sweetie. 

His breeder pee pad trained him but we didn't want to use the pee pads so here we are. He seems like he gets it when I take home out and say "potty"., I guess it is what it is and he just needs more time.,


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