# Setting a new owners expectations



## SnickersDad (Apr 9, 2010)

Hi everyone.

As not only a new Havanese owner (well soon to be anyway), but also a real newbie to dog ownership I'd like to have some of your insight on what I should expect for the say first month or so of bringing Snickers home - she'll be right at 16 weeks when we pick her up.

How many times a night should I expect to get up and take her outside for a potty break?
As an aside to the question above - how long / how old should they be before I should reasonably expect them to hold it 'all night'. And, how long before I should expect them to sleep all night long?

I'm pretty sure most of the owners on this forum have their dogs sleep with them - we might do the same, but not until she's completely trustworthy. What kind of expectation should we have there? (I'm assuming we are working hard at her training, and she's making consistent progress.
And an aside to this question too -- We are planning on crate training her downstairs in the Family room - she will have an expen also - do many folks leave their pet's in their crates away from the owners all night?

I'm planning on staying with her the first week or so...

I'm thinking of starting her out on Pee Pads, but am almost convinced to use a litter box instead -- comments?

That's it for now -- Fair warning- Newbie is in the house  

Jim


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

Hi Jim , nice to hav another guy on here. Here is an article that contains pretty well everything from a to z . http://www.siriuspup.com/pdfs/before_puppy_sirius.pdf And since you have to read that in a hurry lol you can go to Dog Star Daily and look for a free download of "After You Get Your Puppy. The site is down right now so try later.


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## KarmaKat (Feb 19, 2010)

Snickers looks adorable! 

I am a newbie too. We will be getting our hav soon.

My library had the "Before and After Getting Your Puppy" book. It was very helpful. I also really liked Good Owners, Great Dogs and ended up buying it from Amazon as it looks like I can easily use it as a reference guide. Your library might have these.
Welcome to the forum from another Newbie


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## KSC (Aug 6, 2009)

Welcome Jim! You will get lot's of wonderful advice here and it sounds like you're already thinking about all the right things. We got Kipling at 8 weeks. We started with the crate in our room but we moved him into the kitchen area away from us one floor down by 12 weeks. He settled well and has never given us a peep since then. I think you decide where you want Snickers to sleep, and you try it. If it becomes a comfortable habit she won't question it...


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## Kathie (Jul 31, 2008)

:welcome: Just wanted to welcome you to the forum! You will get lots of good advice here. I didn't find this forum until well after we got our puppy so I made lots of mistakes! Glad you won't have to go through that! I know you will have so much fun with Snickers - when do you get him?


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## SnickersDad (Apr 9, 2010)

davetgabby said:


> Hi Jim , nice to hav another guy on here. Here is an article that contains pretty well everything from a to z . http://www.siriuspup.com/pdfs/before_puppy_sirius.pdf And since you have to read that in a hurry lol you can go to Dog Star Daily and look for a free download of "After You Get Your Puppy. The site is down right now so try later.


Thanks Dave..

I'm reading the pamphlet and I have to admit I'm pretty skeptical about this statement found in chapter three where the good Dr. is explaining what an 8 week old puppy should be doing --> (this is a quote) Your prospective puppy should feel thoroughly at ease being handled by strangers-you and your family. The puppy should be fully desensitized to sounds before he is four weeks old. Likewise, his housetraining program should be well underway, his favorite toy should be a chewtoy (stuffed with puppy chow), and he should happily and eagerly come, follow, sit, lie down, and roll over when requested. If these are not so, either your puppy is a
slow learner or he has had a poor teacher. In either case, look elsewhere....

I dunno -- That would be a pretty spectacular 8 week old in my book. I don't think I've seen any breeder that even suggests their puppy's will be capable of that behavior at that age.

Jim


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## SnickersDad (Apr 9, 2010)

Karma -- KSC - and Kathy - thanks for the warm welcome! :grouphug: I know we have our work cut out for us. But I'm confident -- vigilance and consistency along with a lot of positive re-enforcement! Now, I wonder if I can talk my wife into the 6 Am potty break shift.....

Jim


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## good buddy (Feb 20, 2007)

Hi Jim! Welcome to the forum! I can't wait to see pics and here all about your little Snickers! I sleep my Hav's in crates in the bedroom. They were crate trained by the breeder, so we were off to a good start with them. They fussed at bedtime the first few nights, but I had them next to the bed up at my level so they could see me and I could wiggle my fingers in the crate to soothe them. A stern "quiet!" got most of the fussing calmed down and after the first few days they slept pretty well. They are 2 and 3 now and happily run into their crates at bedtime.


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## BeverlyA (Oct 29, 2006)

Welcome Jim! I'm with you, I haven't met any 8 week old puppies that are doing all those things!

We got Cooper at 10 weeks and started with him sleeping in his crate next to the bed on a chair. He never fussed about it at all. He never had to go out more than once a night. 

You might want to post where you're located once you get your puppy. Often Forum members get together for playdates when they live close and share information, etc.

Beverly


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## Leslie (Feb 28, 2007)

Here's a pic of the sleeping area we had for Tori when she was little. She was just shy of 10 wks. old when we got her. She did very well with this setup from the very beginning. I liked that I didn't have to get up to do "potty duty" during the night. We took the expen down when she was maybe around 6 mos. old and she continued to choose to sleep in her crate. However, now at 2.5 yrs. old, she will often sleep in our bed especially during the winter when it's cooler. But, when the summer heat comes she moves back to her crate.


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## SnickersDad (Apr 9, 2010)

Leslie said:


> Here's a pic of the sleeping area we had for Tori when she was little. She was just shy of 10 wks. old when we got her. She did very well with this setup from the very beginning. I liked that I didn't have to get up to do "potty duty" during the night. We took the expen down when she was maybe around 6 mos. old and she continued to choose to sleep in her crate. However, now at 2.5 yrs. old, she will often sleep in our bed especially during the winter when it's cooler. But, when the summer heat comes she moves back to her crate.


Thanks Leslie --

This is very nearly the setup we have planned in the family room... with the additon of the crate -- wondering, a big expen with a potty at one end and a comfy bed at the other -- full of chew toys but no crate -- would that work??

Just wondering...

Jim


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## Maxmom (Jul 22, 2008)

Welcome Jim and KarmaKat, too!


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## Leslie (Feb 28, 2007)

Here's what we had in the family room for her.


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## SnickersDad (Apr 9, 2010)

Leslie said:


> Here's what we had in the family room for her.


Wow -- Now that's what I'm talking about -- that looks like it's about 9' by 6'.

Our family room isn't quite so generous -- we are looking at more of a 6' by 3' area + the cage. -- Well , ok yeah, the room itself is bigger than 6' by 3' -- but it's full of furniture :eyebrows:.

Jim


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## Leslie (Feb 28, 2007)

Here's a smaller configuration we had for Shadow. We couldn't add the crate to it, and in fact had to take the large bed out, because she learned to climb out using those as boosters/steps :doh: Thank goodness Tori isn't a climber


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

SnickersDad said:


> Thanks Dave..
> 
> I'm reading the pamphlet and I have to admit I'm pretty skeptical about this statement found in chapter three where the good Dr. is explaining what an 8 week old puppy should be doing --> (this is a quote) Your prospective puppy should feel thoroughly at ease being handled by strangers-you and your family. The puppy should be fully desensitized to sounds before he is four weeks old. Likewise, his housetraining program should be well underway, his favorite toy should be a chewtoy (stuffed with puppy chow), and he should happily and eagerly come, follow, sit, lie down, and roll over when requested. If these are not so, either your puppy is a
> slow learner or he has had a poor teacher. In either case, look elsewhere....
> ...


Actually, while I didn't pick Kodi up form his breeder until 11 weeks, he did all those things except sit, down and roll over on command. Clearly the reason he didn't know those commands was that they had concentrated on the socialization and potty training aspects. He learned sit and down within 2 or 3 days of being home. He has never learned "roll over", mostly because he wasn't comfortable with it, and we never pushed it. He has so many more important things to learn that we haven't spent much time working on "tricks". It's amazing how much a little puppy can learn!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

SnickersDad said:


> Karma -- KSC - and Kathy - thanks for the warm welcome! :grouphug: I know we have our work cut out for us. But I'm confident -- vigilance and consistency along with a lot of positive re-enforcement! Now, I wonder if I can talk my wife into the 6 Am potty break shift.....
> 
> Jim


Hi Jim,

Welcome to the forum!

Kodi has always had a litter box in his expen, and his crate attached. He sleeps there, and is perfectly happy with this arrangement. The nice thing is that he can use the potty when he needs to. So even if we want to sleep in on a Sat. morning, he's fine.

While I think it's a great idea for you to sleep near him for the first few nights, just to make sure he's adjusting, from the standpoint of physical maturity, a 26 week old puppy should have no trouble holding it through the night if he has a chance to potty right before bed.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

SnickersDad said:


> Thanks Leslie --
> 
> This is very nearly the setup we have planned in the family room... with the additon of the crate -- wondering, a big expen with a potty at one end and a comfy bed at the other -- full of chew toys but no crate -- would that work??
> 
> ...


Hi Jim,

I think they really like the enclosed "cave" feeling of their crate. I'm not sure you can create this same feeling of comfort with an open bed in an ex-pen. Just put the crate inside the ex-pen if you don't have room to add it onto the end!


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## Redorr (Feb 2, 2008)

Hi Jim - welcome to the Northern CA gang of Havs! All good advice here. You should read the book "Havanese" by Diane Klumb. It was a handy thing to have during the early days. Two cautionary comments from my experience with my Lola - the crate attached to the ex-pen quickly became a step out of the expen, if your pup is a leaper or climber. keep an eye out for that. 
2. I was intensely focused on potty training - the breeder had done nothing - and I trained Lola right into severe separation anxiety. I rarely left her alone. I had to keep an eye on her, because the only reason she would leave me and go into another room was to go potty under the dining room table. Then she started panic elimination when I would leave her home alone and I did not understand that was what was going on. So I kept her even closer to me! Lesson learned is to establish zones and times for togetherness and for separation inside the house. 

Good luck! The National Havanese show is coming to San Mateo in August. There will be some beautiful dogs there and all sorts of people and advice and stuff to buy.


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## SnickersDad (Apr 9, 2010)

Redorr said:


> Hi Jim - welcome to the Northern CA gang of Havs! All good advice here. You should read the book "Havanese" by Diane Klumb. It was a handy thing to have during the early days. Two cautionary comments from my experience with my Lola - the crate attached to the ex-pen quickly became a step out of the expen, if your pup is a leaper or climber. keep an eye out for that.
> 2. I was intensely focused on potty training - the breeder had done nothing - and I trained Lola right into severe separation anxiety. I rarely left her alone. I had to keep an eye on her, because the only reason she would leave me and go into another room was to go potty under the dining room table. Then she started panic elimination when I would leave her home alone and I did not understand that was what was going on. So I kept her even closer to me! Lesson learned is to establish zones and times for togetherness and for separation inside the house.
> 
> Good luck! The National Havanese show is coming to San Mateo in August. There will be some beautiful dogs there and all sorts of people and advice and stuff to buy.


Thanks for the 'gotcha warnings' -- There's just so much to think about! We are looking forward to next month when we can actually pick her up. As it is I do have her crate and expen set up in the familyroom (Already -- so we can learn the new traffic pattern we'll need to adjust to, and for the cat to get used to that change...) And, because I'm now retired, and spend a pretty fair part of the day in the Family room, I value your timely advice about making sure not to be toooooo watchful of her.

Like the idea of a Bay Area group too. And will be looking forward to the show in August.

Cheers!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

SnickersDad said:


> Thanks for the 'gotcha warnings' -- There's just so much to think about! We are looking forward to next month when we can actually pick her up. As it is I do have her crate and expen set up in the familyroom (Already -- so we can learn the new traffic pattern we'll need to adjust to, and for the cat to get used to that change...) And, because I'm now retired, and spend a pretty fair part of the day in the Family room, I value your timely advice about making sure not to be toooooo watchful of her.
> 
> Like the idea of a Bay Area group too. And will be looking forward to the show in August.
> 
> Cheers!


And I hope you ARE getting her from a good breeder who takes the time to get their puppies off to a good start in terms of potty training. Kodi came to me very well trained to a litter box by his breeders. I'm not going to say we never had a mistake, but compared to some of the stories I've heard here from other puppy owners... Let's just say I'm VERY glad Kodi's breeders put in the time they did.

The same goes for separation anxiety. I'm sure you can make it better or worse once you get the puppy home, but early socialization by the breeder also makes a tremendous difference. Kodi came to us confident and comfortable in his own skin. He had already been aclimated to sleeping in a crate by himself, and felt at home in an expen with a litter box. We only had to make sure that we continued to keep him used to being left alone in his pen for short periods of time.


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## SnickersDad (Apr 9, 2010)

krandall said:


> And I hope you ARE getting her from a good breeder who takes the time to get their puppies off to a good start in terms of potty training. Kodi came to me very well trained to a litter box by his breeders. I'm not going to say we never had a mistake, but compared to some of the stories I've heard here from other puppy owners... Let's just say I'm VERY glad Kodi's breeders put in the time they did.
> 
> The same goes for separation anxiety. I'm sure you can make it better or worse once you get the puppy home, but early socialization by the breeder also makes a tremendous difference. Kodi came to us confident and comfortable in his own skin. He had already been aclimated to sleeping in a crate by himself, and felt at home in an expen with a litter box. We only had to make sure that we continued to keep him used to being left alone in his pen for short periods of time.


Well, Yes, I think we're getting her from a 'good' breeder - not necessarily an 'excellent' breeder (I'm not sure I'd recognize the difference). The mom lives in house with them - this is her second litter in 2 years - the puppies live in the house with the family. They test the parents - show the dogs - have a good reputation at the kennel club.

I don't know that they are going to spend a lot of time training up 5 puppies to not be pee and poop machines in the house, but I suspect there will be at least some of that (They've not asked and we've not offered any input on the kind of potty training we want). I don't know that they will work extensively with them to learn the sit, down, roll over, stay commands either but again I do expect some of that. We're going to vist them again next weekend and I'll see what they've done, and what they will do.

Cheers!


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## Mojo's Mom (Jun 6, 2009)

SnickersDad said:


> she'll be right at 16 weeks when we pick her up.
> 
> How many times a night should I expect to get up and take her outside for a potty break?


16 weeks was right about the time I stopped getting up to take Mojo out at night, but it will depend on what the breeder has been doing. I would hope your pup would be mostly house trained by 16 weeks, too.



SnickersDad said:


> As an aside to the question above - how long / how old should they be before I should reasonably expect them to hold it 'all night'. And, how long before I should expect them to sleep all night long?


Needing to go out to pee ought to be the only reason the pup wouldn't sleep all night long. Unless the breeder hasn't done anything with the pup, it's likely you won't have to get up at night at all.



SnickersDad said:


> I'm pretty sure most of the owners on this forum have their dogs sleep with them - we might do the same, but not until she's completely trustworthy. What kind of expectation should we have there? (I'm assuming we are working hard at her training, and she's making consistent progress.


I think we stopped locking the door on Mojo's crate at night at about 4 months, I can't remember for sure. At that point, he slept wherever he wanted to, but we didn't allow him on the bed until we were sure he could get up there by himself. This is for his safety, following the rule of thumb that you don't let a dog jump down off anything he can't jump up onto first. Mojo didn't choose sleeping on the bed with us until he was over 6 months old, he just preferred his crate.


SnickersDad said:


> And an aside to this question too -- We are planning on crate training her downstairs in the Family room - she will have an expen also - do many folks leave their pet's in their crates away from the owners all night?


Can't understand this. You get a Havanese to have a dog that is nearly one with you, a true companion dog...why would you want to send the puppy away from you at night, away from the pack? It's unnatural for a dog to sleep apart from the pack. Is there an allergy problem? Why do you want your puppy away from you at night?


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## SnickersDad (Apr 9, 2010)

Mojo's Mom said:


> ... Can't understand this. You get a Havanese to have a dog that is nearly one with you, a true companion dog...why would you want to send the puppy away from you at night, away from the pack? It's unnatural for a dog to sleep apart from the pack. Is there an allergy problem? Why do you want your puppy away from you at night?


Perhaps the question was a little short sighted. What I'm trying to figure out is - Shoud I get a second crate for her to be upstairs with us, or is it ok to leave her downstairs.

The problem is that my bride is not a housekeeper - though I love her dearly - I hesitate to allow a puppy that's as curious as a Havanaese is free run of a house that has laundry - quilting supplies - shoes - jackets - sweaters - mail - towels - cd's - vhs tapes - cat food - etc. etc. etc.

stuff -- As my wife always says when she walks into a neat well cared for home "Where's all of your stuff".

Now, when I feel confident that the chewing stage is over - the potty training is under control and she's a happy well adjusted dog that won't get into something that she shouldn't -- that's a whole different story.

Cheers!


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## Mojo's Mom (Jun 6, 2009)

Oh, I see. And the upstairs/downstairs is a problem we didn't have...I actually had Mojo's first crate on wheels.

I'd say a crate for the bedroom and an ex-pen for the living area. But please let him sleep in the room with you. Mojo came home at 9 weeks old and I followed some other people's suggestions by putting his crate up on a table so that it was at the height of my bed, right next to me. This way he was almost with me, and he took to the crate very easily. The first night he cried for 5 minutes and then went to sleep, the second night he didn't cry at all. Having the crate up high you can just stick your fingers in to calm him and it is very soothing.

Your wife will become a better housekeeper once she sees everything getting grabbed and chewed, I promise you, but for everyone's sanity and the pup's safety you will need to use an ex-pen in the living area, obviously. And you'll need a way to make part of it small for potty training purposes, if he's not potty trained yet.

Even at six months, nine months, a year, you're going to find the pup still grabbing and running off with things, and sometimes chewing them up. The list of things he'll get into will have shrunk by at least 75%, but it will still be an issue if you leave tempting things lying around. Half the things on your list of things left lying around your house are things your puppy will still delight in grabbing and potentially shredding even at his first birthday. And mail will be a favorite target for the pup's entire life, near as I can tell. Havanese have a passion for paper and cardboard, and I wonder if any Havanese will leave these things alone at any stage of life. Your wife needs to be forewarned about this.


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

Hi Jim! Welcome to the forum. I'm your neighbor right over the hills in Fremont. Howdy!

At 16 weeks, your puppy should easily be sleeping through the night. Does the breeder not crate train? I start crate training mine at 5 weeks old (first with Mom & littermates, then gradually, the puppy is on his own). Mine are now almost ten weeks old and have been sleeping through the night on their own for quite a while. I also encourage the new family to put a crate in their room at eye level (on a nightstand or chair) for a while so the puppy can hear, smell and see you at night.

Glad you made it over here!

P.S. There are several members of this forum in San Ramon, Pleasanton and Danville, so you're in good local company.


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## mintchip (Apr 19, 2007)

how about a small xpen?


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

SnickersDad said:


> Well, Yes,  I think we're getting her from a 'good' breeder - not necessarily an 'excellent' breeder (I'm not sure I'd recognize the difference). The mom lives in house with them - this is her second litter in 2 years - the puppies live in the house with the family. They test the parents - show the dogs - have a good reputation at the kennel club.
> 
> I don't know that they are going to spend a lot of time training up 5 puppies to not be pee and poop machines in the house, but I suspect there will be at least some of that (They've not asked and we've not offered any input on the kind of potty training we want). I don't know that they will work extensively with them to learn the sit, down, roll over, stay commands either but again I do expect some of that. We're going to vist them again next weekend and I'll see what they've done, and what they will do.
> 
> Cheers!


I wouldn't worry at all about them teaching the puppy commands like sit and down... that's the easy stuff! The important thing for them to learn is that there are "OK" places to potty (pee pad, litter box, etc.) and there are "not OK" places to potty. (everywhere else) The ONLY way to teach this to a young puppy is to set them up for success... make it easy for them to go in the right places, and confine them away from the wrong places until they've really "got" it.

Ask your breeder how s/he is potty training the puppies. (I can't believe she's just letting them loose to go where ever they want!) Knowing what they are used to will make it easier in your first few days. You may very well choose a different system, but you will KNOW you need to transition slowly from one to the other, and can plan accordingly.


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## SnickersDad (Apr 9, 2010)

Mojo's Mom said:


> ... Your wife will become a better housekeeper once she sees everything getting grabbed and chewed, I promise you, but for everyone's sanity and the pup's safety you will need to use an ex-pen in the living area, obviously. And you'll need a way to make part of it small for potty training purposes, if he's not potty trained yet....


LOL - I can only hope! We've been togther for nearly 40 years and that has been one constat in our lives. The downstairs is already pretty puppy proof (with the exception of the Laundry Room - but it has a door on it).

We did purchase an expen - 3' X 6' along with a midwest 1624DD Cage. Which is in our family room. I'll try and get a picture taken and posted. Our plan is to limit the puppys free range to the Kitchen, Family room which is where we spend 90% of our time. As her training prgresses we'll let her into the entryway, dining room, and Livingroom.

The bedroom will require a cage for the forseeable future :Cry: :redface:

Cheers!


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## SnickersDad (Apr 9, 2010)

Havtahava said:


> Hi Jim! Welcome to the forum. I'm your neighbor right over the hills in Fremont. Howdy!
> 
> P.S. There are several members of this forum in San Ramon, Pleasanton and Danville, so you're in good local company.


Howdy back at ya! Thanks for the welcome! Looking forward to this adventure.

Cheers.


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## SnickersDad (Apr 9, 2010)

krandall said:


> Ask your breeder how s/he is potty training the puppies. (I can't believe she's just letting them loose to go where ever they want!) Knowing what they are used to will make it easier in your first few days. You may very well choose a different system, but you will KNOW you need to transition slowly from one to the other, and can plan accordingly.


Thanks for that bit of advice - I'm sending an email to them next. Plus we are going for another visit next Sunday. We'll see how she's progressing.

Cheesr!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Mojo's Mom said:


> Your wife will become a better housekeeper once she sees everything getting grabbed and chewed, I promise you, but for everyone's sanity and the pup's safety you will need to use an ex-pen in the living area, obviously. And you'll need a way to make part of it small for potty training purposes, if he's not potty trained yet.
> 
> Even at six months, nine months, a year, you're going to find the pup still grabbing and running off with things, and sometimes chewing them up. The list of things he'll get into will have shrunk by at least 75%, but it will still be an issue if you leave tempting things lying around. Half the things on your list of things left lying around your house are things your puppy will still delight in grabbing and potentially shredding even at his first birthday. And mail will be a favorite target for the pup's entire life, near as I can tell. Havanese have a passion for paper and cardboard, and I wonder if any Havanese will leave these things alone at any stage of life. Your wife needs to be forewarned about this.


Ain't THAT the truth!!! Another strategy we found very helpful when Kodi was younger (potty trained, but not "chew it up" trained) We got a couple of extra expens that we could use as "protection" for areas that he got into particular trouble... For instance, we put one up around the Christmas tree while that was up, and I STILL have one in front of a set of shelves that has irresistable papers and files on it. (most of them I've put into plastic bins for self-preservation, but some I need to access too frequently for that to be a good option) Closed doors help too... While the laundry is in piles on the floor, that room HAS to be closed off, or we lose all the underwear, piece by piece.:wof:

Kodi will be a year old in another 2 weeks, and as you said, he's 75% better. But considering how much he STILL gets into, it puts in perspective how much he USED to get into!:laugh::laugh::laugh:


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

SnickersDad said:


> LOL - I can only hope! We've been togther for nearly 40 years and that has been one constat in our lives. The downstairs is already pretty puppy proof (with the exception of the Laundry Room - but it has a door on it).
> 
> We did purchase an expen - 3' X 6' along with a midwest 1624DD Cage. Which is in our family room. I'll try and get a picture taken and posted. Our plan is to limit the puppys free range to the Kitchen, Family room which is where we spend 90% of our time. As her training prgresses we'll let her into the entryway, dining room, and Livingroom.
> 
> ...


Don't feel bad about that! While a lot of people on the forum sleep with their dogs, there are many of us who don't, too. Kodi, now almost 1 year, has never been upstairs in our house, which is where our bedroom is. He is completely happy sleeping in his own bed in his crate attached to his expen. If we don't "put him to bed" by 9:00 or so, he puts himself to bed. He certainly doesn't feel the least bit put out that he doesn't sleep in our bed.

I think that whatever you decide as sleeping arrangements for your pup, as long as you are matter of fact about it, make it a routine and YOU don't act like you feel guilty about it, the puppy will adjust just fine.


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## Mojo's Mom (Jun 6, 2009)

krandall said:


> Ain't THAT the truth!!! Another strategy we found very helpful when Kodi was younger (potty trained, but not "chew it up" trained) We got a couple of extra expens that we could use as "protection" for areas that he got into particular trouble... For instance, we put one up around the Christmas tree while that was up, and I STILL have one in front of a set of shelves that has irresistable papers and files on it. (most of them I've put into plastic bins for self-preservation, but some I need to access too frequently for that to be a good option) Closed doors help too... While the laundry is in piles on the floor, that room HAS to be closed off, or we lose all the underwear, piece by piece.:wof:
> 
> Kodi will be a year old in another 2 weeks, and as you said, he's 75% better. But considering how much he STILL gets into, it puts in perspective how much he USED to get into!:laugh::laugh::laugh:


You forget, after a while, just how naughty they were. Mojo found the berber carpet on the bottom step of our stairs (he was not allowed up to the extra bedrooms and not allowed on stairs for safety, so we had a gate) totally irresitable, and shredded it every chance he got. Keeping that fenced off wasn't practical, so we just said the heck with it, there's nothing that can't be fixed. Then one day we realized that he didn't do it anymore, and we weren't quite sure when he'd stopped. That's how it goes...

At least they don't eat entire pieces of furniture, like big dogs do.

I copied that photo of Kodi's Christmas tree ex-penned, and sent it to everyone I knew with a dog. I just loved that! We were amazed and grateful that Mojo never touched the Christmas tree at our house, although it helped that we put it two feet off the ground. He did, however, try to help with the garland when I was decorating the tree, got a good grip on it, ran, and almost toppled the entire 8' tree.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Mojo's Mom said:


> You forget, after a while, just how naughty they were. Mojo found the berber carpet on the bottom step of our stairs (he was not allowed up to the extra bedrooms and not allowed on stairs for safety, so we had a gate) totally irresitable, and shredded it every chance he got. Keeping that fenced off wasn't practical, so we just said the heck with it, there's nothing that can't be fixed. Then one day we realized that he didn't do it anymore, and we weren't quite sure when he'd stopped. That's how it goes...
> 
> At least they don't eat entire pieces of furniture, like big dogs do.
> 
> I copied that photo of Kodi's Christmas tree ex-penned, and sent it to everyone I knew with a dog. I just loved that! We were amazed and grateful that Mojo never touched the Christmas tree at our house, although it helped that we put it two feet off the ground. He did, however, try to help with the garland when I was decorating the tree, got a good grip on it, ran, and almost toppled the entire 8' tree.


Yes, thank heavens there are a LOT of things Kodi leaves alone now that attracted him like a magnet when he was younger. We never KNEW that he would mess with the Christmas tree, but considering the damage he could have done to both the tree and himself, we just didn't want to take a chance.

The big problem we still have with him is destroying throw pillows. We try to keep them put away unless someone is using them, but then someone will forget, and there will be stuffing EVERYWHERE. THIS is a stage I'll be glad to be gone, and accounts for at least 20% of the 25% of destruction he's still responsible for!ound:


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

krandall said:


> Actually, while I didn't pick Kodi up form his breeder until 11 weeks, he did all those things except sit, down and roll over on command. Clearly the reason he didn't know those commands was that they had concentrated on the socialization and potty training aspects. He learned sit and down within 2 or 3 days of being home. He has never learned "roll over", mostly because he wasn't comfortable with it, and we never pushed it. He has so many more important things to learn that we haven't spent much time working on "tricks". It's amazing how much a little puppy can learn!


Jim I'm with Karen on this one. If the breeder works on these things , they are easily attainable by eight weeks.


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