# Meet Toby, our 9 week old Havanese!



## Mjurasek (Mar 4, 2013)

Hi all,
I wanted to introduce Toby to you all and ask a few questions being a first time Havanese owner. First off, here is Toby!










We had to trim his face a little to get the hair out of his eyes to stop the tearing.

If you don't mind answering some questions for me; I understand puppies like to bite and chew, but what should be allowed and what should be stopped? Toby is constantly biting (in a non aggressive way), this includes playing, petting and nipping at your heals when walking. I was told when he is biting during playtime, make sure to give him one of his toys and then give him positive reinforcement, but what about petting and walking. Is any form of discipline okay for a Havanese?

Should I be offering him puppy treats? He is eating really well (three times a day and he is cleaning the bowl) but when outside he chews on any stick or leaf he finds. I am sure this is puppy behavior as well, but he actually ate a piece of a stick and ended up throwing up.

I don't want to come off all negative with our experience so far (it's only been a week), Toby is very smart and actually doing pretty good with the potty training. Once we burn his puppy energy off, he is very loving and a great lap pup. We just want to make sure to train him the correct way and not cause problems down the road.

Thanks in advance for any input!

Mike


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## wynne (Apr 30, 2011)

a lot of what you describe is normal puppy behavior. Maya at two still chases every leaf she can when she is outside.
As for the chewing and nipping, try redirecting him to something else when he starts this a favorite toy or a bone.
I use refresh on a cotton ball to help clear up the tear stains. I have also switched to distilled water. Some swear by Angel eyes. I have used it, but only about 1/4 
of the dose they recommend. Good luck and keep us posted! Toby is a cutie!


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## Kathie (Jul 31, 2008)

Congratulations on your new little guy! He is a real cutie! The biting is truly a puppy "thing"! I said "no bite" so many times that first few months that he still knows what it means! He doesn't "bite" anymore unless its his feet and then he knows to stop!


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## Mjurasek (Mar 4, 2013)

Yeah Toby is on bottled water, our city water here has WAY too much chlorine in it. Thank you for the recommendations about the tear stains, we will try those out and see what happens. I will post more pictures as our little boy grows. Thanks again for the responses.


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## whimsy (Apr 3, 2010)

what a cute face!!!


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## motherslittlehelper (Mar 18, 2010)

Congratulations on your cute new family member and welcome to the forum. 

Augie was a most horrific nipper as a pup. We don't wear shoes in the house and he was always biting feet/heels as we walked across the floor. We were told to yelp loudly when he did this. Did not phase him. And he was always underfoot until I accidentally stepped on his foot. That cured that! The only thing that helped with the nipping is to remove him to a gated off area - where he could no longer reach us - Haha. I think it was around 6 months where we noticed he was much better about that. When we were playing with him and he nipped, we quit playing with him. Finn is my leaf eater. He will be two tomorrow and that hasn't changed. He loves dried up pear tree leaves. The 'leave it' command has been very helpful for when they are getting into icky things. At our house, treats are used as a reward for good behavior or when we are training. Otherwise, my guys don't get them. And we use very small pieces.

There was a thread on the forum - I believe by Kodi's mom (krandall) on the steps to train for certain behaviors. I don't recall if the 'leave it' command was included. I will see if I can locate the thread, or if she sees this, perhaps she can direct you. She does such a good job of explaining things. Do you have access to puppy classes? Our vet wanted me to wait until my guys had had their shots before attending classes, but I found training classes to be most helpful. You want to be sure they are classes that utilize positive reinforcement. When Augie was a pup, we went to puppy class that did not use the clicker for training. Then we went to classes with the clicker training. It was my thought that the clicker training went much more quickly.

Note: Not finding the training thread I thought I had remembered. Maybe someone else has better memory?


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## misstray (Feb 6, 2011)

Your little guy is adorable! Congratulations!!

Having a new puppy is both an exciting AND a trying time. They come in cute packages for a good reason!! ha ha

I didn't specifically teach Brody the "leave it" command, but he sort of picked up on what that meant on his own (probably because I said it so often). He was always into EVERYTHING when he was little. Yay for crates! ha ha


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## Eddie (Feb 11, 2012)

*Welcome Toby :thumb:*


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## Momo means Peach (Jun 7, 2011)

Welcome, Mike and Toby!


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## Pipersmom (Jul 27, 2009)

Welcome Mike and Toby! Toby is adorable 

I have a little biter and the "ouch" or yelp does not work for him. I have also found a few minutes in "time out" to be much more effective. Ignoring him/stopping play when he does it also helps.


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## gelbergirl (Jun 9, 2007)

Welcome Toby!


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## puppy-love (Nov 9, 2012)

Welcome Toby!

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## Tuss (Apr 22, 2012)

Welcome.

For the nipping, just stop playing with him when he starts the nipping, turn your back to him and ignore him for about 10 seconds and then resume playing. If he starts the nipping do it again. He'll soon learn that nipping ends the game. Another thing to try is to put a little "bitter apple spray" on your hands and feet. It's a taste deterant and will keep him from chewing on things he shouldn't.

He's a cutie for sure.


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## Gabs (Apr 15, 2012)

Welcome!!! What a cutie pie!! I have a light coloured hav. To help with the tears, i just simply wash her face and get the corners of the eyes really well with a warm wash cloth (daily). 

They go through the biting phase - I always said "ouch" which helped and kept frozen teething toys around to help soothe their sore gums. 

Enjoy your beautiful pup!


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## Mjurasek (Mar 4, 2013)

Thank you all for the warm welcomes and advice. We have been using "Ouch" training with no noticeable effect. I think we are going to go with the time out (we got him a 6 foot exercise pen) plus ignoring him for a short time. As far as the tear stains, we are going to start using a warm washcloth as Gabs recommended (Thanks!). 
Toby is definitely a leaf eater! I was worried about it, I guess I just need to learn my leaves and make sure he doesn't get anything that can hurt him.
I hope to get to know you all here and look forward to trading stories and pictures as our babies grow.


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## heatherk (Feb 24, 2011)

For the nipping, I yelp but I do it very high-pitched, and about twice as loud as I think a real puppy would do it. It always seems to catch my dogs attention (both of them now!) and they are good about backing off after that (and as a follow up, I always make sure to give them something appropriate to chew on).

As for the leaf eating, maybe he truly is hungry? At 9 weeks, puppies need a good amount of high-quality nutrition. Not trying to doubt you, but just wondering. Some people I think end up breaking up the meals into more than 3 times a day - maybe that will help?

He is adorable (and less than week older than my Pepper!). I look forward to watching him grow up!


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## NvonS (Jul 8, 2010)

Welcome! Lily was already 7 months old when I got her so we missed the nipping. As far as the eyes go, let the hair grow out long so it doesn't irritate the eyes. A wet warm wash cloth or some contact lens saline on a cotton pad. After it dries coat the hair below the eye with PLAIN chap stick. I use filtered water for drinking. The more you can get out of the water the better. Some use distilled water. I have tried all sorts of natural tear stain remover and have yet to find anything that works. I will not use Angel Eyes. Keeping the area clean works the best.
Welcome again and see you around the forum.


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## Mjurasek (Mar 4, 2013)

I don't believe Toby is being under fed, he gets three meals a day, of which he rarely finishes. As of now, we give him Orijen Puppy dry food mixed with Natural Choice Puppy Development canned food, this is the combination the breeder was using. As far as the staining, he is doing much better now, thanks for the chap stick trick, that is the reason we cut his hair (hair was poking him in the eyes causing the tearing). We started putting him in timeout last night for biting, that really seems to get his attention, especially when the kids are playing with him, I bet he is going to respond well!

Edit: Which brings up another question...what should the ratio of dry food to canned food be? He seems to be having a slight problem going potty, too much dry food?


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## dreamsie (Feb 13, 2013)

He's a cutie!! My Teemo is still in full biting mode so I can't give any advice lol  He's getting much better but still a biting machine lol.


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