# My housebreaking strategy (suggestions appreciated)



## Deacon Blues (Nov 22, 2013)

This is Rory the 8 month old female that had been doggy-door trained at the breeders. She has been here one week. Here is what I'm doing currently:


Watching her like a hawk
Keeping her in ex-pens when she is not directly supervised
Crating her at night (successfully)
Using a Piddle Place in a 36" x 36" Iris plastic pen on the patio. 
Second Piddle Place in her main ex-pen
Taking her out every hour (reminder app on my phone)

How long should we stay outside? Often she just looks at me. On three joyous occasions she's used the outdoor Piddle Place, and a single but no less joyous occasion she used the indoor one.

My best results have come when I've taken her out immediately after she's eaten (and I do mean immediately).

I can be patient and do this for months no problem, but this is my first experience with a toy breed and I'd like to know if we're going the right direction.


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## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

Sounds good so far. Since she is new to you, you might want to keep the hour interval going for another week then except at mealtime or perhaps on waking from naps and really vigorous play you could stretch the interval gradually. Go slowly as it will help her adapt and remind you to remain vigilant. Since she is older she will have better control than a much younger puppy. But you two are new to each other and will need to work out your mode of communication so she knows how to let you know when she needs to going. Progressing a bit more slowly now will help prevent accidents and will give each of you time to learn the rules of the road so to speak.


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## tra_po (Aug 14, 2013)

The only thing I don't see is whether or not you're leaving food and water down. That really helped me with Ludo and I know it's not popular but I only did it until he got the hang of it. I only gave him food twice a day and water three times. I knew about 10 minutes after giving water he would pee. About 25 after food he would poop. But this might have been easier as he was a pup. (If he had more exercise or what-have-you I gave more water but always with the 10 minute pee.) To me, food and water monitoring was the key to our success. I also didn't go inside until he went and every now and then stayed longer and played so he wouldn't always think we rushed inside after he went (therefore prolonging it). Sometimes Ludo needs a good old-fashioned long walk to get the poop going, too. 

Do you have grass? You might have mentioned this already. Maybe where she came from when she went out the doggie door she just went on grass. Ludo is only six months old but because I've trained him outdoors only when I went and bought potty pads because we'd had four days straight of rain when I put them down he promptly tried to eat it. He thought I'd bought him a new toy. 

And... find her currency! For Ludo it's ZiwiPeak Beef Treats. If he could he'd poop on command for those. Bribe her like crazy. 

Good luck. Let's see some new pictures!


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

Here is my suggestion.Cook yourself up some chicken breasts. When you have success really get excited and give her some chicken.Its like throwing a birthday party.Spend about a minuet praising and saying good girl.If she has an accident that you see. Get a mad feeling inside and say no. Pick her up and put her on the pad. At 8 mo its harder. Put a bell on the door and give her a treat if she rings it but not the chicken. Give treats with the bell just to train her to ring it but stop when she learns how.
Mine use to fake going potty just for the treat that is how smart they are.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

It's a GREAT idea to "have a party" when they get it right. NOT such a good idea to correct them with any negativity when they get it wrong. Being negative about an accident after the fact just confuses them… they can't connect the two, so it just makes the dog wary of you. Even scolding/punishing them WHILE they are doing it can have unwanted consequences… What they often learn from this is, "Oh, I can't pee/poop in front of her, so I'd better hide when I need to go!" A MUCH harder problem to solve!

The bottom line is that the only one to "punish" for accidents is ourselves. It's our job to set them up for success, so they establish GOOD habits. When they mess up, admit it was our fault for not watching closely enough or confining when we can't watch, or missing signals… whatever. Then clean up the mess and try harder.


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## Deacon Blues (Nov 22, 2013)

Thanks for the input, I really appreciate it. If I put her on the outside lawn when she needs to go, she will go happily - I'm sure part of our issue, apart from us learning to communicate when she needs to go, is that I've introduced the artificial surface. I'm going to dig up part of the yard and put it on the Piddle Places to hopefully ease the transition.

I feel like we're making progress, it's almost 1 PM here no inside messes today!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Clara said:


> I'm so glad you said that. When Buddhas Vet. Dr. Asked me how he was doing on potty training I said "he does as good as I do".


You've got it!


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## pihler (Dec 13, 2013)

*Potty Training*

We pick up our Havanese puppy this Saturday. We live in a two story townhome and have a small backyard. We have a small porch just outside our back door and have set up a little box for the puppy to do her business in when we take her outdoors. My problem is that I have a bad hip and cannot negotiate going down the back stairs right now and especially if it has snowed or is icy. Do you think that setting up this box on our wooden porch will work for her? I'm trying to get as much information and suggestions re potty training as possible. I do not really want to use pee pads indoors as I think it would be hard to train her off them when the time comes. Any feedback would be appreciated.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

pihler said:


> We pick up our Havanese puppy this Saturday. We live in a two story townhome and have a small backyard. We have a small porch just outside our back door and have set up a little box for the puppy to do her business in when we take her outdoors. My problem is that I have a bad hip and cannot negotiate going down the back stairs right now and especially if it has snowed or is icy. Do you think that setting up this box on our wooden porch will work for her? I'm trying to get as much information and suggestions re potty training as possible. I do not really want to use pee pads indoors as I think it would be hard to train her off them when the time comes. Any feedback would be appreciated.


Well, first, if it's difficult for you to get her down to the yard, I don't know why you are adding difficulty to your life by having to put on your coat and take her out to the porch. She can use the litter box at least as easily indoors, and you can get her there faster, indoor, in "emergencies". (and stay warm in the process! )

Second, it has been my experience and that of everyone else I know, that dogs trained to an indoor potty solution, what ever it is, eventually CHOOSE to use the outdoors on their own, without any urging from us. The challenge eventually becomes MAINTAINING their interest in the indoor option if you want to continue using it. (pee pads, themselves, have some disadvantages as an indoor potty option, but it is the pad itself, (they are easily shredded, and can be confused with scatter rugs from a puppy's point of view) not that it is indoors)

These questions aside, there is NO reason that you shouldn't be able to train her to use a litter box on the porch if that is your choice!


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## Deacon Blues (Nov 22, 2013)

pihler said:


> We pick up our Havanese puppy this Saturday. We live in a two story townhome and have a small backyard. We have a small porch just outside our back door and have set up a little box for the puppy to do her business in when we take her outdoors. My problem is that I have a bad hip and cannot negotiate going down the back stairs right now and especially if it has snowed or is icy. Do you think that setting up this box on our wooden porch will work for her? I'm trying to get as much information and suggestions re potty training as possible. I do not really want to use pee pads indoors as I think it would be hard to train her off them when the time comes. Any feedback would be appreciated.


Congratulations on your new family member! I can relate to your situation, I have a prosthetic hip and while I'm fully mobile I know what it's like to have hip pain.

You don't really specify what you mean by "little box". If you're thinking a plain cardboard box, in my humble view, you're perhaps optimistic.

It took me a little bit to come around to Karen's position on keeping a permanent indoor option, but freezing outside waiting while my pup dawdled around quickly brought me around. I'm in the NW where we get a good amount of rain, so having my Hav get drenched multiple times a day motivated me to look again at what Karen (and many other Hav owners here) do.

I bought a number of things including pads, The Puppy Training Apartment, and Piddle Place, the latter being the solution both the puppy and I preferred.

I bought two (through Amazon), one for indoors and one for the patio so the surface would be familiar and consistent for her.






When we had some training issues early on I emailed Piddle Place customer service and Kathleen Hillman, the inventor called me back and even gave me her cell phone number.

I also found this video by Emily Larlham very helpful.






*Some of the things I learned on this forum that really helped:*

Havanese have tiny bladders
The muscles to "hold it" need to be developed
Going to potty often, hourly, and after meals is advisable
You have to be really patient
Nearly all accidents are preventable

And one final thought; _it's all worth it_. These are wonderful little dogs.


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## pihler (Dec 13, 2013)

*Potty Training*

Thanks to everyone for all advice. Just to be clear, it's not a kitty litter box I'm putting outside on our little porch. My son just closed in the porch so the puppy would not fall off of it as it was all open. So the puppy would be doing it's business on the wooden floor of the porch. I will try the Piddle thing though cause that sounds like a better way. I was not going to use a pen in the house. We are home all day everyday so I was just going to use her crate and make sure I take her out every half hour or so.


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## Miss Rosa (Jan 22, 2014)

*I agree Piddle Place was the best choice for me too!*

Miss Rosa loves her the Piddle Placehttp://piddleplace.com. I still love to take her to the doggy park to run. We use the Piddle Place because it is so convenient while I'm working or away and it is easy on a budget. I too agree that Kathleen Hillman is wonderful to speak to and addresses my needs. Her product is even great for using with cats. She told me her cat uses her Piddle Place as well as her dog. She said that it was voted the 2013 editor's choice award. I agree it is the best indoor toilet as. Rosa and I love it, thanks Kathleen. 
from Rosa's Mommy


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## Cuddles (Jan 22, 2014)

*Indoor dog toilet option... consider this.*



pihler said:


> We pick up our Havanese puppy this Saturday. We live in a two story townhome and have a small backyard. We have a small porch just outside our back door and have set up a little box for the puppy to do her business in when we take her outdoors. My problem is that I have a bad hip and cannot negotiate going down the back stairs right now and especially if it has snowed or is icy. Do you think that setting up this box on our wooden porch will work for her? I'm trying to get as much information and suggestions re potty training as possible. I do not really want to use pee pads indoors as I think it would be hard to train her off them when the time comes. Any feedback would be appreciated.


I used to agree with the puppy pad negative connotation, however, I volunteer at a shelter, and I have come around totally. So many dogs come to our shelter every day because of housebreaking issues. When did we all decide that our dogs had to wait 8 hours to pee, when I get to relieve my self during that time, and Cuddles has a much smaller bladder. I ask that everyone consider allowing our pets the comfort and dignity offered by an indoor dog toilet. That being said, I always walk my dog when I get home. But while I am at work, she has an option other then the kitchen rug. The indoor dog toilet I use is odorless, simple to clean and looks really cute. I actually found it thanks to a post here from Deacon Blues. The more we can help people that might not otherwise be able to own a pet this option, we will see less shelter dogs. Thank you for considering this. Love feedback!


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## Cuddles (Jan 22, 2014)

Sounds much better. Best of luck, I thinks its a great idea.


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## Cuddles (Jan 22, 2014)

*Dog Toilet review from Toronto, really funny*

And Phil, I see a lot of stores there in Ontario (where my best friend lives) that carry the http://piddleplace.com when I look at their website. I sent one to my sister in Quebec, and it cost $60 to ship. Buy it local and you will save quite a bit. Here was a laugh she sent us from our Toronto magazine, dogs, dogs dogs, really funny
http://www.dogsdogsdogs.ca/shopping-with-sierra-product-reviews.html


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## SJ1998 (Feb 4, 2013)

That is hilarious!


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## Miss Rosa (Jan 22, 2014)

I just heard congratulations goes out to Piddle Place! It was voted as Becker's Best In Show at the Globel Pet Expo in Orlando for 2014. I am proud to use the product made in the USA, thanks for your product!

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## MarinaGirl (Mar 25, 2012)

Miss Rosa said:


> I just heard congratulations goes out to Piddle Place! It was voted as Becker's Best In Show at the Globel Pet Expo in Orlando for 2014. I am proud to use the product made in the USA, thanks for your product!
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


 :ban:


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

MarinaGirl said:


> :ban:


I wish! I have no idea why they haven't banned these two "people" (who I am quite sure are really the SAME person. :frusty:


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## Cuddles (Jan 22, 2014)

I agree, be quick with the reward and praise. We had to act like Cuddles won a gold medal when she finally used her indoor dog potty. So glad we did.
Best of luck to you.


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## Miss Rosa (Jan 22, 2014)

You are too quick to judge. Judge yet ye be judged. I am not the same person just wanted to let you know you should feel ashamed.

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## Bcs55 (Oct 11, 2012)

*House breaking*

I have two 17 month old Havanese - Sophie and Hazel. Hazel weighs about 12 pounds and is 90% housebroken. Has occasional accidents at night. Sophie is only 8 pounds and frequently has accidents at night. Sometimes she has one during the day and strangely enough uses her crate to do the deed. Even though she has the entire kitchen. Has anyone else had issues with their pups choosing to relieve themselves in their crates? How do I break this habit? She does it at night 3-4 times a week, even if we get up and let her out after about 4 hours. Not sure if this will go away on its own or if this is going to be her style. Suggestions appreciated.


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