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Old 09-11-2013, 03:52 PM
 
Location: North of South, South of North
8,704 posts, read 10,828,369 times
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As I can no longer work, we felt it was a good time for us to adopt a puppy.....as my wife and I can devote the proper time to her and not have her stuck at home alone all day.

So we adopted a beautiful 10 week old female havanese puppy from a great in-home breeder. She was already using puppy pee pads and for the last week we have been getting here to go outside often (always, except for a few accidents) and she doesn't ever use pee pads anymore. We do however use a crate for her at all times when we are not able to watch her or are not playing with her at the time. We keep it in the family room with activity during the day. She seems to like the crate and sleeps well in it in our bedroom at night. She gets up one time at night to take her out to pee or poop. 3am.

Now I know that if we gave her free run of any part of the house she would just simply go, as we still can't figure out her clear signals. Sometimes when she is not in the crate and sitting on her pen bed or out with us in the lanai, she instantly squats and pees. No warning. We clap or say no to cut her off mid stream, pick her up and bring her to her outside spot to relieve. She tricks us when in the crate as sometimes her standing up, looking to the back yard where her relief area is and whining means she has to go potty, but other times she uses it to get us to take her outside to just be outside. We can't figure out which is which yet, as they are identical signals. We always praise and love when she finishes potty outside and never scold inside.

So what has your experience been with a Havanese Puppy (related to Bichon Frise)? How quickly do they really learn! At what age can you trust them? At what age do they sleep through the night? When do they stop biting EVERYTHING? She loves small deer antlers, I just found out.

What about, just as an emergency option during bad storms, a doggie liter box? Are they good with them? I just bought one and put it in a bathroom and it is filled with doggy pellets (rolled paper pods), but she just wanted to eat them.....as she wants to east EVERYTHING. Plus wherever she poos, she likes to stick her face in it. So I canned that idea for now, as our Florida weather will be moving into the less stormy months anyhow.

Also, what about separation anxiety. She is sooooo attached to me that she whines and cries the MINUTE I am out of sight for even a second and today had a stress poo in her crate, in as much time as it took me to pee myself. She watches every move I make. It is like the Mona Lisa picture following me. So I pretend to ignore and she messed, but if I don't ignore....she learns how to manipulate. Catch 22.

Any other advice of any kind for a new puppy owner is most welcomed.
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Old 09-11-2013, 08:51 PM
 
1,696 posts, read 4,329,833 times
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Wow you are doing a lot right. Good for you and congratulations on your new addition. Sounds like she's in a wonderful home.

You mentioned a concern about her developing separation anxiety. To prevent that, here are some strategies:

- Make arrivals and departures as low-key as possible. There should be no emotion connected with your coming and going.

- Consider ignoring your dog completely for a minute or two before leaving and after arriving home.

- Interact with your dog when she is calm. Don’t reward hyper or demanding behavior with attention.

- Practice the Stay exercise every day. Gradually increase degree of difficulty (distance & duration).

- Desensitize your dog to your ‘departure cues’ such as coat, keys, purse, garage door sound, blow dryer, etc. Your dog should get to the point where she is indifferent to those cues.

- Leave for short periods and gradually increase time away.

- If it can be done safely, leave your dog with an interactive toy or irresistible, long lasting treat to keep her occupied while you’re away.

- Be sure your dog is getting adequate exercise. A tired dog is more likely to relax and nap while you’re away than a dog with pent up energy.


You also brought up puppy chewing. Here is some info on surviving that stage:

The goal is to get through the puppy chewing phase with as much of your home and stuff intact as possible! Casualties are somewhat inevitable, but follow the guide below to give your carpets, furniture, used tissues, and dirty socks their best chance of survival…


1) Puppy Proof to the best of your ability. If inappropriate items are never accessible, then they will never be chewed and destroyed. And if Puppy never gets ahold of them, she’s never forming the HABIT of chewing inappropriate items!

2) Supervision! The ONLY time you can address inappropriate chewing is if you catch the pup IN THE ACT. Simply interrupt the chewing in a disapproving but casual way, then replace the inappropriate item with an acceptable one. If pup is caught chewing a stationary item (like a heavy piece of furniture, or carpet that can’t be ‘taken away’) – consider removing the pup from the area and then redirecting to an appropriate chew item. Another option is to spray Bitter Apple on the spot where pup was chewing then redirect to a more productive activity.

3) Confinement or baby gates can be very useful during times when owners are unable to provide direct supervision. There is no reason a young pup needs to have the run of the house before she’s trustworthy!

4) Bitter Apple or other chewing deterrent sprays can be helpful in stopping carpet and furniture chewing. If your pup happens to fall into the 5% of dogs that don’t mind the taste of Bitter Apple, you will have to block access to tempting items until pup can be either trusted or supervised.

5) Provide plenty of acceptable chew items. Provide a variety of textures and ROTATE which items are left out for pup.

6) Lots of exercise is always recommended for dogs of any age. A tired dog is a well behaved dog. Drain pup’s energy so she’ll be napping instead of chewing up the house!

7) Puppy chewing is completely NORMAL, so simply do what you can to prevent it and look forward to pup maturing out of this phase. If chewing persists past the puppy stage and seems to occur most frequently when your dog is left home alone, separation anxiety could be the cause.


She should somewhat outgrow her chewing "obsession" a few months after her big girl teeth have settled in her gums. However, dogs have a life-long need to chew and exercise their jaws so always provide her with a variety of appropriate and interesting chew items.


As for potty training you really have the right idea. If you insist on training her to potty indoors (which I can understand to some extent because I am familiar with severe FL storms) you'd go about it the same way you train a pup to potty outside. Bring her to the pads / litter box to potty, reward when she does so, interrupt all accidents and bring her immediately to the proper potty location to finish, reward if she does. I'll just state the obvious that potty training is easiest when it is very clear cut i.e. potty outside, never inside. It does confuse things a bit when we have indoor and outdoor potty options, but it certainly can be done.

She will potty train nicely if you continue to follow your plan you outlined in your OP. How long it takes will just depend on your level of supervision and consistency along with her physical development (bladder and bowel control). You should see drastic improvement (decrease in accidents) within the first couple weeks and then within a couple months she should be almost reliable (but that does not mean you should become lax with the training program.) Take that gradually. For example keep pushing that middle of the night potty trip later and later into the a.m. hours. until eventually she's making it through the night.

Raising a puppy is a very challenging but exciting time. I wish you the best.
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Old 09-12-2013, 08:06 AM
 
Location: North of South, South of North
8,704 posts, read 10,828,369 times
Reputation: 5150
Thank you K9coach. That was very thoughtful of you.

When do breeds like this usually get their adult teeth? I look in her mouth now at 11 weeks and she has tiny front teeth and fangs, but the molars look like they are barely out and some still beneath the skin of her gums. Not sure which are which.

Thx
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Old 09-12-2013, 09:54 AM
 
1,696 posts, read 4,329,833 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PriusH8r View Post
Thank you K9coach. That was very thoughtful of you.

When do breeds like this usually get their adult teeth? I look in her mouth now at 11 weeks and she has tiny front teeth and fangs, but the molars look like they are barely out and some still beneath the skin of her gums. Not sure which are which.

Thx
Between the ages of 3 months and 8 months you will see her puppy teeth fall out and be replaced by big girl teeth. Keep a close eye on this process as sometimes Havanese and other smaller breeds have some minor difficulties and need some assistance from the doggie dentist or veterinarian. If you see a baby tooth together with an adult tooth in the same space for a prolonged period, it is worth a trip to the vet as the baby tooth may need to be helped along. But normally the process goes very smoothly without any intervention.

Once your girl has all of her adult teeth remember there are no more replacements after that so take good care of them. Don't give her objects to chew on that could crack or damage her teeth, brush regularly, consider raw hide and bully sticks to keep teeth clean. (Never thought I'd feed raw hide but I have converted and it has made a beautiful difference in my dog's teeth. Just make sure to never buy made in China.)
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Old 09-12-2013, 10:00 AM
 
18,325 posts, read 18,903,953 times
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pups are not trustworthy with being housebroken for at least ten months and older. sure some get the hang of it early but you still should not completely trust them not to have an accident. my dog is a caviler, they are velcro dogs and follow you every where. when mine was the same age as you she would be so tired but yet when I got up to go in the other room she would drag herself up just to be near me. I felt so bad because she was so tired. I also started to leave the house on purpose as a routine so she would not develop separation anxiety. my dog still likes to play with my hands, it was a habit she had from puppyhood that I was gonna stop/break when she hit a year. I never had much follow through so she still likes to play that way. she plays very gently but I would quit playing this way with a new pup within a few months. best of luck. sounds like your new pup is a doll.
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