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Training Tips
Crate Training
Potty Training
Leash
Training
Potty Training your Puppy
My
Approach – Mylad Havanese
Lauren
Goebel
So you have a new puppy and he/she is sooo cute, well
until your puppy decides to go potty on your carpet, or
couch.. Havanese need to be trained with positive
re-enforcement, they, like many breeds, do not respond
well with disciplinary training, so you have to reward
the good and ignore the bad.
Personality
and Training:
Your puppy may be dominate or submissive, you will be
able to tell by how your puppy reacts with you, your
family and other animals in the house. A dominate puppy
(alpha) will require a little firmer tone and absolute
consistency on your part. (Not yelling just a training
voice, which is generally a tone or two lower than your
normal tone) This is why it is hard for children to
train their puppies, their sweet little voices sometime
just don’t reach the brains of those alpha puppies.
Teach your child to use a training voice and practice
it, and everyone teach yourself to only say your
training command ONCE. This is harder to do than you
think, watch yourself you will constantly be calling
Spot come 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, times and that teaches Spot
that you are not really very serious at all.
Alpha puppies don’t give you “head of household
status”, you must show and earn it, so you must not let
the Alpha puppy be the boss of your household. Certain
behaviors in an Alpha puppy need to be re-directed in
order to make training easier. For example hand biting,
biting the lead – (looks cute but it is actually “you
are not the boss of me behavior” ) dumping food bowl,
not eating until there is something he/she likes in the
bowl, barking, whining and just generally not listening
at all. The most effective training tool you have is
teaching your puppy that you, and the people in your
household are the alphas, that and being consistent.
This is not the same as teaching a dog who is boss – you
can’t force this relationship – you will earn it or you
will not, but forcing it through dominant aggressive
behavior will guarantee you either an aggressive dog or
a very shy submissive puppy. Neither are desirable
outcomes. Clarity, consistency and reward are the
things that make you alpha to your dog.
Submissive behavior looks more like a gentle puppy,
generally at your feet, may crouch down when you
approach her/him, may roll over on back when you go to
pet her/him. Will absolutely look crushed if harshly
corrected, this puppy needs a much gentler approach than
the alpha puppy and will lap up praise and repeat that
good behavior again but will be very distressed by
aggressive reprimands and this could lead to anxiety
peeing, cowering, and fear biting – so be patient and
gentle. The overly submissive dog needs re-enforcement
and confidence; training is an excellent way to give
confidence, as the dog becomes confident and happy when
it pleases its owners it gets a big hug and a treat for
it. Don’t underestimate the “reward” whether you give
treats for rewards, or just lots of love and affection
the reward is critical. Make a HUGE fuss over good
behavior. I use the same word over and over when the
good behaviors are demonstrated – I say YES in a very
excited tone. This is very similar to clicker training
– when the behaviors are demonstrated, something
recognizable and consistent and happy happens, then I
treat and pet and cuddle. The reward word is
important. More about clicker training and rewards word
later.
On
to Potty Training:
Consistency consistency consistency – pick a method
and stick with it for at least a week – don’t go back
and forth, it will confuse your puppy.
Here is a guideline for a young puppy. Whether you
crate, outdoor, litter box or dog door train your puppy
there are some common practices;
You always pick the spot!
Be
consistent where you want the puppy to potty at first –
if you take your puppy for a walk potty him/her in their
spot first and then have a walk, stops it from being a
long sniff sniff sniff stroll and gives your puppy a
nice fund walk as more reward for performing potty
exactly when and where you wanted it.
Use a command!!!
Use a
command and always have your reward ready (treats or a
hug). I use go pee and go poo and they do know the
difference, use whatever you are comfortable with. Use
the command, wait for the action then say YES!!! And
reward. Don’t let the puppy distract you once you have
given the command you need to wait for the potty to
occur. They do not play first, they play after.
Patience is important. If the puppy absolutely can’t
go, just bring her/him back inside, or put him back in
his pen or crate and try again in 10 minutes.
Timing Is Important!
An 8 – 10 week old puppy should be taken outdoors every
two to four hours. Older puppies can generally wait
longer between outings. Most puppies should be taken
out: as follows, but your best training aid is to make a
chart and track when your puppy potty’s, that will let
you know what is normal for him. Try to give your puppy
food and water at the same time when you are initially
training your puppy.
-
After waking in the morning – carry him/her to the spot
-
After naps – walk him/her to the spot
-
5-10 min after a drink and 20-30 after meals - walk him/her to the
spot
-
After playing or training – walk him/her to the spot
-
After being left alone – walk him/her to the spot unless it has been
3 hours or more than you might want to carry to
avoid an accident
-
Immediately before being put to bed - walk him/her to the spot
-
Don’t ever put your pup back in his/her crate or take them back
into the house immediately after potty has occurred,
they will start to realize that if they delay the
potty they get more time to play. Let them play for
a bit with you after so they associate this very
nice play time with more reward for going potty.
Trust me even puppies are smart and I had a puppy
that would take forever to potty so he didn’t have
to go back in the house – once I stopped immediately
taking him back it was a snap. This is why I prefer
to potty my dog first in MY CHOOSEN SPOT and then
walk him. They love the walk it is all part of
their reward.
Why
sometimes walk and sometimes carry?
You
want to walk your dog to the potty area whenever
possible so eventually they will walk there on their own
if litter box, wee pad or door trained. If you carry
your dog every time, they will not associate the way to
go on their own. If you use a litter box or wee pad –
walk your puppy their (preferably on a lead), give your
command and wait for the event. Remember your goal is
to control when and where they potty. If you train your
dog just to go outside and only outside walk your dog
through the same door every time and take him/her to the
same spot. Some people train their dog to ring a bell
when they want to go outside, so walk your dog to the
door where you have hung a bell and let him hit the bell
with his paws or nose – reward him and then take him out
to potty. If a puppy has gone all night, or you just
know he/she REALLY REALLY has to go potty – it is OK to
carry a puppy, it could avoid an accident.
Crate Training:
Crate
training is really just a very convenient way for you to
prevent the puppy from having accidents and let you stay
on top and control the areas where she/he will potty.
Since puppies generally do not like to dirty their
sleeping area most puppies will hold their bladders
until they are out of the crate. If you crate a puppy
too long however they will have to go in the crate and
once they begin doing that, it can be more difficult to
teach them that this is not acceptable. So NEVER put a
puppy in a crate that has not gone potty, unless you are
just waiting 5 – 10 minutes to try it again. Don’t use
your crate as punishment, it should be a happy place for
your puppy. I always treat when I put my puppy in his
crate and always use a command before placing him
there. I say “Crate Up” See article on Crate Training
for different types of crate. Puppies can be crated at
night and after 10 weeks will generally be able to hold
their bladders all night.
Some
advice on getting your puppy to love her/his crate; feed
your puppy his dinner, one piece at a time, by tossing
pieces of kibble into the crate for him to chase and
eat. This way, you can make a game out of training.
When
you pick up her/his toys, store them in the crate so he
will enter on his own to play. You may even want to
occasionally hide a biscuit in the crate as a nice
surprise.
A Typical Crate/Potty
Training Schedule:
-
No food or water
after 8:00 pm for a 10:30 or later bedtime
-
Make sure your puppy
has gone potty before going into the crate
-
Use your crate
command and get the puppy to go into the crate –
REWARD!!!!
-
Close the door –
cover your crate if you are using wire and go to
sleep
-
If the puppy cries
you can take the puppy out to potty if it has been 4
hours or more for a puppy over 8 weeks.
-
If you have to take
the puppy out to potty in the night, do not play,
talk, or cuddle the puppy – you are only
interrupting your sleep for an urgent potty not for
a play date. Take the puppy out of the crate, put
the lead on the puppy if going outdoors and carry
the puppy outside to avoid an accident.
-
Give the puppy the
potty command – wait for the puppy to pee, reward,
but don’t be too exuberant on this midnight potty
you want to try to keep the puppy calm – give
another command “go poo” or “go more potty” and see
if the puppy has to poo.
-
The puppy will almost
always want to play, cute as that puppy is ignore it
and stick to your guns – you are waiting for potty
not playing. If the puppy clearly does not have to
poo, walk the puppy back inside and put immediately
in his/her crate.
-
Use the crate command
and a soft reward. Initially almost all puppies
will protest and cry, whine or bark, they are wide
awake and don’t want to go back to bed – you have to
ignore this. A gentle tap on the crate and a firm
stop command generally helps. Wait it out, the
puppy will go back to sleep. If you are consistent
with this, your puppy will re-crate after a
nighttime potty without protest generally by the 3rd
or 4th time.
-
The puppy will sleep
through the night almost always by 12 weeks, if
he/she is not you are either giving water too late
in the evening or not pottying right before crate
time, or having a great play date with your puppy
when they wake you. If you are doing everything
correctly and still having to get up, check for
urinary infection.
-
Morning time – carry
your puppy to the potty spot to avoid an accident –
use your command and rewards
-
Let the puppy have
play time before bringing him/her indoors or
confining him/her
-
Crate your puppy
-
Don’t feed your puppy
immediately when you get up if you can avoid it. If
your puppy associates food with wake up, you could
be in for earlier and earlier mornings. I try to
wait ½ an hour but I know this is not always
possible. It’s not a huge deal, but if you like
your weekend sleep it helps to wait.
-
Feed your puppy –
make sure you have left yourself at least 30 minutes
before you have to leave the puppy so you can make
sure you get a full potty from your puppy.
-
Potty the puppy
-
Playtime
-
Crate your puppy.
Outdoor Training but No
Confinement
If you don’t want to
confine and use a crate you will have a harder job and
it will take a lot of your time but it can be done.
Really the method is the same - the difference is you
will have to watch your puppy every moment for signs
that it has to go potty. Use the same schedule but look
for indications that your puppy has to go potty – you
will be taking him outside about every 1 ½ hours at
first. Some people put a collar and lead on the puppy
and tie the lead to themselves so the puppy can be
watched and with them all the time they are awake. Try
using the bell at the door so your puppy begins to let
you know when it needs to go out, not all havanese will
bark or make a vocal sound at all so the bell is great.
Many Hav’s just simply stand at the door and wait for
you to notice.
Litter Box Training
A litter box can be a
box, a wee pad a newspaper anything. It is great to get
puppies started, teaches them the where, not necessarily
the when though. It is also very convenient for
apartment dogs, or for people who find it hard to take
their dogs outside. You can use both indoor litter box
and outdoor training – just make sure the puppy is
trained first on the litter box.
-
Keep the potty area
in a consistent spot
-
Initially use the
same potty material all the time – wee pads,
newspapers, shavings
-
Keep the box clean,
but initially not too clean, I often blot up a bit
of pee from the old wee pad onto the new wee pad
since puppies first learn potty training by smell
alone.
-
If there are
accidents use a good neutralizer product – puppies
can smell urine something like 100 parts to 1 so a
neutralizer product is important..
-
You can use litter
box training combined with crate training or if you
choose not to confine, you will have to watch the
puppy all time time, and consistently move her to
the wee pad or litter box. The more space you give
the puppy the harder it is for her/him to know where
you want them to potty.
Typical Litter Box
Training with confinement
·
Crate puppy
at night
·
Take puppy
out of crate and put on a lead
·
Walk puppy
to litter box and give command
·
Wait for
the event and reward
·
Play with
puppy
·
Feed and
Water puppy
·
Either take
puppy to area and give command or watch her very closely
and move her to litter box when she has to go potty
·
Use the
command
·
Wait and
reward
·
Confine
·
Follow
crate t raining schedule above
·
Pretty
quickly your puppy will be consistent and it is up to
you then whether you want to take her to the box every
time or just let her use it when she wants to.
·
Note: Keep
your litter box in the same spot for at least a little
while, your puppy will eventually learn that it is the
box that is important not the location, and this can be
a real advantage for traveling – you can take a wee pad
or even the box to hotels, airports etc.
Types of Litter
·
Newspaper
·
Wee pads
·
I buy rolls
of white newsprint from a mill – you can sometimes get
these a dog stores
·
Pet litter
shavings – this is excellent – prevents staining of feet
and puppies don’t eat it
·
Avoid cat
litter many swell in the intestine and some have
ingredients harmful if eaten. Puppies eat everything so
I just avoid
·
Recycled
newspaper pellets – I don’t use they are expensive and
puppies may eat them – I prefer shavings
Thoughts on Rewards
Treats: I know some
people think you should not have to give treats to get
good behavior but I use treats a lot. My dogs are food
motivated, they love treats and for them it is a very
effective great reward. They don’t always get treats
but when I’m in the training phase I do treat train. I
actually use dog food though, my dogs and puppies love
Natural Balance Beef in the rolls – it is a healthy
treat and easy to use. I make sure that I always have
treats in my pocket or reachable in the house when I’m
in the training phase – rewards have to be immediate.
Reward Word
Since dogs can get
confused with human language I try to use the same
reward word all the time. It is really your body
language and voice that indicates to the dog whether you
are pleased or not so try to say it the same way every
time. Good girl or Good boy works – I simply say a very
excited Yes. You give the reward word EXACTLY when the
good behavior occurs. For example as soon as the puppy
starts to pee give the reward word. As soon as the
puppy touches the bell to ring give the reward word.
Treat after the action is completed. Eventually for
commands like stay you will stretch out the time between
the reward word and the actual reward (treat)
Clicker Training:
This is the advanced
approach to the Reward Word:
Clickers take the
inconsistency out of the human language so instead of
sometime saying good, or way to go or yes, you click.
They learn very fast that the click sounds means they
did well. So as soon as they go pee you click – let
them finish and then reward with treat or affection.
Clicker’s are inexpensive and can be purchased at most
pet stores. Clicker training classes are also
available. The most important thing is that the click
HAS to occur when the desired action happens – not after
it happens as soon as it happens, the puppy then
associates what it is doing is something desirable,
he/she is pleasing you. A good way to start with
clicker training is to play the Name Game:
Call the puppies' name
(this is one command you can repeat over and over) AS
SOON AS THE PUPPY so much as looks at you click and then
reward. Do this 7 -10 times a day for a couple of
days. You will have started to re-enforce clicker
recognition, your puppy will know it’s name, and you
will also be on the path to teaching your puppy to come
to you when you call his/her name. You will notice as
you play the name game that the puppy follows you around
- get two involved in the game with one calling from one
end of the room and one from the other – remember the
puppy MUST acknowledge the person who called his/her
name.
Accidents Happen:
OK I know it can be
annoying but you really have to change your thinking on
accidents – for example a young puppy really just does
not know what you want until you train it – so who had
the accident you or the puppy?? Just know there will be
accidents, you are not perfect and neither is your puppy
– it will be because he/she didn’t understand, you did
not get the puppy to the right place at the right time,
they had all this room to play in so surely it is OK to
have a bedroom here, a dining room here and a bathroom
right there on your rug or just ooops I was having just
so much fun I just forgot you wanted me to go there.
How to handle accidents
is an area of opinion – some say don’t do anything at
all – just clean it up, old school thinking had you
punishing the dog for it – I’m kind of in the middle
here. I have tried the don’t do anything approach and
it did not work for me – yes yes my fault for not being
consistent enough on the reinforcement behavior but I do
find a small reminder that the behavior is not correct
has worked for me, oh and yes if you plan to yell at
your puppy, rub their nose in the mistake, or hit them
then you are not grown up enough to be a parent or a
puppy owner – sorry but that’s the way I see it – don’t
get a puppy.
Here is what I do;
IF AND ONLY IF
I see the puppy having the accident I make a loud uh uh
sound in the back of my throat – this is not to
reprimand the puppy, more to get his/her attention and
stop them from finishing – I don’t reprimand the puppy I
pick him/her up and put her in the right spot – and if
I’m lucky she will finish what she started and I can
praise her. When the puppy is not looking clean the
spot thoroughly with a neutralizer.
More often then not
though if you scare the puppy they will not finish – so
be gentle. If you are close to the puppy don’t use any
sharp sounds simply say in a normal voice “not there”
pick the puppy up and put her/him in the right place use
your command and reward and praise. A puppy that gets
scared will learn that pottying is bad and will hide it
from you – this is when you will start to find little
presents in corners etc. And by the way yelling or
scaring the puppy does nothing for the training process
it actually slows it down.
Quite often the puppy
will not continue to pee – she is either afraid to, is
confused, or already finished – in this case you really
really want to catch the next one so you can reward and
praise so keep a very close eye on the puppy so he/she
can get that positive re-enforcement. If you are
outdoor training take the puppy outside and be patient
and wait, generally they will pee eventually outside,
especially if they are getting to know the command. If
you are using a litter keep the puppy near the litter
box and keep a close eye on her so you can praise her.
You want this next potty to be a successful one so you
can praise and reward. Use your judgment if you know
for sure she actually finished there is no need to stand
outside for 30 minutes, wait a bit, give the puppy a big
drink and try again - but again make sure the next
potty is a success. Don’t put your puppy right in the
crate or x-pen after an accident; remember you don’t
want the puppy to associate his happy place den with a
time out punishment.
If I don’t catch the
puppy in the act there is absolutely no point in using
any corrective behavior, the puppy would not understand
a reprimand at all – it may understand that you don’t
want it to go potty but it won’t associate that it did
it in the wrong place, so clean it up, forget about it,
and do better next time.
You just missed it –
nothing you can do about it – you failed
J
That’s it for now – happy
training!!!!
Any questions please
e-mail
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