HOW TO TRAIN YOUR HAVANESE?

As a breed, Havanese are known to be intelligent and straightforward to train, due to their ability to pick up commands easily, so the training process should be relatively simple regardless of whether they are male or female. Due to their cooperative nature, they are known to be one of the easiest dogs for families to train too.

Of course, each dog is different so some may be more temperamental than others, attempting to use their cuteness as a trick to prolong the training, however, on the whole, their smart nature should make this a relatively easy and stress free process for both dog and owner. 

STARTING WITH CRATE TRAIN

His eagerness to please his owners makes the Havanese fairly easy to train in most cases. Basic obedience, beginning with puppy classes, is recommended. Housetraining, however, can be particularly challenging for a Havanese, so you’ll need to be especially patient during this process. You’ll get there, but crate training is a must. Havanese dogs are very trainable, smart and of a cooperative nature. They are not, however, known for being particularly easy to housetrain, and many owners opt to crate train their young Havanese pups to help in the potty training phase, which helps prevent accidents. Another reason to crate train your Havanese is to provide them with a safe, comfortable place to rest when owners are unable to supervise them, such as at night, or when owners are away from home.  

Having your dog crate trained means that he is not able to get into trouble while you are not available, such as chewing on objects that could harm him, knocking over items that could injure him, and falling off furniture or down stairs.  Most dogs take well to create training, as dogs are den animals, and if yours make his crate into a “den”, he will happily curl up there, recognizing the crate as his own little home.   Steps to make the crate comfortable and introducing time spent in the crate in a positive way will make crate training successful and the crate can be a useful tool as your dog grows.

A crate trained dog is easier to transport and the crate can be used as a comfortable retreat in certain situations, such as when company is over, renovations are being conducted in your home, or when any unusual activity occurs in your home, to avoid your dog becoming stressed or overwhelmed.

IS IT DIFFICULT TO POTTY TRAIN A HAVANESE?

Yes and no. There is a consensus that it’s harder to potty train toy dogs, in general. Since Havanese dogs belong to this category, these animals may also be hard to potty train.

There are two main things your dog needs, discipline and access to their spot. If you can provide these two things and be vigilant in how you potty train your Havanese, success rates are high.

Some Havanese dogs got their bad habits from growing in confinement. When dogs do not know that they should not poop in their eating and sleeping quarters while they were still pups, it’s harder to correct the bad habit. So, as much as possible, avoid getting a Havanese with a habit of eating, peeing and pooping all in one place.

Aside from allowing these dogs to use their four legs to go out, positive reinforcement is the best method.

Sticking to a habit is a must in potty training. Dogs have a predictable pattern when it comes to eliminating waste. Puppies will require more frequent trips to the loo than adults.

Watching for signs is a good start. Always take your Havanese out for a walk when you think that it’s time to potty. When your dog needs to poop, you should allow it to walk outside not carry it to the designated spot. Always bring your toy dog to the same spot when they have to poop.

Another thing that you should always remember is to leash your dog and allow it to walk on its own. Never pick up your Havanese and place it in the “poop” spot.

Allowing these dogs to stay on the floor is also good practice since they can learn how to signal that they have to potty. It’s harder for these dogs to communicate the call of nature when you are holding it. What most new toy dog owners are not aware of is that they are undoing any prior potty training a dog had when they pick their Havanese up every hour or two.

What these dogs need is to look forward to rewards. When they know that doing something will fetch them a treat, they will be more enthusiastic to do it.

When accidents happen especially with puppies, try to tone down the punishment. Puppies won’t always get the lesson you are trying to teach them through discipline. In fact, these pups react better when you use positive reinforcement.

Just like kids, puppies will realize that you would punish them for accidents in the house. So, they would learn to hide those accidents from you by leaving poop when you are not around or in places that are hard to find.

Confinement means that your dog does not have access to your entire home. While they can make accidents in their area, you can minimize the damage to the rest of your home. Unless you are training, feeding, walking or grooming your Havanese, it needs to stay in its area. Keeping your dog from running everywhere also ease the burden cleaning this buddy’s hair.

Keeping your dog confined is a good option as these animals rarely soil their sleeping quarters. So, your dog will do its best to give you a signal when it needs to go potty.

Giving your dog free reign in the house can also reinforce bad habits. Preventing these minor accidents is always better and easier than correcting it afterward.

Havanese dogs are compliant and smart. These dogs are highly trainable. And, it is your responsibility as an owner to reinforce good behavior.

Your dog’s behavior and actions reflect on your training abilities. If your Havanese is not acting up to par, you might need to change your approach to yield better results.