Housebreaking Your Havanese Puppy

Housebreaking your puppy does not have to be difficult! All Royal Flush Havanese puppies begin paper training here with us from the moment they can walk. Within the first week of training, they almost always only go on the paper! 95 % of our puppies go home and are housebroken in the first couple of weeks by just following our instructions! Unfortunately, the other 5% have not followed through completely. Below is the best way, at any age, to housebreak your Havanese puppy:

There are many different terms for the type of housebreaking your puppy that we recommend. We choose to use the“Umbilical Cord Training” method with amazing success in housebreaking your puppy. It’s pretty much exactly like it sounds like! This method will work absolutely perfectly if you follow through! Your Royal Flush Havanese puppy will never have the opportunity to wander off and have an accident. In the event she does have an accident, you’ll be right there to correct her, teaching her where you don’t want to go and quickly bringing her to the correct spot to finish up!

1st step is being prepared.

• You should have a 4 foot short leash (we have provided one in your go home bag). This leash should ONLY BE USED INSIDE!
• You should also have a 5+ foot leash. You can use a retractable leash as long as you are using it responsibly! USE THIS LEASH OUTSIDE!
• You should be holding the leash at all times.Never tie your Havanese puppy to ANY object! Do not leave your Havanese puppy wandering with the leash trailing behind her!
• The first few days your puppy is home she should not be roaming and exploring her new surroundings.
• She should be firmly by your side on the short leash. She should not be more than two-three feet away from you at any time.

*YOU MUST SUPERVISE YOUR PUPPY AT ALL TIMES WHEN SHE IS WEARING A LEASH*

*PLEASE NOTE: If she cannot be with you (you’re eating, cooking, showering etc.) she should be in her crate, for short amounts of time.*

WHEN TO TAKE YOUR HAVANESE PUPPY OUTSIDE:

• As soon as she wakes up in the morning (your Havanese puppy has a tiny blatter! She will NOT BE ABLE TO HOLD IT! Carry her right out to do her business in the morning!)
• At least every couple of hours (until your Havanese puppy is on a set schedule and you are aware she has to go out it’s best to take her out every few hours to prevent accidents!)
• Shortly after eating/drinking (your Havanese puppy has a very small digestive tract. It won’t take her long to pass her last meal!)
• Every 15 or so minutes when playing (Your Havanese puppy will be very excited during playtime. Best to take her out within 15min to prevent any accidental tinkles!)

HELPFUL HOUSEBREAKING TIPS:

• When you take her out put her on the longer leash (this allows your Havanese puppy to get slightly further away from you and give her some privacy! She does not want to go to the bathroom right by your side!).
• As soon as she does her business you must praise her. Lots of “you’re such a good girl” and petting.

*The most important part is the positive reinforcement. When she does her business in the right spot you must tell her what a good girl she is and lots of positive attention. When she goes where she is not supposed to you must use a negative tone of voice and tell her she is “Naughty” and make sure she knows you are upset. Repeat this over and over again. Positive/negative reinforcement is the best way to get your puppy to follow through on all good behavior.*

EXPECTATIONS:

• Your Havanese puppy may try to pull away and chew on the leash at first. If this happens, just wait calmly while she jumps around, fusses or fights the leash.
• When she settles down, call her over to you and praise her in a calm voice.
• You can give her a chew toy, we recommend Nyla bones, to keep her distracted from the leash.
• It may take a bit for her to get used to being on the leash, but she will eventually relax in just a short period of time!
• If your Havanese puppy is laid back and mellow, at first she may just sit patiently by you waiting to do her business when you take her to her “spot”. Her personality will make her feel extremely uncomfortable doing her business right next to you!
• You’ll need to be patient, pay attention and keep her on reasonable schedule for her age and level of experience with housebreaking! You may want to get her up and moving around once outside to stimulate her to go do her business. If your Havanese puppy is more playful and active, you will know when she needs to go out! She will fuss and show signs of agitation. Be prepared for her to pull away from you, whining or becoming increasingly active. Get her outside ASAP!

*You don’t always need to wait for your Havanese puppy to look like she might need to go. Take her out when you think too much time has gone by since her last potty break, or if she’s been napping, eating, drinking or playing.*

• You will be more successful in housebreaking your Havanese puppy if you get her into the habit of going potty promptly when she gets to the right spot.
• The way to do this is to stay in her area for only a couple of minutes.
• If she does go, praise her and tell her what a “good girl she is”!
• If she does not go within a specific time frame, take her back inside, or away from her area and supervise carefully to prevent accidents, then give it another try!
• For younger puppies or dogs who have not done their business in a long amount of time, only wait 5-10 minutes before trying again!

*YOU MUST SUPERVISE YOUR HAVANESE PUPPY CLOSELY TO PREVENT ACCIDENTS BETWEEN BATHROOM TRIPS!!!!*

DO’S AND DONT’S OF HOUSEBREAKING

If your puppy is allowed any unsupervised play time and has an accident in the house, she is learning a VERY BAD LESSON! She will just learn to hold it until you are distracted and not watching her. Then she will do all her business in the house, since that’s what she did to get relief the last time!

• DO NOT LET YOUR PUPPY OUT OF YOUR SIGHT! UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD SHE BE LEFT ALONE UNSUPERVISED. You will just teach her that the inside of your house is a perfectly comfortable place to do her business!!!!!
• Once your Havanese puppies is doing her business regularly, you can give her a bit of freedom. About 5-7 days with no accidents is a good amount of time.
• The best way to introduce free time is to do it when she is least likely to have an accident. It is best to wait until after she’s done her business (both poop and tinkle!) and at a time that she hasn’t recently had anything to eat or drink.
• Begin with just a short amount of free time SUPERVISED! Free time means that she is not on the short leash, but you are close by monitoring every move she makes!
• I would start with 5-10 minutes. You can gradually increase the time over the next 2 weeks when she proves herself by not having any accidents!

*PLEASE NOTE: if your Havanese puppy begins having accidents at any point DO NOT PANIC! Immediately put her back on the short leash so she does not get in the habit of doing her business in the house. After a day of no accidents you can increase her freedom again!*

Remember, at Royal Flush Havanese we are ALWAYS here to help you! Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or are nervous about your first week home with your new Havanese puppy! This should be a happy, joyful, and loving experience for everyone! Be sure to check out our Havanese Reviews to hear from parents who have already taken their Royal Flush Havanese puppy home!