Renaissance Havanese
Connecticut, USA
Your puppy is home now what?
The first few days with your new puppy can be challenging. Your puppy may feel insecure, frightened by the new sights and sounds and downright lonely without his litter mates. A puppy needs to adjust to all of these changes, he may act shy, cry especially at night or search your house for his litter mates or eat very little. All of this s normal.
You and I can both do things to minimize the stress your puppy feels when going to their new home. Here is how.
I make sure that all puppies spend time away from the litter so that they can build their confidence and know that they can actually survive outside of the pack that they were born into. Each puppy gets one on one time twice daily with the family, no other puppies or dogs allowed. This way he knows that it's quite alright to be with people.
Also prior to going home each puppy receives a scented cloth or plush toy with their litter's scents on it. This is believed to act like a security blanket and soothe your puppy in those first few days.
If your puppy cries during the night, we recommend using a box fan on medium or high pointed away from the puppy. This creates white noise and drowns out any other noise in the home in the home that might disturb your puppy and cause a crying spell.I think the fan is a better choice than the television or radio because it is there are brief moments of silence and if your puppy hears the slamming of a door in the hall or another sound, it could trigger a bout of bawling.
Please note: The play yard is to be a temporary tool until you are ready to crate train at 12-16 weeks old or move your puppy to a designated area to sleep or stay when unsupervised. All young puppies should be contained in some way for their safety while unattended. It's funny, we place our children into cribs but some of us think it is barbaric to place our puppies in a crate? Contrary to what you might think, dogs appreciate a den, which will come to be their place to seek comfort and rest.
Bell training can be started around 10-12 weeks old. Tie a jingle bell or two onto the knob of the door you will be using when brining your puppy outside. Be sure it hangs low enough for your puppy to be able to hit the bell with his nose or paw.
First two weeks of training: ring the bell yourself each time you go to the door to bring your puppy outside. Next two weeks: Pick your puppy up and touch his nose to the bell just prior to going outside. Your puppy should quickly catch onto this and begin to ring the bell when he want to go out, when he does praise him. Keep in mind, if it doesn't seem to be working keep trying. There will come a day when you hear the little jingle that lets you know he finally figured it out. Praise him and take him out BUT do not play, until he goes potty otherwise, you will confuse him into thinking that he will get your attention or playtime when he rings the bell.
Housebreaking can be successful as long as you are open minded and think before you act or react. Make sure the entire family is on board so that training is consistent. Your puppy only wants to make you happy, you are his hero. Teach him well and he will bloom into the best dog that ever roamed the earth!
©
All photography, and text contained within this website is the
exclusive property of Renaissance Havanese and is not to be removed or
copied without written permission from the author Veronica Guillet.
You and I can both do things to minimize the stress your puppy feels when going to their new home. Here is how.
I make sure that all puppies spend time away from the litter so that they can build their confidence and know that they can actually survive outside of the pack that they were born into. Each puppy gets one on one time twice daily with the family, no other puppies or dogs allowed. This way he knows that it's quite alright to be with people.
Also prior to going home each puppy receives a scented cloth or plush toy with their litter's scents on it. This is believed to act like a security blanket and soothe your puppy in those first few days.
If your puppy cries during the night, we recommend using a box fan on medium or high pointed away from the puppy. This creates white noise and drowns out any other noise in the home in the home that might disturb your puppy and cause a crying spell.I think the fan is a better choice than the television or radio because it is there are brief moments of silence and if your puppy hears the slamming of a door in the hall or another sound, it could trigger a bout of bawling.
Housebreaking
There are so many different opinions on how to properly housebreak a dog. I can share with you a process that works best for us. You should keep in mind that just because this works for us, does not necessarily mean it will work for you. The same goes with the books and online resources. That's when brain storming comes in handy and we are always available to do that with you. Be flexible, be consistent and be prepared to pack it all away and try again in a week or two, it is a process that takes time and patience, gentleness and consistency. Anyone who has potty trained a human baby knows this to be true.Containing your puppy
We recommend that you keep your young puppy in a PLASTIC play yard. You may purchase these at a Babies R Us or Petsmart. This way the young puppy may have a wee pad in one corner, the bed in another and access to food/water as well. They are safely enclosed and have everything they need if you need to do errands or take a shower without a sidekick. We recommend introducing a crate when they are more physically capable of "holding it", sometime between 12 and 16 weeks of age. There is word that a dog will NEVER go to the bathroom in it's crate, but this statement is misleading. Around three weeks of age a puppy will instinctively crawl away from the area where they sleep and play to go potty, maybe it's a far corner of the whelping box, the breeder will then place paper in this area as they will all tend to go in the same spot. Eventually, they will seek this paper or training pad out as their "bathroom" and abracadabra they are pad/paper trained! However, if you place an eight week old puppy in a crate, you can almost guarantee you that they will go to the bathroom and you will create unnecessary work for yourself. This too is very distressing for the puppy, to not provide them a bathroom and expect too much from them, when they are physically incapable of holding it for long periods. Please note: The play yard is to be a temporary tool until you are ready to crate train at 12-16 weeks old or move your puppy to a designated area to sleep or stay when unsupervised. All young puppies should be contained in some way for their safety while unattended. It's funny, we place our children into cribs but some of us think it is barbaric to place our puppies in a crate? Contrary to what you might think, dogs appreciate a den, which will come to be their place to seek comfort and rest.
Crate training:
Here is a great video explaining selection of proper crate and crate training: Cut & paste to your address bar http://www.expertvillage.com/video/112607_kennels-crates-dog-training.htm
Feeding schedule
Additionally, please do not withhold food from a young puppy as this can cause hypoglycemia, which can be life threatening, in small or young puppies under 12 weeks old. Plan on introducing a feeding schedule when your puppy is twelve weeks or older. Your feeding schedule should coincide with your housebreaking or crate training and you are sure to pave the way for successful training. Outdoor routine
It is never too early to begin the routine of going outside to go potty. You should expect to bring your new puppy out once per hour, time will increase as your puppy grows. When you bring your puppy outside, as difficult as it may be, do not play with your puppy. He is out to go potty - first. Wait ten minutes, if your puppy goes potty, praise him like he's the king of the world and romp around the yard. If he does not, bring him inside and only then play, you may want to wait ten more minutes and try again. Bell training
First two weeks of training: ring the bell yourself each time you go to the door to bring your puppy outside. Next two weeks: Pick your puppy up and touch his nose to the bell just prior to going outside. Your puppy should quickly catch onto this and begin to ring the bell when he want to go out, when he does praise him. Keep in mind, if it doesn't seem to be working keep trying. There will come a day when you hear the little jingle that lets you know he finally figured it out. Praise him and take him out BUT do not play, until he goes potty otherwise, you will confuse him into thinking that he will get your attention or playtime when he rings the bell.
Housebreaking can be successful as long as you are open minded and think before you act or react. Make sure the entire family is on board so that training is consistent. Your puppy only wants to make you happy, you are his hero. Teach him well and he will bloom into the best dog that ever roamed the earth!
Biting
Biting and barking is like pushing and yelling. All kids do it. Although, this is a behavior should be expected to a certain extent, it should always be addressed. We need to train our puppy that they do not play with us the way that they played with their litter mates. What a feat for him to learn! After all, he doesn't have hands and arms to wrap around you. Thankfully, it is not too difficult for them to get it as long as you know how to communicate in dog. Do not allow your children or anyone to play with or
encourage a puppy that is biting. They should be instructed to stop
playing with them. This teaches them that the play stops every time they display this type of behavior.
If your puppy is persistent, it's time for quiet time and he should be removed from the area. There is controversy over whether or not you should use a crate for time outs. I think this should be avoided lest you create a situation where the puppy comes to despise it.
.
"you're the boss" Going belly up exposes the most vulnerable part of his body.
Puppies do not understand our language, his dam didn't yell 'NO!' when he did something wrong. In fact, a mother dog that gets annoyed at her young will give him a time out by biting the puppy on the nose or neck. You'll want to use your fingers to quickly tap him on the neck (Strike quickly like a snake) or pinch the hair (not the skin) on their nose and give a little shake, you don't need to much pressure, this is not to hurt the puppy, rather to startle him and get his full attention at the same time say 'NO' in an assertive voice. The idea is that the physical touch will get their attention and they will associate the unpleasant nature of your reprimand, with that strange sound that popped out of your mouth - 'NO' Eventually, you will only have to resort to using the word. Believe it or not, a low growling sound works too. Find out which technique works better for your puppy and pride. Some puppies will think your playing and will nibble on you when you use the nose technique, if so, try the other technique.
If your puppy is persistent, it's time for quiet time and he should be removed from the area. There is controversy over whether or not you should use a crate for time outs. I think this should be avoided lest you create a situation where the puppy comes to despise it.
.
Teaching 'No'
If you have ever watch a pack of dogs interact and play, there is a whole lot of communication going on, for example, when a dog lies on his back in response to a growl from another dog, we know this to mean that he is being submissive to a dog that is more dominant. He's saying "you're the boss" Going belly up exposes the most vulnerable part of his body.
Puppies do not understand our language, his dam didn't yell 'NO!' when he did something wrong. In fact, a mother dog that gets annoyed at her young will give him a time out by biting the puppy on the nose or neck. You'll want to use your fingers to quickly tap him on the neck (Strike quickly like a snake) or pinch the hair (not the skin) on their nose and give a little shake, you don't need to much pressure, this is not to hurt the puppy, rather to startle him and get his full attention at the same time say 'NO' in an assertive voice. The idea is that the physical touch will get their attention and they will associate the unpleasant nature of your reprimand, with that strange sound that popped out of your mouth - 'NO' Eventually, you will only have to resort to using the word. Believe it or not, a low growling sound works too. Find out which technique works better for your puppy and pride. Some puppies will think your playing and will nibble on you when you use the nose technique, if so, try the other technique.
