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New Hav owner- need advice/help!!

2K views 31 replies 20 participants last post by  marjrc 
#1 ·
Hi there- I am the proud new mother to Max, a 4 month old white fluffball Hav. We are already so in love with him!! We have always had Labs or Golden Retrievers but I fell in love with the Havanese breed about a year ago. After researching them online for months, I felt like one would be the perfect fit for our family. I finally was ready for a new dog after putting my 14 yr old Lab down last May and we picked this little one. We have had him since last Friday. He has been great but I do have some questions- in fact I know I will have lots of questions so thank you in advance for being patient with me! This website has been so helpful and there are some very experienced owners on here with great advice. So here goes my first few questions- unfortunately I am not very short winded so this will be long!!

- The one thing that has me VERY concerned is that he has growled at several people- he has been wonderful and loving with my husband and my children but when friends have come over, he has growled in a mean way towards them. He will will crawl in one of our laps and wants nothing to do with anyone else. We went to Petsmart today and he growled at 2 of the workers who tried to pet him (I warned them he had growled at others so they were very careful with their approach and he still growled) After all the reading I did on the breed, this has me a little surprised. He has been doing very well with us and is really coming out of his shell but still is very timid at times. So wanted to see what advice any of you might have on this as I do not want a snappy dog. At Petsmart they advised to socialize him more by getting him out of the house and to enroll in puppy classes- which I plan to do in the next few weeks. This just scares me that he is growling like this at such a young age...All the Havs I have been around have been so friendly...But again, I haven't had a puppy in 12 years (we still have a 12 yr old Golden) so I feel like a new mother who just brought a baby home
from the hospital (well, actually that is true!!)

-The other area I wanted advice on is the area of potty training and sleeping. He is very well pee pad trained and has been doing well on going outside so far. I am trying to crate train him and he does well in the crate thus far. But I don't know if I am defeating the purpose since he has been sleeping with us at night in bed (I know many will say this is a big no no but my dh- the one who said he didn't want a small dog- insisted on it the first night- he is a smitten kitten!!) He gets me up in the middle of the night to go potty which is fine but I started thinking last night that I could be starting a very bad habit and we could be right here a year from now. So would it be better for me to put him in the crate for now at night so he can learn to go the whole night... He will be sleeping with us though eventually even if we crate him at night now... Believe it or not, before we had children, our 100 lb Lab and 110 lb Golden slept with us in bed.... I have never crate trained a puppy before and our last 2 dogs basically potty trained themselves so I want to make sure I do things right. My sister has a Maltypoo and they were never consistent with their training and she is a nightmare now. I am a SAHM so I have the time to devote to do what needs to be done.

As I stated earlier- he is adjusting well but still very timid at times- is this typical- will it take a few weeks for him to get totally comfortable? I think at times I might be expecting too much too soon so I just want to know what is normal...And again, I know this is the first of many questions so thank you to everyone for reading this and any advice you might have!!!
 
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#2 ·
Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your new puppy! :)
We would LOVE to see pictures when you have the time...
If Max is growling at people just make sure that he has a chance to meet A LOT of new people in the next few months...if you have a Home Depot nearby they allow dogs in the store and it's a great way to get them out of the house.
I carry a bag of Todd's favorite treats in my pocket and offer people one to feed to Todd when they meet him...he loves food and so he's more likely to be sociable if they offer a treat...lol
I think that as long as he gets a chance to meet many people in different situations he'll do fine..
Crate training has been great for me but many people don't use them and that's fine too..it's personal preference...I love to have Todd in bed with us but my husband has a hard time sleeping when he's there so he sleeps in the crate unless hubby's out of town.. :)
 
#3 ·
Congrats on your new puppy Max! He sounds adorable!

Quincy did this growling kinda thing as well at about 6 months. I gave him a firm correction by saying "no" and he quit doing it after a week or two. I did things on purpose to get him to react for the correction. One of the growling times was when my son or I would kiss him on his head/ear area. I'm not sure exactly what it was about that that he didn't like,but I suspected the hmm kinda sound you make before the smooch. None the less----he got even more kisses on his head and ears and he absolutely just quit doing that growling/cranky sound after that. I asked a good friend about it with havs and I was told that Havs kinda go through a "teenager" stage and this was most likely it.

Quincy came crate trained,and I loved it. He was crated at night till he was probbably an year-year and a half. I wanted to be absolutely positive he was housebroke before I let him loose at night. He never has slept a night in our bed. Hubby wouldn't allow it.
 
#5 · (Edited)
WELCOME!!!

I'm not an expert but it sounds like Max's growling may be fear based? Although Tess was an adult when I got her and didn't growl, she was terribly afraid of people. To get her past her fears I started carrying a bag of treats with me. Whenever a stranger approached I would give them a treat and ask them to kneel down and show Tess the treat and let her approach them. It didn't take long for her to realize strangers = treat machines. Once she was comfortable with that I had strangers approach her and offer the treat but not try to pet her. Now we're having people offer the treat while petting her lightly.... you get the idea. Take it in small steps.

Good Luck!
 
#6 ·
How old is your pup? What kind of breeder did the pup come from? "It's Me or the Dog" states strangers are to treat, treat, treat the dog, which I agree and eventually the dog will learn that strangers have treats and the dog will be nice.

Socialize.....socialize...socialize.....
 
#7 ·
As for sleeping in the bed.....A lot of Havs sleep in the big bed with their owners. Just how much room can a Hav take in the bed?

I am thinking....my opinion only, that if you let your Hav sleep with you now, it is going to be harder to train him to go back to the crate.

My reasoning for letting Dexter sleep with us....He sleeps with my dh on the sofa, so.............What's the difference?
 
#14 ·
Just how much room can a Hav take in the bed?
Man oh man is that a loaded question!!! :pound::pound::pound: Somehow my little tiny 12 lb Havanese takes up as much room (if not more) than I do!!! I think she's like a puffer fish, and expands to fill her space?!?

As for sleeping through the night - in all honesty at 4 months, depending on your food/water schedule, your pup may not be physically able to sleep through the night. I have a Pom who weight about 2.8 lbs at 4 months. She wasn't able to sleep through the night until she was almost a year. I really think it just depends a lot on the dog.

We have a doggie door, so my pups can go out whenever they need to. Training them to use the door was SUPER easy. Took one afternoon, and they had it down pat. Now, training them which side of the door to potty on is a whole different story.... :pound:

My Hav sleeps in bed with me and has since the day I got her. Now, I did adopt an older dog (she was around 6-7, best we could tell). But my Pom I got as a tiny puppy, and she also slept with me from day 1.

Both are fine - both can go to the kennel without any issues if I travel; both adapt well to a house-sitter if need be, they have handled it no problem.

My experience letting them sleep with me has been very positive, and I don't think it formed any bad habits.

As for potty during the night - take up all food and water about 2 hours before you go to bed. Potty 30 minutes after feeding, then potty 15 minutes before bed. That will ensure your pup is as "empty" as possible before you lay down. Still might not make it all through the night, but will help the process along!
 
#8 ·
Home Depot allows dogs? Good to know! I think I will be visiting more often, then. Maybe it will inspire me to do a renovation project. Yeah right...

I think too, just keep exposing him to positive experiences with people and if he is food motivated, have people treat.

Seems like there are a couple people on the forum right now who recently got older puppies or adults, and possibly they weren't exposed to enough new people and new dogs early on. (Like with the growling at strangers - like Jill said, it does sound fear-based.) The more I read, the more I realize how crucially important those first weeks and months of their lives are to expose them to as many new sights, sounds, people and dogs as you can and make it a positive experience so they gain confidence, or if it's not, to not make a fuss and coddle when they are afraid of something like a new environment or machine or whatever. Doesn't mean it can't be turned around, clearly some of the rescue dogs here make great strides, but it seems to take a lot of work and attention.

My breeder is advising the puppy doesn't sleep in the room with me past the first couple of nights if I want her to be a more independent dog. In my case that makes sense because I work at home, and being in close proximity with her 24/7 could create some separation anxiety later. If it were me, I would crate him at night or have him in an ex-pen, stick to a regular feeding schedule, and take the water up in the evening so that he doesn't have to pee in the middle of the night. He is probably at or close to an age where he should be able to hold it overnight. I'd be a zombie if I had to get up every night with a dog past the very early puppy stages, I don't think you'd want that to continue. Plus what happens if you go away and have to kennel him or have friends take care of him, and he's been used to sleeping in bed with you every night? Lots of people here sleep with their dogs, though, and they might have some good advice about that.
 
#9 ·
Thanks so much for your input... The treats are a great idea- I will stuff some in my purse along with the treats I keep for the kids in there!! He is almost 4 months old. I will try to post some pics soon since we think he is pretty darn cute (minus the growling!!)

I guess I still have the question about the sleeping in bed/vs crate training right now... He will sleep with us - that is a given-be it now or after I crate train him. But should I put him in the crate right now to get him to used to going the whole night without being let out or keep him in bed with us-where he wakes me up in the middle of the night for me to let him out.. Worried that he will do this for the next year... Hope I am making sense.....I am so glad I found this forum- hope you guys don't get sick of me and all my questions....

As far as socializing, he will get a good go at it this extended weekend- we are going to the beach and will be around my inlaws and then have friends coming down with their 4 kids....Will bring lots of treats!!!!!
 
#11 ·
Growling is good! (Now before everyone freaks out, hang on...) It is good because you are able to hear that he's letting you know he is uncomfortable with something going on. I highly suspect it is fear that he is showing (telling) you. I love Julie and almost always agree with her, but I have to disagree on correcting it. You need to correct the cause of it. If that be fear, then teach him there is nothing to fear by a lot of extra socialization. Get him out and let him know that strangers are good. The advice about you carrying treats and giving them to people to give to him is good.

Also, ask people to NOT pet him on the head. Go for chest scratching instead. He's very young and those hands can look big and intimidating coming down on his head. Scratches to the chest (or below the neck), after Max gets to sniff their hands, are much warmer from a stranger.
 
#12 ·
Hi and welcome! Can't wait to see photos!!! (Hint, hint...:photo:)

IMO, I would crate train him in the beginning to get him used to not going potty at night. Murphy has been home only 6 days and he's in the crate at night, hasn't woken us once! We are taking up the water around 8pm and they go to bed around 10pm. Once he's crate trained a reliable in the house then if you want to put him in your bed I'd do it then. We have the dogs in crates as our bed is very high but I think we're going to let Scooter use a doggie bed next to Murphy's crate since he's so reliable now.

There are many people on here with much more experience than I have though, I'd wait for them to throw in their opinion!
 
#13 ·
That is great advice Kimberly, I am so glad that I found this forum. I must admit though, I think I am becoming a "Hav Addict" - I think I have HA!! :D

I am going to try to expose Baloo to more dogs and people this weekend, and it has only been 2 weeks since we got him, so he is still adjust too.

I think I will call my brother, they got a basset hound last month and he is around the same size as Baloo and see if we can have a play date or go for a walk together.
 
#15 ·
Thank you again...I have been very surprised at his bladder control- he has only ever gone on his pee pads and will hold it for a long time.... I am kinda spoiled by these potty pads but know that I need to get him going outside asap... I am sure by next week I will have questions about that issue...

So my son has 2 friends over right now and we tried the treat thing and he would have nothing to do with either of them despite the treat...I am going to pass it off as it is too early to expect stuff- he has only been here 6 days so I need to give him time to adjust....right?!?!?!?

And after having both a Golden Retriever and a Lab in bed with us, this tiny Hav is nothing... Not to mention that we usually have a kid or two in with us also... At least having a new puppy in bed gives us an excuse to tell the children that they can't sleep with us!!!!!
 
#16 ·
And after having both a Golden Retriever and a Lab in bed with us, this tiny Hav is nothing... Not to mention that we usually have a kid or two in with us also... At least having a new puppy in bed gives us an excuse to tell the children that they can't sleep with us!!!!!
Then I would DEFINITELY let the puppy stay in bed! :pound:
 
#18 ·
New Hav owner

I was given my 3 1/2 yr female Hav 5 months ago from a breeder after she heard I had to put down my lab after 10 wonderful years. Phoebe was in a kennel all of her life I have dealt with the shyness and not being social. She is doing better but I found the best answer I found another breeder and bought her a friend. Benji is 9 weeks old. OMG what a huge difference it has made having a little puppy in the house. Phoebe is a different dog..and she gets better everyday. I have seen her actualy play and run and having a great time. She has done better with company also..she won't go up to them but at least she stays in the same room. She used to bolt upstairs and hide before. Now I want all of you to know I have been watching this site for months and that is what made me get another Hav.
My husband told me today she jumped up in the chair with him that is a first...whaahooo. I will post pictures soon. Phoebe is blonde curly hair. Benjie is black with gray shading around his face and long hair.
 
#19 ·
Michelle, you can, but just like it happens with our own hair, many products will create a buildup. If it has silicone in it, avoid using it on your dog though. My favorite conditioner is called the Coat Handler conditioner and it comes in a 15:1 concentrate. Besides the fact that it leaves the hair feeling great, you can also use it as a grooming spray. It is a leave-in product. I have only found it sold online or at dog shows though, not retail pet stores.
 
#22 ·
Thanks Zury!

Jill- would love a second Hav but it took took major begging on my part to get my first!! And we have our Golden so I hope they will be playmates (as much as a 12 yr old can!!) And we have already decided that our next dog will be a rescue dog- there are so many that need homes so that was our deal with getting a Havanese...this first then a rescue dog of some kind...Max did growl at our other dog the first day but has warmed up to him so hopefully he will do the same with the growling at people. The father of the boys came to get them and I told him about the growling. He has trained some service dogs in the past- he put his hand very gently up to him- in a fist just to get him to smell him... And Max growled the loudest he has!! So I will give it more time! We are a very social household and always have people in and out so hopefully it will come....

Thanks again for all of the replies.... I knew you all would be so helpful...
 
#25 ·
Your Golden is so sweet! (And Max too).How do the 2 get along? Is the pup too energetic for your goldie? We have a 12 year old golden as well and are thinking about a Hav for our next dog. We aren't sure whether it would be a good idea to add another younger dog now or let our old guy have his last years in peace.
 
#27 ·
Welcome!
You have come to the right place for advice! The only thing I would add is maybe having really high quality treats when company comes to visit. You might want to brown some burger or boil some chicken...whatever really gets his mouth watering.

Max is a real cutie!
 
#28 ·
:welcome:to the forum! Max is so cute! It's only been a short time, so things will definitely improve. We had all of these issues, and though we still work on them, there's been a huge difference from when he was a puppy. Max just needs time, and it sounds like you're doing all the right things! :)

Karen, what a wonderful story about Phoebe and Benji!:)

Gina
 
#30 ·
Norac- Our Golden and Max are getting along well...after several timid days, the puppy now bounds all over him and climbs on him.. Jeb (the Golden) hasn't really gotten into playing with him yet but I know that will come. After we put down our Lab last May, I thought we would wait to get another dog after our Golden was gone and let him live his last few years in peace. But a friend came over with her Hav (who was a little over 1 yrs old) about 3 weeks ago and Jeb had a great time with him. He came alive and had so much fun- first time I have seen him run in forever! So that is what finally convinced my husband for us to go ahead and get one. I know they will be playing together soon.

So I took the advice on here and upped the anty in the treat area... I used little bits of cheese and he did great today. Two trips to Petsmart (our Golden got bathed and shaved) and had 4 children over and he sat in all of their laps and let all of them pet him...And let several people at Petsmart pet him.. The only time he growled was at another Hav in there!!! So I think I started freaking out a little early- I know it will take time...
 
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