Finally picked up our 9 1/2 week old puppy yesterday, named Finley. We are completely and utterly smitten with him. He is SUCH a sweet little pup!

Things are going OK in terms of potty training. He peed on our floor within 5 minutes of coming home (ugh, time to smack ourselves on the head with a rolled up newspaper!) and again in the afternoon, but hasn't had an accident since. He's peed and even pooped in the litter box a couple of times. The only problem is that he sometimes wants to eat the pine pellets. I can't tell if he swallowed any, but he does spit them out, and I've also gone into his mouth and pulled some out as well. Any ideas as to how to discourage this? I want to be able to leave the crate door open so he has access to his litter box without worrying that he's going to ingest pellets. Will he figure it out soon that it's not food?

Finley slept through the night, 9pm to 6am, without waking up to potty. Yay!

He is starting to show slight signs of separation anxiety - crying when we leave him in his crate or leave the room, that kind of thing. I'm going to keep an eye on it, and we're also planning to leave him alone in the house today for half an hour or so to see how he does. Oh, but the crying is sooooo adorable and heartbreaking. I now understand how tough it is to ignore it!!!

Thanks to all of you for your help and advice so far! We are completely head over heels in love with our little Havanese puppy! I'll see if I can attach a photo of him. He's a sable, so started out completely dark and will most likely be almost white as an adult.

Attached Images

File Type: jpg

IMG_4608.JPG (129.2 KB, 37 views)

Oh my gosh he is so cute. Congrats. He sounds like he is a good little guy. He will catch on I am sure.

Could you put a plastic or metal screen over the top of the pellets? I know that's what some people have done (some plastic mesh you can cut down to the right size?)

Welcome to the Jungle, Finley, you are going to be just fine.

Regarding crate separation anxiety, try covering the crate completely with a light blanket, birdcage style. This simulates a cave atmosphere that dogs feel instinctively secure. We cover Ricky's crate (in our bedroom) every night and he sleeps soundly in his "cave." At 5 y.o. it works for Ricky and we occasionally leave him alone for up to 4 hours during the day with no whining, barking, or crying (but what a joyful reunion when we return and the first thing we do is take him outdoors for a potty break!). This strategy might work for Finley too, but starting with very short periods of time first during the day.

Ricky's Popi

What an adorable little guy!

He’s so cute!

I do think he’ll figure it out with the pellets, but he’s also in a stage where’s he’s chewing a ton and if he hasn’t figured out what to chew on yet he’s going to be looking for something. I think it’s a good idea to cover it. If your potty tray didn’t come with a cover I’m sure you could find something at the hardware store. I recently bought some plastic mesh, the kind for kids to do cross stitch, for my daughter to make earring organizers and they come in all different size sheets and are really easy to cut with scissors. It was super cheap at the craft store, like $1 for a sheet or a couple dollars for a package.

Welcome! He's adorable! I'll let others help with your questions.

I am definitely not a dog training expert so others can probably provide better guidance. However, I can tell you what helped me. I have the wired crates and their crates on sliders so I can easily move the crates around. You can also put wheels on them. My dogs seemed to do well if they could see and be near me. So I just moved the crates around to where I was at. I tried the towels over the crate but mine prefer to see me so I quit using the towels. I always gave them yummy treats every time they went in their crates. They are older now but both LOVE their crates. In fact, when I clean them out and replace their bedding they stand right there waiting to get in as soon as I am done! I do have comfy beds and blankets in their too which also helps.

You’re doing great! I’ll say that Oliver is 13 weeks and has been with us 2 weeks. He’s starting to stop crying for me constantly in the ex pen. He’s right there next to me and generally okay if I go about what I’m doing. He whines now and then but he would full blown cry to be picked up. It’s an adjustment thing. He’s learned his leash, loves walks, prefers to potty outdoors, had tons of socializing experiences, etc. keeping them exercised and worn out helps them love their crate and quiet time too lol. I think a lot of emphasis is put on doing something perfectly or the puppy will never adjust, when sometimes it’s just simple adjustment. Same with parenting. Lol. They eventually get it.

Yep! I bought two crates, one for the living room in an ex pen and one for my bedroom!