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Potential New Dog

3K views 20 replies 11 participants last post by  Judy -- Toby & Jaime's mo 
#1 ·
Hi! I'm new to the forum and have some questions about the Havanese. My husband and I have never owned a dog (together) before. We have no children and both of us work 40+ hours a week.

We are looking at adopting a Havanese puppy. I've recently read a few articles that mention if you can't spend a lot of time with a Havanese you could have problems - maybe, separation anxiety resulting in lots of barking. We live in a single family home, so upstairs and downstairs neighbors wouldn't be an issue. But I'm concerned that if neither one of us is home during the day, the barking will become a habit that is difficult to break.

Our plan is to keep her in a crate while we aren't home. I've also been reading that you shouldn't keep a puppy in a crate for a number of hours during the day. I think short-term I could go home during lunch from work to let her out.

Is a Havanese a good dog for us, or should we rethink our breed-choice?

Any assistance provided would be greatly appreciated!

Heather
 
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#2 ·
I am also a newbie (we are waiting for our puppy to be ready to come home), but one of the reasons we chose a Havanese is because they are companion dogs. My understanding is that they want to be with you ALL the time. I'm not sure that this is a great breed to leave home alone for extended periods, but I'm sure the experts here will have some good advice. :)

Good luck with your decision!
 
#3 ·
Hi! I'm new to the forum and have some questions about the Havanese. My husband and I have never owned a dog (together) before. We have no children and both of us work 40+ hours a week.

We are looking at adopting a Havanese puppy. I've recently read a few articles that mention if you can't spend a lot of time with a Havanese you could have problems - maybe, separation anxiety resulting in lots of barking. We live in a single family home, so upstairs and downstairs neighbors wouldn't be an issue. But I'm concerned that if neither one of us is home during the day, the barking will become a habit that is difficult to break.

Our plan is to keep her in a crate while we aren't home. I've also been reading that you shouldn't keep a puppy in a crate for a number of hours during the day. I think short-term I could go home during lunch from work to let her out.

Is a Havanese a good dog for us, or should we rethink our breed-choice?

Any assistance provided would be greatly appreciated!

Heather
You are right about not leaving a puppy in a crate for a number of hours. I think short term is more like two hours. That is when you use a xpen instead with the crate door open. It is still a good idea to come home at lunch and give the pup alot of love and excersize. It is not the ideal situation for a puppy to live that way ( in my opinion:) we have never left our havanese for more than a few hr and that was when she was over 4mo.
Because we have raised our pets this way when we do leave yes they are sad. I have stood outside and listened I hear some crying but then they settle down. When I return home even after a half hour boy oh boy are they excited to see me.:)
 
#4 ·
I had never heard of an xpen - just Googled it. Pretty nice! :) I'm thinking that's the way we'll go. I like the openess of it. Thank you so much for the suggestion! :) We are really excited about the prospect of getting a Havanese and want to do everything we can to make this work.

(Darn work is getting in the way of life! LOL!)
 
#7 ·
Even with an ex-pen, leaving a Hav alone all day (or any other dog for that matter, but especially a companion breed) is not fair to the dog. There are certainly families where both people work, and have worked out ways to keep there Hav happy, but you have to plan ahead, and be REALLY ready for a big committment when you ARE home.

Some people come home for lunch, others stagger their work schedule so that the dog is not alone so long. Still others have more than one dog so that they can keep each other company. You can also hire someone to come in once or twice a day to walk and play with your dog, or consider doggy day care. Some people can also arrange to bring their dog to work with them.

Also, consider an adult dog rather than a puppy if you both work full time. It's almost impossible to properly potty train a young puppy if you can't be there to supervise them!

If you are gone all day, you need to be committed to spending a large percentage of your non-work time with your dog... otherwise, why even have one? This means planning evening and week-end activities that include your dog, even when you are tired and would rather just veg.:)

Barking is really just a symptom of a problem... not the REASON not to leave your dog alone all day. It's just not fair to the dog.
 
#8 · (Edited)
It's really hard to properly care for a Havanese if you work full time. Even if your work schedule is 8 hours, did u account for travel time to/from work? We made that mistake when we first got Miko. Even when my wife would home every day during lunch for an hour to play with him, he still developed major separation anxiety. Now, he growls and barks when we leave the condo. Things are better when we got Milo from a rescue group as Miko's playdate. They got along great and spent hours playing with each other. At the same time, my wife got a new job with flexible hours so she's able to spend more time with the boys.

So think really hard about your decision and make sure you can devote lots of time to your puppy.
 
#9 ·
Havanese as a breed are also nicknamed 'velcro' dogs, they do not do well at home all day alone, many working families that I've seen over the years, end up with a second or third hav to keep them company, Mid-day dog walkers, doggie daycare (yes, its pretty common these days)...

Separation anxiety can certainly happen if they are alone alot, especially a puppy would be pretty scared and probably bark alot.

I've been on this forum a really long time and can tell you that a depressed, anxious, lonely havanese..sn't going to be a cakewalk when you get home (or for your neighbors)

I know it isn't realistic for every home to not be gone for 40+ hours a week, but there are breeds that can handle this much better than the 'companion' breeds, they crave the companionship ..

Kara
 
#10 ·
First off, welcome to the forum. Secondly, I'd like to commend you for doing the research ahead of time, before getting the dog and ending up in a possibly bad situation.

Unfortunately, I have to agree with the others with regard to not leaving a dog home alone for hours on end. Havs really are Velcro and yearn for human companionship. 40 hours of work translates into an 8-hour day; factor in travel time and this could be 9 or 10 hours depending on the commute. This is definitely too long to leave a havanese, especially a puppy, home alone. I know a couple who have a young Coton and they drop the pup with her mother each day as the mom runs a used book store and can have the dog with her all day. Do you have someone like this with whom you could leave the dog throughout the day? That would be far more ideal.
 
#12 ·
I would like to thank everyone for the information provided. It has been very, very helpful. I have a feeling that I'm going to have to face the sad reality that this isn't the breed for us. Unfortunately, we don't have anyone we can drop the dog off with and we didn't want to do the doggy daycare thing. We hesitated for a number of years about getting a dog because we had the lifestyle that wouldn't be fair to the dog - we were workaholics! We've scaled back our time at work (considerably), but I think it's still a little too much to take on a dog right now - especially a Havanese.

I think once we FINALLY retire (15 more years when we hit 60), we could probably take on our little "piece of velcro" (LOL!). However, I guess it's not a good time, right now.

All you you were so helpful and I can't thank you enough for your responses.

Sincerely,

Heather

(In 15 more years expect to see our little "Roo" posted! - I look forward to that day! :))
 
#13 · (Edited)
Good choice, I give you credit for realizing your limitations. Separation anxiety is possible with any breed. To me they're all companion dogs. We've been gearing them to live with us for thousands of years.
 
#14 ·
Perhaps you could check with your local humane society or other local animal rescue about taking dogs in on the weekends. I have heard that some shelters will do this for approved people. This is a nice treat for the dog that is otherwise in a kennel all week long awaiting adoption. It could be different dogs each time and as the rescue has different dogs in need it likely would be. This way it would also be only on weekends that you are available and also if a different dog each time then you don't run the risk of becoming too attached to it and deciding to keep it perhaps against your better judgment. Just a thought. :)
 
#17 ·
I think you made the right choice about forgoing the Havanese puppy at this stage. I don't know if anyone has allergies, but how do you feel about cats/kittens? When my hubby and I just got married and couldn't have dogs because of busy schedules and appartment living, we got two kittens and it was the best thing we ever did. They grew up together, were never bored because they were never "alone" and gave us great companionship and love without worrying about house training. Just a thought. :)
 
#19 ·
Yes! My dad gave me a kitten while I was in high school and she stayed with me through my college and young adult years, moving from apartment life to living on a horse farm to finally our own home, where she passed away at the tender age of 15. Her hardest adjustment was when I got married. She always slept with me, and after we got married, in the beginning, she would sleep on the opposite side from DH. Intermittently, she would sit up and look aross at him with huge eyes, then look at me as if saying, "Don't look now, Mom, but here's a MAN in our bed!":pound: She did get very fond of him with time!
 
#18 ·
Hello. I'm also new to the forum but wanted to share my experience. I work at leat 40 hours a week but only live 5 minutes from work so didn't it would be a problem. We got Smokey last April and he had HORRIBLE separation anxiety. He cried and cried and when I came home his face would be soaking wet and he peed all over himself all day. He was so worked up during the day all he did was crash on my lap at night. This only went on for a few days before we decided to add an addition to the family and along came Sissy my female Havanese. The problem was instantly resolved and I still can't believe what a turn around there was. It even helped with the potty issues we were having. Of course this is only my experience and all the "professionals" told me he would learn to adjust but I couldn't take it and I actually really enjoy having two instead of one! Hope this helps.

Judi
 
#20 ·
I also think kittens/cats are a great idea! While attending grad school I adopted two kittens (I was never a "cat person" before, so I was skeptical about how I would like having them) . Training them took about 30 seconds - just had to show them their litter box. They are so much fun, and two are really no harder than one. Now I love cats and will always have them in the house - they are such wonderful, affectionate pets. :)
 
#21 ·
I have posted the same information before relating to someone else that was asking about the Havanese and working. I had dogs my entire working career (now retired). My first dog when I lived on my own was a Basset Hound and he had terrible separation anxiety (pulling paper from the wall, chewing furniture etc.). My parents had been keeping her for me for a while and she was used to other dog companions. I got another dog (a little Lhaso Apso -- before the days of Havanese) and problem solved. They were instant companions and separation anxiety gone. During all my working time, I always had a dog walker and during many of those years I had a doggie door into the garage with papers. they were not kept in kennels, but until the dogs were reliable they were confined to a very large kitchen with a yard view and their beds.

Other work friends also acquired Havanese and all were able to work it (either with other family help during the day or a second Havanese).

The comment about restricting activities in the evening is very valid. The idea of a weekend foster for dogs at a shelter sounds like a great idea.
 
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