I have a 13 week male named Finley. He has been with us for 1 1/2 weeks, and is almost a perfect puppy. He sleeps thru the night in a soft sided crate on our bed, his potty training is going remarkably well, and is generally easy. The issue is closing the door on his playpen. His feeding dish is inside and he will go inside on his own to chew on his toy or eat. The problem arises if I close the door, he jumps, yells and cries. At first I sat close and reassured him, but now I stay back (only a little while)and he falls asleep sometimes. If he’s quiet for a little I give him a treat after I say quiet. I would like to be able to go out for a little bit without worrying that I’m going to traumatize him. I did order a hard sided crate so he is more contained, but think this will be more of the same. He willing goes into his soft sided crate, but too much to chew. What else can I do to regain a little freedom?
Playpen
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We have a 13 week old as well. It is important that they learn they can be okay when they are by themselves for a period of time. Yes they will complain, quite loudly sometimes, but as they learn that they will be ok and that the protest doesn’t get them out of their pen, they complain less. Before I put Pepper or Issac (8 months old) in their pens, I try to make sure they are empty even though they have potty trays in their pens. If they fuss then I just go about my business, in and out of the room, not even glancing in their direction. They do learn that all the fussing doesn’t get them out. I also work with the pups several short sessions per day. I have puzzle games that they can work at. Opportunities for chewing on appropriate chews. Havanese are bred to be companions and want to be their person most of the time. You have to teach them that they can be ok on their own sometimes.
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I think after making sure all his needs are met (fed, watered, played with, gone potty) and then tiring him out with a good play session or run around outside, you can just plop him in his secure playpen set up and go for a bit. It’s good to get them used to being alone sometimes. He will probably protest and whine but should stop after a few minutes of dramatics.
When Piper was that age i’d tire her out, plop her in her ex-pen (w/crate attached), and then me and my SO would go walk down the block to get a coffee or something. Just little 30ish minute breaks outside the house with her alone, nothing too crazy. Whining decreased from 7-8 minutes, to 5 minutes, to 3 minutes, to 60 seconds to not at all (i have a puppy cam) after a couple weeks of making a concerted effort.
We tried to do this once a day because we both work fully remotely from home and are usually always around, so we needed to make a deliberate effort to leave. By the time she was 5ish months we were able to go to the dinner and the movies or a long Yankee game without any puppy tantrum whining. After a nice long run around outside at the park we could drop her off home in her pen and she’d just plop over and nap as we did a social thing together for a few hours every now and then.
i think (unless youre dealing with a dog with true separation issues who is in a true state of distress and unable to self-soothe) just practice, practice, practice and desensitizing them to it is key. Have an errand to run? Run it! Pup will be fine.
When Piper was that age i’d tire her out, plop her in her ex-pen (w/crate attached), and then me and my SO would go walk down the block to get a coffee or something. Just little 30ish minute breaks outside the house with her alone, nothing too crazy. Whining decreased from 7-8 minutes, to 5 minutes, to 3 minutes, to 60 seconds to not at all (i have a puppy cam) after a couple weeks of making a concerted effort.
We tried to do this once a day because we both work fully remotely from home and are usually always around, so we needed to make a deliberate effort to leave. By the time she was 5ish months we were able to go to the dinner and the movies or a long Yankee game without any puppy tantrum whining. After a nice long run around outside at the park we could drop her off home in her pen and she’d just plop over and nap as we did a social thing together for a few hours every now and then.
i think (unless youre dealing with a dog with true separation issues who is in a true state of distress and unable to self-soothe) just practice, practice, practice and desensitizing them to it is key. Have an errand to run? Run it! Pup will be fine.
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I have a 24” and a 30”. The 24” has worked well when they are younger. Issac at about 7 months started trying to jump out. I moved him to the 30” then.
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I recently had this convo with a potential breeder about WFH. We work from home now and I was thinking how it could be more challenging to force yourself to leave the house so they are used to being alone! Our previous Havanese, Lucy, was so used to being alone for since when we got her we worked out of the house, she definitely benefited from the pandemic and got used to us being home and extra walks of course!
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Yeah it’s something I was reading up on before we brought Piper home in March 2021 because by that time me and my SO were fully remote. She loves always having us around during the day for sure (and Mom taking her for a long romp through prospect park everyday during lunchtime!), but i think it’s still important to set aside time to step out (even if you dont have to be anywhere…we would just force ourselves to go get coffee or something) and leave them alone during those critical puppyhood days to prevent issues in the future! 🙂
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Prospect Park! hello from your neighbor in Fairfield County, CT
. I moved to the city shortly after I got Lucy, I loved taking her for walks on the East River but will never forget how grey her paws got on a daily basis with the city sidewalk grime 🙃
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oh wow! I used to live right next to East River Park in the lower east side! Went there often with Piper as well when she was a puppy! We just moved to Brooklyn (3 min walk to Prospect Park) this October after almost 6 years in the LES!Prospect Park! hello from your neighbor in Fairfield County, CT
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I have mostly 24” pens. And I have a lot of them. I bought one 30” pen way back when Kodi was a pup because someone worried me into it. Once in a GREAT while, you will find a Havanese who will “jump” out of an ex-pen. The vast majority of escapes are by climbing up and jumping off the top. If they cn climb a 24” pen, they can climb a 48” pen. And they are more likely to hurt themselves jumping off the top of a 48” pen than a 24” pen. So if yo have an escapee, in most cases, what you need is a cover for your pen, not a taller pen.
I found that I hated the 30” pen because, even with my VERY long legs, it was hard for me to step over. So, I have that one 30” pen, and a half dozen 24” pens. The 30” pen only gets pulled out if we have used up all the other ones! I have 4 Havanese ranging from 10” to 11 1/2”, and all of them are perfectly capable of jumping up on my bed, which is higher than 24”. (Well, Kodi can’t anymore, but he could when he was younger!) but they NEVER challenge the ex-pen, even when we use it as our “yard fence” when we are camping.
I learned from my Watson that the Havanese can be extremely smart.
Watson has a ex pen which had a panel with a door which you can sort of lock by tightening two screws.
I found that Watson has been getting out of the ex pen when he was supposed to be inside. I then watched and it seems he did not jump out of the pen he figured out how to use his paws to keep knocking the screws until they opened and he could then open the door.
I have since changed the panel with the door for one without a door and let him in and out of the ex pen by opening a panel and leaving it open until the time comes when he needs to be confined for safety.
These dogs are so very clever.
Watson has a ex pen which had a panel with a door which you can sort of lock by tightening two screws.
I found that Watson has been getting out of the ex pen when he was supposed to be inside. I then watched and it seems he did not jump out of the pen he figured out how to use his paws to keep knocking the screws until they opened and he could then open the door.
I have since changed the panel with the door for one without a door and let him in and out of the ex pen by opening a panel and leaving it open until the time comes when he needs to be confined for safety.
These dogs are so very clever.
Great idea as a fenced yard, we plan to take our 5th wheel out this summer and that would be handy. So I see one panel in front, how do you block the remainder of the underside of the RV? Can your guys go up the stairs or do you need to lift them?
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I think we use three pens in all, because we like to enclose all the area under the awning, and some space betond that. I suppose you could do less, but we find that the dogs are not happy if we are sitting outside their space. So we just enclose our entire eating and sitting space. (Even the picnic table) we run one pen along the side of the trailer from the steps to the back, and then the others come back around to the front edge of the steps. We use a piece of plastic lattice to fill in under the steps, and we cut that out to fit under the steps. The dogs have no trouble getting up and down the steps, though I did have to have them practice for cookies on the new trailer, since it is substantially higher than our old one!
Here is a better photo, I think. This was at a fair grounds, for a dog show, so no picnic table, but it gives you a better view of the pens and lattice along the side of the trailer.
I used a children’s pack n play (because I had one for my grands who did not need it anymore) until he was housebroken.
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