Havanese Litter Box Training Help
Posted in Puppy Training on 10/30/2008 01:12 am by adminOne of the great things about Havanese is that they are small, which make them perfect for cramped, modern lifestyles. However, their small size also means they have a small bladder. They physically cannot “hold it” like a bigger dog or a human can. A small dog like the Havanese needs relief about every four hours. Sadly, you can’t always get home for your lunch break in order to let your dog out. This is where the idea of Havanese litter box training sounds interesting.
Tackling Havanese litter box training is just like every other aspect in Havanese training – you need patience, persistence and even more patience. Think about how long it took for your dog to learn to be housebroken – and now you have to take that concept and bend it. Your Havanese has learned that any elimination indoors is bad. Now, you have to retrain him or her that eliminating in one particular spot indoors (and that spot only) is good.
If you’ve ever had to housetrain a puppy, then you already have the basic training down for teaching your Havanese to use a litter pan. You watch for the signs that your Havanese has to go – sniffing, circling, whining, scratching at the door – and then you lead the Havanese to the litter box. But you can lead a Havanese to the litter box, but you can’t always make them go. Never yell, hit or swear at your dog. They confused enough as to where they are supposed to go as it is.
Some things you can do to encourage and reassure your Havanese that using a litter pan is okay is to place newspaper with the dog’s urine on it in the pan. You can also teach your dog to eliminate on command. Although dog training books will usually not have information specifically about Havanese litter box training, they will on how to teach your dog to eliminate on command.
Remember what you had to do to train a puppy to go outdoors? Well, Havanese litter box training is the same thing – only you lead the dog to the litter pan and not outside. If you always use a verbal command such as “Gotta go?” or “Hurry up now” every single time the dog eliminates, that verbal cue will, over the weeks and months, cue the dog that where the dog happens to be is okay to go on.
Cues that your dog has to go are whining constantly, sitting at the door whining, walking around in small circles while sniffing and sometimes jumping up on your lap and staring at you. You then take your Havanese to the litter pan, drop them in and give the verbal command to eliminate. They will look somewhat confused, but eventually get the idea. Put some poo in the pan to encourage them to use the pan and nowhere else inside to go. Good luck!
Havanese training using a litter box is the wave of the future in Havanese ownership. It is hoped that more and more dog training books will cover in detail the necessity of small dog litter box training.








