Your Havanese comes by his cuteness and intelligence naturally, but will require
your help when it comes to behaving properly and getting along with your guests,
family and children, not to mention your furniture and other possessions.
Training is so important to your relationship with your dog, and the joy you
will attain over the 15 or so years you will be together, that you absolutely
must get this right. In fact, it is highly recommended you take lessons from
professionals by bringing your dog to obedience classes. In any event, there are
basic concepts that must be understood to train your dog successfully, whether
you do it yourself or with the help of a professional trainer.
Incredibly cute video of trained Havanese doing tricks
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Agility Competition>Agility Competition
Havanese dogs do very well in agility competition.
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Housebreaking Your Havanese
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For obvious reasons, the number one most important aspect of training is
housebreaking your Havanese. Failure to teach potty training successfully will
result in years of unnecessary frustration, however if good habits are taught in
the first few months of the puppy's life, they will be ingrained in the
Havanese's behavior forever. By age six months, your pup should be reliably
toilet trained.
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The basics of potty training your Havanese pup
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Prevent accidents by eliminating need and opportunity
use a crate
when not in crate, contain dog using child's door gate
take outside in a timely manner
provide indoor relief area using newspapers or kitty litter |
At the appropriate times, take your Havanese outside
Pick a small area in your lawn as a target spot
Let the puppy walk to the spot on his own, don't carry him
Praise him after eliminating in proper location in a timely manner
Do this consistently so your Havanese has no reason to have an accident |
What to do if your Havanese has an accident.
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Although the goal is to eliminate accidents entirely, this isn't entirely
realistic. Even dogs that turn out to be perfectly housebroken may slip up
during the training process. You shouldn't overreact if this happens. First,
corrective behavior should only be taken if the Havanese is caught in the act.
Bringing a puppy back to the scene of the crime hours or even several minutes
later will not be effective. They will not understand what they're being scolded
for. If you are fortunate enough to catch the rascal in the act, stop him,
sternly say "no", take him outside to finish, and then praise him. Remember,
your job is to deny your Havanese the need or opportunity to relieve himself
indoors, except in a designated potty training area. |
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Coming soon...
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Basic training: How to train your Havanese to do the essentials of dog
training: sit, stay, come, and down. This is accomplished through the age old
concept of rewarding positive behavior and punishing unwanted behavior. Advanced
training: The Havanese is a smart breed capable of learning many amusing tricks.
These include singing, walking on his hind legs, rolling over, dancing, finding
hidden items, etc. |