Potty Training Q&A

 Q. I’ve heard that it is very difficult to potty train Havanese and other small breed dogs.

It is ALWAYS easier to potty train a small breed puppy using an indoor potty method, at least at first. Can you “only” do outdoors? Of course! But it's a lot more work and you are likely to have more accidents. They are small animals with very small bladders. And while I do NOT consider potty training Havanese to be difficult, it does take longer than with many large breed dogs.  It is also much easier to potty train a puppy who has had a good start on potty training from a good breeder.  So choosing a breeder who works on this matters!  A lot!

Whether you KEEP an indoor potty long-term or not, is up to you. Every single one of them eventually learns to potty outdoors, if given access to the outdoors. Every one I know of has clearly preferred outdoors as they get older. It's up to you if you want to continue reinforcing the indoor potty so that they will continue to use it in bad weather.  But remember… once they give it up, you probably can’t go back to it later.

I can tell you that I've heard from many people over the years who regret keeping up their dog's indoor potty skills/interest when something unforeseen happens. ...Like when my husband had a heart attack out of state, and Kodi (adult) and Pixel (a 6 month old puppy at the time) had to be left alone for 12 hours a day, while I drove long distances to be with him each day. I couldn't arrange for dog care on short notice, but they did FINE with a litter box, toys and a water bottle. I couldn't have done that if they didn't understand litter boxes. But both MUCH prefer pottying outdoors if given the opportunity.

I liken it to our use of a porta-potty. None of us really likes to use one, but when there is nothing else available, it is far better than nothing! That is the attitude I see in my dogs about the litter boxes. They would rather go outside, but when there is a foot of snow on the deck or it is driving rain outside, I open the door, let them see, and they "humph" at me and go use the litter box instead! LOL!

 Q. I have a large breed dog already.  I sure don’t want THAT dog to start peeing in a litter box!

Don’t worry about it! My son's two large dogs lived with us for a year. Robbie was a bit concerned that his 70 lb Treewalker Coonhound might try to use the litter box. It never even crossed his mind! Fortunately, (or unfortunately, depending on your goals) it is almost impossible to train/retrain an adult dog, even another Havanese, to a litter box, once they are convinced that dogs "only" potty outside.  I have had friends buy potty trained Havanese puppies and HOPE their older Havanese would “pick up on it” because it is so convenient.  No such luck.

Q. What kind of indoor potty should I use?

For us, the best option has been litter boxes with a grid over the litter. But if that weren't an option, I'd probably just use litter in an open box. I really hate the smell of pee pads, even if they've been peed on only once. So I'd end up changing them so often it would make me crazy, in terms of work, cost AND the environment.

Q. Why a litter box and not pee pads?

I am not a fan of pee pads for a number of reasons.  First, they STINK, the moment they've been peed on once.  Some people seem not to mind the smell, but it's a smell I can't live with. Second, many dogs will not use a pee pad again if it has been peed on once, meaning you go through a lot of them, and if they pee once while you are out, you can come back and find that they've been forced into an accident elsewhere because they find the smell aversive.  Third,  most Havanese will tear them up if they are not under a grate... Havanese are unrepentant paper chewers!  Last, they are plastic, not biodegradable, and horrible for the environment, as well as expensive. 

Some people try "washable" pee pads as an alternative.  This might seem like a good plan, except, you are now training your puppy to pee on a piece of cloth that you place on the floor.  See the problem here?  I have met way too many people who have used washable pee pads and have ended up with a dog who can never be broken of peeing on scatter rugs or any other piece of cloth left on the floor.  And can you blame them?  That's what they've been trained to do.  Paper pee pads and wood pellets are substances that are completely different, and smell completely different than cloth. 

One place that pee pad can be useful is when travelling. Pam King, of Starborn Havanese, makes wonderful “travelling litter boxes” that she sends home with her puppies… A large sized pee pad wrapped up around a small pile of wood pellets.  The puppies are used to the litter, so will happily use this “litter box substitute” if it is spread out on the floor for them on the way home.  I’ve used this trick myself from time to time in a hotel room in a pinch, and send my puppy owners home with them if they have a distance to drive with their puppy. But I do not use them on a regular basis.  In the course of raising puppies, and having to use at least some pee pads, I have found that there are carbon impregnated pee pads that are great at absorbing odors.  So if you want to use pee pads in a limited way, such as in a grated tray on vacation, for convenience, get these carbon impregnated ones!

Q. How will my puppy know that it’s not OK to potty in another person’s house if they learn it’s OK to potty in my house (in the litter box)?

Something is wrong with the training if a dog thinks it is OK to eliminate inside ANY building, anyplace other than in a litter box. My dogs know that there are two “OK” places to potty. Outdoors or in a litter box. NOT anywhere they want inside any building. I have never had a problem with this, and all my dogs have been litter box trained from the start.

Now, any dog who is in a strange house may not know how to ask to get outside, so may be forced into having an accident, if not given some help in the new surroundings. Any time I am visiting, I make sure to have my dogs potty before going into the house, and I don’t just let them wander around unsupervised. It is not polite and it is not safe for them. If they are near me, I can see if they are looking uncomfortable, or going to a door. If it looks like they need to potty, I take them out. If they had an accident at someone else’s house, that would be on me, not on them, and not a result of them being litter trained dogs.

If we are staying somewhere, we bring a litter box along. Last winter, I went to a dog show with Panda, and when I got to the hotel, realized that I had forgotten her litter box. I went to a local Home Depot and bought a disposable paint roller tray, and spread some of her wood pellets in that in the hotel bathroom. She slept with me, on the bed, and when I got up in the morning, there was a little pee spot in her litter. So, she had gone and found her litter box by herself during the night or early in the morning, before I woke up. Nice!  So, no, I do not buy that a dog who is litter box trained is more likely to potty in someone else’s house.

Q. If I let my dog potty in a litter box, wont it give him the idea that it’s “OK” to potty in the house?

I just don't understand THAT logic AT ALL. Does your teenager (or even your 5 year old) think it's ok to pee behind the couch because you let them use the indoor toilet?  Of course not! But for some reason, people use this as an excuse not to do indoor potty training all the time.

ALL of mine were litter box trained from 3 weeks old and ALL preferentially go outdoors.  They use the litter boxes if outdoors isn't an option. But it's their choice.  One of mine even has run to the litter box to vomit and that is CERTAINLY not anything we trained!!! (wish they’d all do that, alas, it’s not the case!)

Q. Can you REALLY train a puppy without them EVER making a mistake? 

Probably not. The goal is “errorless pottying”. It hardly ever happens without A few mistakes, but the goal is to keep accidents to an absolute minimum. Think of it this way.  It is all about establishing habits.  Every time you let the puppy make a mistake, you need the puppy to get it right 10 or 20 times to make up for that mistake.  A mistake here and there Is not the end of the world.  A few mistakes a week, start to really add up.  If that’s happening, you REALLY need to look at your methods of confinement and supervision, because something is not right.

Q. I cleaned all the spots where my puppy had accidents really well, and he keeps going back. He is doing it out of spite!

I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but you can get animal stains out to the extent that they can pass the black light test, and pass the human nose test. They cannot pass the dog nose test. Those spots will still attract untrained puppies. So be on your guard...  It is always better to prevent accidents than try to clean them up.  If you are going to have to clean up an accident, you will have a much easier time if it is on a solid surface.  You will never completely get the smell out (to the point that a dog can’t smell it, if it is on carpet.  Especially wall-to-wall carpet with underlayment.  In my opinion, you should never allow an untrained puppy on unprotected wall to wall carpeting unless you are planning on pulling it up and replacing it anyway.  There simply is no way of completely removing odor from it to the point that it will not be attract future accidents.  You might train this puppy not to pee there, but your next puppy will find the spot and remind you…

 And… dogs NEVER do things you don’t want them to “out of spite”. They just are not wired to think that way, as tempting as it might be fore you to imagine that. There is always a reason for their behavior, and it is up to us to figure it out!

Q. When will my puppy ASK to go outside?

It can take a long time for puppies to reliably ask to go out on their own (with or without litter box training) I remember with Kodi, my first dog, I often wondered whether he was trained or I was trained... because it didn’t take long before he wasn’t having any mistakes, but it was because I knew when to take him out. I remember that it was during his second winter, so when he was about 18 months old maybe? That I heard him give this one, deep bark. A bark I’d never heard before. I went to see what he wanted, and he was looking at the door! He wanted to go out!!! I was SO thrilled!!! From that point on, he had figured it out, and would ask to go out. But it was a long time coming!!!

I can't honestly remember when the others started "cueing" us to go out, but they do. Panda's is the funniest. The litter box is in the kitchen, and it is one with a plastic grate. her cue that she wants to go out is to get on that grate and run in circles to make it make noise. She will then stop and see if you are paying attention. (or coming from another room) She will do this several times. Only if you ignore her "ask" will she finally use the potty! LOL!

Kodi barks, and Pixel scratches. (fortunately, always on the glass!) Some people train their dogs to use a bell to ask to go out. I was not successful using this method, but some people like it.  I am sure you can find more about bell training if you want to try.  It is very important to remember that the puppy must be fully potty trained before you try to add the cue for asking to go out.  Otherwise you will just confuse them.

Q. My young male has started to mark in the house but my breeder says he should not be neutered until 18 months old.. How do we stop this? He is trained to go outside and inside on tray. Do I just train him using the same potty training methods... take him out often, keep him tethered to me if out of the expen, praise when pees in tray/outside? Do I tell him a firm no if I catch him marking?

A. Training for marking is the same and different than “potty training”.  Yes, you need to go back to close confinement and supervision, but taking him out more often will not help, because this has nothing to do with needing to urinate. A dog who feels the urge to mark, and has not learned that marking indoors is not appropriate will still lift his leg if he is completely empty and there is not a single drop he can coax out!  In fact, he will often hold some urine back when peeing, so he has “ammunition”!

So this really is a case of needing to supervise him every moment that he has any freedom in your house. You need to also both confine him and put a belly band on him to prevent him from marking when you can’t have eyes on him.  Fortunately, if he is an only dog, or is at least not around other intact dogs leaving THEIR scent around, it should not take as long to get this message across as potty training did.

Unlike potty training, where it is vitally important that you teach the puppy where it is appropriate to potty, there is no physiological “need” for him to mark.  He already knows where he can go to urinate.  Believe me, dogs DO know the difference! We think of them as the same thing because they both involve urine. Dogs do not!!! So unlike potty training, where you do NOT want to use aversives, it is absolutely fine to get after your pup for inappropriate marking!  Now, be careful with this. Havanese are small, sensitive dogs, and most of us have it (appropriately) drilled into our heads to use positive reinforcement methods with our dogs.  But to yell and clap your hands loudly the moment you see that leg go up, and then march him straight outside is usually plenty aversive enough to get the message across pretty quickly to our little guys.

Obviously, allow your dog to mark outdoors, but I do NOT allow my dogs to mark at every single vertical surface.  We have our brisk “walk”, and then I allow them some “sniff walk” time, where they can “be a dog” at some point along the way, mid-walk, not always at the same place. (BTW, many girls mark too, and enjoy this sniff walk time also!)

Again, if your puppy is not in a “sexual environment”, like a breeding home (that will make it harder!), you can usually get a handle on this relatively quickly.  In Europe, most male dogs are not neutered, and are taught that this is not appropriate behavior inside buildings.  It is just considered a normal part of raising the puppy!