We start all of our puppies on the housebreaking process when they are around 6 weeks of age! We use newspaper with our puppies; it allows them to be eased into the housebreaking process. It is also great to use if you are away as a back-up to prevent accidents. We do not take our outside because many diseases live in the ground for a number of years and we are careful not to expose our puppies to anything that might put their health at risk.
You should begin housebreaking your puppy as soon as you bring him or her home to get him or her started in a regular routine! Once bad habits are started they are harder to break so that initial routine setup is very imperative. You must decide whether you are going to train you puppy to go indoors on newspaper, outdoors, or a combination of both, which is recommended as you don't have to worry about your puppy getting wet or soiling his coat if the weather is bad.
Immediately upon your puppy's arrival, introduce the special place where you have chosen for your puppy to do his business indoors. Place plenty of newspapers or special pads for this purpose on the floor. We recommend that you do not use wee-wee pads! If you have carpet, it would be wise to confine the puppy to just a few rooms without carpeting while the potty training routine is being learned. Young puppies need to relieve themselves frequently because their kidneys are small, so if you see your puppy about to squat away from the paper, just say "No" firmly and whisk the puppy away to the paper and say "paper”. Give lots of praise when the task has been completed. Rewards and treats can also be given to encourage your puppy.
For outdoor training, a 10-12 week old puppy should be taken outdoors every one to three hours. Older puppies can wait longer between outings. You will need to choose an appropriate area outside. Always walk you puppy to this spot on a leash. Always praise your puppy when he completes his business in the appropriate spot. By giving praise and/or a food reward immediately after your puppy finishes you can encourage him to go to the bathroom in a desired area. Odor left from previous visits to the area will quickly mark it as the place for the puppy to do his business. Be sure to promptly remove the puppy's soiled waste and dispose of it properly.
We recommend that puppies be taken out:
*After waking in the mornings
*After naps
*After meals
*After play or training
*Before being put to bed
* During the nighttime hours if necessary until a puppy is older.
The #1 rule in housebreaking, as in training your dog to do anything, is to be consistent!
Never yell at your dog or push her nose in her messes.
She is very young and it will take time for your puppy to become housebroken. Human babies don't learn to use the toilet until they are two or three years old, right? Don't ask too much of your puppy. Give her opportunities to be successful.
If you want housebreaking to go quickly, regardless of the method you use, spend as much time as possible with your puppy.
Puppies may spontaneously urinate when excited. This may be when they first see you, at meeting a new dog or when they are scared. It is often referred to as submissive or excitement urination . Do not discipline the puppy for this, as it is something they cannot control. Simply ignore it and clean up the mess. If you don't overreact, they will usually outgrow this between 4 and 7 months of age.
Once your dog associates praise with eliminating outside and realizes that it's useless to try to eliminate inside (because you'll stop him before he gets started and take him outside anyway) he may become perplexed with exactly how to tell you that he needs to go outside! If you have a fenced yard or a dog run, simply install a doggie door for your pet. If you don't have a fenced yard or dog run, this is a wonderful opportunity to teach your dog how to tell you when he needs to go outside. First, decide what behavior you want your dog to do, to tell you that he needs to go outside. Some common choices are: 
*Speak
*Sit by the door
*Scratch the door
*Paw your leg
*Stand up and dance in a circle
*Ring a bell
*Come to you and sit
*Come to you and shake
Before you decide which of these methods to use with your pet, think carefully about the consequences of your decision! Do you really want to teach your dog to scratch your door? How scratch resistant are your doors? Do you really want your dog to teach your dog to bark or ring a bell? How will that sound at 3am? Do you really want your dog to paw at your leg? What about when you have new white pants on? Also, if you teach your dog to sit by the door, what happens if you're in the other room? Will you be able to see him sitting by the door? And before you try to teach your dog to dance in a circle on his hind legs think about if he's physically able to do it without much effort. All of the above suggestions I have mentioned can and do work but it really depends on you, your dog, and your household how long it will take to teach your pet this trick. Teaching your dog to speak to go outside is one of the most common from the list. It will work fine as long as your dog's barking isn't going to bother you. The four choices that I would recommend are: Speak, ring a bell, come to you and sit, and come to you and shake. If your dog already likes to bark when he plays, "Speak" will probably be the easiest. Teaching your dog to ring a bell is a good way to alert you through sound if your dog doesn't like to, or cannot, bark. Coming to you and sitting or shaking (not bodily shaking, but a "paw" shake, like a hand shake) is slightly more difficult, but sometimes preferred because it teaches the dog to come and get you, and barking can sometimes be confusing when he's barking at other things. Second, teach your dog the behavior you chose. If you picked "Speak," then teach your dog to "Speak." If you chose "ring a bell," buy a bell, put it on the floor and when your dog rings it with his paw or nose (with your help at first) give him a food treat. Teach your dog to "Come" to you, and when he does instruct him to "sit." If you like, take his paw and "shake" hands with him repeating "Good Shake!" as you do, then give him a food treat. Over a weeks time of periodically teaching the new command every day your dog should have a good understanding of the new command. If you have a puppy under 7 months of age don't expect him to understand the command, but go on to the next step as well.Third, associate the new command with going outside. After your dog has a basic understanding of the new command begin using it prior to every time you will take him outside.. Before you take him outside, say to him your usual, "Do you want to go outside?" so he will anticipate being taken outside. Then, say the new command: "Speak" or "Come, Shake." When he completes the command with or without your help, verbally praise him, and then immediately take him outside as his reward. It is important that you are consistent with giving the new command every time you take him outside.
Now you need to be acutely aware of his behavior. If your dog speaks, and you don't respond by taking him outside, you are undoing all the work you have done. Even if he speaks for some other reason, take him outside anyway. He needs to learn that you associate his barking with going outside. When your dog comes to you and sits down, get up and take him outside. Or help him with a handshake first, then take him outside. If you don't respond to his requests, he will quickly unlearn what you have taught him.
Most attempts by your dog to let you know he needs to go outside are at first feeble. This is OK, housebreaking is the learning process and does take time. Feeble attempts that receive great praise and are followed by a trip outside will make a lasting impression on your dog. If your dogs attempts are ignored, it will make an equally lasting impression.
After a few weeks, or a few months depending on the age of your dog, how consistent you are in your teaching methods, and the difficulty of the behavior you chose, your dog should get the hang of the method you choose and will be able to let you know when he has to go! Havanese are extremely smart. They catch onto new things quickly!
There are many great books available on Housebreaking your puppy. Please check out our recommended reading page for more information on a few of these books!
