Havanese puppies are little bundles of energy, and many owners are surprised to see this level of energy actually increase instead of decrease.
This article will explain when you can expect your Havanese puppy to calm down, as well as extra tips to be aware of that can help.
Table of Contents
When Do Havanese Calm Down?
Havanese typically calm down once they reach around 2-3 years of age. At this age, Havanese are considered mentally mature. Before this, Havanese puppies are particularly hyper.
Why Are Havanese Puppies So Hyper?
Havanese puppies can sometimes redefine what you thought the word “crazy” meant. It’s true, these little balls of energy can be extremely hyper and it leaves most Havanese puppy owners asking why.
The truth is, well, it’s actually kinda normal. It does come to a point of excessiveness, but for the most part, it is normal for Havanese puppies to have A LOT of energy.
Puppies are learning about their environment, exploring your home, getting to know their new family, and have a naturally high level of excitability. In fact, as your Havanese puppy settles in and becomes more confident in his surroundings, he’ll gain even more excitability than before.
Puppies are like young children, they play hard and rest hard. When they are in full flow, there’s no end to their energy, but once they crash, they’re gone.
Psst. A quick update on Havanese training! Brain Training For Dogs could be the best training approach we’ve seen for puppies. Results show improvement in obedience and behavior quicker than we thought possible! Check it out.
When Do Havanese Puppies Calm Down?
So, you’ve accepted your fate. But how long must it go on for…
Many Havanese owners are surprised to find out that their puppy’s energy levels increase at around 1 year of age, instead of decrease. Yikes…
Havanese puppies typically calm down once they have reached around 2-3 years of age. This is when they are finally considered to be an adult and are mentally mature. And after speaking to countless Havanese owners, this age seems to fit most, but some mature earlier than this.
The good news, though, is that this doesn’t mean you can’t do anything in the meantime to help. Your additional efforts can go a long way in calming down your hyper Havanese.
And, after all, leaving a puppy to calm down by themselves never works out well.
6 Ways To Help Your Havanese Puppy Calm Down
So let’s run through some of the important basics that will help your puppy remain calmer for longer.
And to be clear, ALL of the following should be incorporated into your puppy’s routine. It’s not a one-or-the-other type of situation.
1. Use Puppy Pens For Cool Down Periods
Puppy pens are incredibly helpful for many situations when used correctly. Puppy pens are basically a more liberating version of a crate.
They are excellent for keeping your puppy contained in a small, but fairly decent-sized area while you are busy in another room, or need them to be safe and to calm down for a moment.
Pens work great to pop your puppy in after you’ve had enough of their insane behavior outside of the pen. But let me be clear, the pen is not used as a punishment (and they shouldn’t see it like that either).
The pen needs to be seen as somewhere that’s equally as good to be, and that will depend on how you introduce your puppy to the pen beforehand. In the beginning, you will need to make good associations when your puppy goes inside the pen. You can use tasty treats, toys, and a lot of praise to build a good starting relationship with the pen.
How does the pen calm them down?…
Your puppy won’t be able to run frantically everywhere, and that’s exactly the first and best step in calming them down. Limiting their space (but not to a frustrating level) will naturally encourage them to calm down and focus on what’s immediately around them. At this stage, your puppy will be more inclined to lay down and chew on her toys.
⭐ Our favorite puppy pen (Amazon)
2. Mental Stimulation Is Crucial!
Mental stimulation is essential for all dogs, no matter their age to feel satisfied, content, and happy. Puppies are frantic little things, and while they may not have the attention span of an adult, they still need to be exposed to ample mental stimulation.
Mental stimulation comes in many different forms from command training with rewards (which is excellent), playing with interactive puzzle toys, playing with you and new people, as well as socializing with many new dogs as frequently as possible.
How does mental stimulation calm them down? Many owners focus on physical exercise and completely forget the necessity for mental exercise. It holds true that you could provide sufficient physical exercise for your puppy, but if they haven’t been challenged mentally, they will still have just as much energy as they did before.
Puppies MUST receive mental exercise and have their minds properly engaged in order to become truly tired and calm.
So, this means that you have to be sure to engage in a lot of basic command training that’s entertaining and valuable to your puppy, play with interesting games with them like hide and seek, as well as nose-work games (where they have to sniff out treats).
And perhaps the ultimate form of mental stimulation is to socialize with other puppies and dogs. Not only is socialization extremely important for many other reasons, but it also provides unrivaled levels of mental stimulation.
As long as the other dogs are in full health and have been fully vaccinated themselves, they can be around your puppy in a safe environment from when your puppy is just 8 weeks old.
- Related article: Can unvaccinated puppies play with vaccinated dogs?
3. Provide The Correct Amount of Physical Exercise
Very young puppies are vulnerable to injuries and growth implications if they are over-exercised. And for most, they do enough running, jumping, and sprinting inside of the home as it is.
However, if your puppy is at least 4 to 5 months old, she should be receiving walks outside already and preferably to the dog park where she can have interactions with other dogs.
How much exercise does your puppy need? A good rule of thumb is to follow the 5-minute method. Meaning for every month of age your puppy has, she receives 5 minutes per day of exercise. So at 5 months, your puppy has a solid 25 minutes of dedicated exercise outside every day. This excludes playtime throughout the day.
Admittedly, this doesn’t sound like a lot, but this method is designed to prevent excess stress on the growing joints, bones, muscles, and ligaments during their puppy months.
Just like mental exercise, physical exercise is very important too and will of course reduce a portion of your Havanese’s energy levels.
But as explained earlier, if physical exercise is not combined with mental exercise, it’s very likely that after just a short rest, your Havanese will be physically energized and ready to run around again.
4. Give Your Havanese Plenty Of Interaction
General interaction goes a long way, and although it may not be considered valuable, it certainly is!
Spending time playing, engaging, and even talking to your puppy is providing them with the stimulation and attention they really need.
A puppy also needs an outlet to express themselves and release their energy, and that’s much easier when they have someone there that they consider to be their “leader” or “human mother” to engage with.
Without having someone that frequently engages with them, puppies will soon crave and look for attention, and if they continue not to receive it, negative behavioral responses may be the result. Hyperactivity will then be the least of your worries.
Be sure to give your puppy plenty of attention. It will help satisfy their need for that attention and will allow them to remain calm at other times throughout the day.
5. Have Plenty of Exciting Toys and Chew Treats
Toys and treats are your best friend. When it comes to treats, you can’t go overboard as this will increase calorie intake and potentially disrupt your puppy’s eating habits, but one chew a day is typically fine.
Opt for chews that last a good amount of time. Not only will your puppy receive valuable time to stimulate her teething pains, but she’ll also settle down and relax for a while. Couple this with the puppy pen and you’ve got yourself a winning combination you can repeat on a daily basis.
The same goes for toys, in fact, a neat little trick I learned with toys is to rotate them. Take the same 5 toys, but only put 1 or 2 down, then after a week or so, pick them up and put another 2 down.
This keeps the toys exciting and they appear to be new to your puppy every time you rotate them.
If your puppy has access to toys she finds appealing, then she’ll voluntarily channel her energy into them and be content to lay down with them.
And don’t forget about interactive puzzle toys as I mentioned earlier. These are toys you can fill with treats that will encourage your puppy to solve a simple problem in order to access the small treat. Some puzzle toys can keep puppies engaged for a considerable amount of time. ⭐ Our favorite (Amazon).
6. Stay Consistent With Command Training
This was briefly mentioned in the mental stimulation section, but It should be covered again. You can start training your puppy pretty much right away, and it’s crucial to stick with it.
Basic command training includes teaching your puppy simple but valuable skills she will use her entire life. This includes sit, stay, come, drop, and down.
Havanese are extremely intelligent and are easily trained if you are consistent. Not only will training nurture a well-behaved controllable Havanese for later on in life, but it will provide her with good entertainment and your attention (which she will go bonkers for anyway if she doesn’t receive it).
Plus, each training session will leave her feeling “worked” and better ready to relax compared to if she didn’t receive the training.
Be sure to do some form of training every day, and always use treats to reward her. Puppies rely heavily on treats to know when they have done something good as they often don’t understand verbal rewards for quite some time.
Popular Havanese Articles:
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● Why Do Havanese Lick So Much? Licking Explained
What To Expect From Your Havanese
It’s worth reconsidering what you expect from your Havanese puppy. After all, puppies are hyper, they all are!
After speaking to Havanese owners about this topic, many of them had similar advice, and that’s to enjoy their crazy puppy behavior while you can because they’re only a puppy once.
After around the age of 2, you’ll have “a dog for the next 12 years and not a puppy” as one owner correctly put it.
So, until your Havanese gets past her puppy and adolescent stage, try your best to embrace the fluffy ball of energy you have and enjoy it.
Last Thoughts
Havanese puppies are very energetic and will continue to break the speed of sound until they are around 2 years of age when most settle down a little.
You can also assist your Havanese puppy in calming down by providing sufficient mental stimulation, socialization, training, physical exercise, using a “chill-out” zone, and by using treats and toys effectively.
Enjoy your Havanese’s puppy-like antics while she’s still a puppy. It won’t last forever 🙂
I hope you enjoyed this article and if you feel I didn’t mention something relevant, please contact me and I will be happy to add sections.
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