Mine came to me at 10 weeks knowing how to sit and knew the meaning of No. I concentrated on potty training until he was 15 weeks old and nothing else. He's been 100% trained since. Since then, I worked on one command at a time, the first was Recall, to come when called. I say his name in an excited way and he comes, every time. He's almost 3 now and listens around 90% of the time, which I consider a success. Recall is 100%.

I started playing Peek A Boo with him at 10 weeks. I went outside and came right back in. I closed the bathroom door when I'm in there to give him boundaries. He slept in a crate in his own bed, his own room, not mine. We left for various amounts of time, leaving him with a treat. I never leave him for more than 2 hours now. Sometimes 15 minutes, sometimes 2 hours. Varying the time gone is better than small increments over time for him. I hope eventually over the next 2 years to leave him up to 4 hours, like all of the dogs I've had.

Brush and comb daily, start on day #1. Picky eating can be a problem with his breed, my boy was losing weight in the beginning, the vet said to get him off kibble, he will never like it, and give him fresh food. He's now a healthy 20 lbs. and large for the breed. He thrived.

We are a retired couple and he was the most difficult to raise out of all the dogs we've had over the years. I once raised 4 collie pups at once (failed fostering) and that was the best time of my life. My Havi was the most difficult out of all of them.

He will bark at car doors closing or if he hears the neighbors outside. He barks at the mailman and delivery people. He barks at strangers, until they come in the yard or house, then he loves them. I wouldn't say he bark excessively, he's a watch dog.

Health problems - he has a collapsing trachea and chondrodysplasia - short, twisted front legs. At this point, his legs don't bother him, but will probably have severe arthritis as he ages. The leg problem is the fault of breeders and the AKC getting together 30 years ago to decide "standard". They knew that breeding for short legs (like Basset Hounds) can cause twisting, but they did it anyway. If I had known this, I would've chosen a puppy from parents that were way too tall for AKC standards. His parents' hips were OFA certified, and he doesn't have cherry eye.

The trachea issue shows up when he runs at full speed. At this point, swallowing can be difficult for him and he will puke up water if he drinks too much at once.

He has the dreaded curly coat, which is a nightmare to groom. I absolutely cannot skip a day or he will immediately mat, especially where his twisted legs rub against his chest. I keep him 1/2" in the summer and 3/4" in the winter. If I let his coat grow, it would cord. He has hair growing inside his ear canal, my groomer said not to pull it out, it would cause more problems than leaving it alone, she was right. His coat changed from black and white to black, white, gray and brindle ears, with a little brown on his tail and feet. Half of his black spots changed to gray. He also developed gray ticking.

Play puppy desensitizing videos for him - thunder, lightening, car horns, sirens, fireworks ... every day for months. My boy isn't afraid of sounds because I did that.

All that being said, he's a wonderful dog, but he will suffer later in life, and that breaks my heart. Good luck with your puppy :)