First off let me start with saying I know I'm probably a bad parent.
I have a 11 month old cocker spaniel and she has a crate and it's in my laundry room. I keep her in the laundry room and her food and water is also in there with her. I'm clastrophobic and I know she would be too so I don't lock her in the crate I leave it open but when she is in the laundry that is where she goes most of the time. In the mornings I let her out of the laundry room when I get out of the shower and she USE to go straight to her pee pads in the living room and go to the bathroom. But lately she has just been peeing beside them on my carpet. I tried to make her go outside but she always wants to play or walk around and never goes. And even if I keep her outside in her pen for a couple hours. She still won't go outside, she will wait until she comes inside and go. I'm getting very frustrated and don't know what to do because nothing seems to work?? HELP!

And another question I have is some information I see says leave food and water out for dogs and some say feed at certain times.
I leave food and water out constantly for her to go to is that right or should I just put it down at certain times? ( she will eat but not want to poop right away she will wait sometimes two hours before she has to go or she'll sleep and not go right away) I feel like a bad parent but I can't watch her all day to make sure she doesn't pee on the carpet.

As for the feeding question. I had my lab/walker hound cross since five weeks old and I only fed her once a day. Water out all the time but food once. She also went out as soon as I got up, not after the shower, not after anything, immediately I got up and put her out to do her business and I started this right away. Where did people get 'pee pad' ideas from anyway. I don't know what housebreaking a pup is coming to. If you can't get it done the right way and be consistent then I don't know what you are going to do when the dog gets older. I have always used the same procedure. As for weather, well, she went out in rain, snow sleet and don't think that's mean. It wasn't. She is the cleanest dog and she is 9 now, and happy and well taken care of.

She has her own yard and wherever we have been, she always has.

Now, getting back to house training. She would be unhappy with pee pads, cockers are pretty smart. Please take the time to take her out, play around a bit, get her bladder going and her 'pooper' going with a little exercise. Go on line, Google information on house training if you have to, but if you have a dog and you want the dog to be clean in the house, you have to work at it.

Okay, forum members, dog lovers, whatever, this is my take on the situation. I know it won't agree with some others, but you know, I have never had a dog that chewed on furniture, damaged anything or yet or pooped in the house, so I must be doing something right and putting a lot of thought into it and more important BEING CONSISTENT.

As for the feeding question. I had my lab/walker hound cross since five weeks old and I only fed her once a day. Water out all the time but food once. She also went out as soon as I got up, not after the shower, not after anything, immediately I got up and put her out to do her business and I started this right away.

She would be unhappy with pee pads, cockers are pretty smart. Please take the time to take her out, play around a bit, get her bladder going and her 'pooper' going with a little excercise.

Thanks but I have some questions how long do you stay outside with her when you get up? Or do you leave her outside? And what kind of activity do you do?
I know in the mornings I don't have time to do a lot since I have to get ready for work so that might be a problem.

Kylie, please take a look at labman's link on housebreaking. You will have to get up a little earlier in order to walk your dog. She needs to be trained not to pee in the house. If you don't put in the extra effort, you will keep having these accidents occur. Cocker Spaniels are notorious piddlers. Help her as much as you can to learn the correct places she needs to do her business outside. Please take a look at this link:

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/dogs/information-articles-our-dogs-expert-labman-53153.html#post251809

The rep box didn't take my link, https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/dogs/information-articles-our-dogs-expert-labman-53153.html#post251809

In general I find dog info Googled up to be quite unreliable. The web is full of web sites on dogs that are full of it. I have done searches on different topics, and seldom find a good site near the top. Many of the Home and Garden forums have Experts that are just that. I find it insulting that Tickle thinks any website you might find would be better than my sticky. It is oriented toward young puppies, but at the end discuss some of the issues with older dogs. The first thing in the morning, or at least after feeding the dog, is a good time time to take it out on leash and walk it until it relieves itself.

I have to leave now, but will try to post more.

labman, I have never ever questioned your expertise with dogs. I believe the information you give everyone makes the utmost sense always. I am very offended that you feel insulted when it was not intended. I will from now on keep my advice to different topics and not dogs, if this is the kind of treatment I get here.

thanks but i have some questions how long do you stay outside with her when you get up? or do you leave her outside? and what kind of activity do you do?
i know in the mornings i don't have time to do alot since i have to get ready for work so that might be a problem.

With any luck, the morning walks will be temporary. The more often you praise her for relieving herself outside, the sooner she will understand she needs to go outside. You don't have to walk either, you could play fetch, free form dancing, etc. Just keep her body moving until she can't hold it any more. Then rave about what a great dog she is. Once she forms the habit of relieving herself outside, you should be able to go back to just leaving her out.

You also need to start shutting her in the crate at night and when you aren't around. The other side of the coin of activity bringing on elimination is inactivity allowing the dog to go longer without relieving itself. If you look at the book list in the sticky, https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/dogs/information-articles-our-dogs-expert-labman-53153.html#post251804 you can tell by some of the titles they are about how dogs are different from people. Dogs prefer the tight places you and many other PEOPLE have problems with. I don't like leaving a dog more than 4-5 hours, although many people do. If you can't make it back to give her a mid day break, see if a neighbor or professional dog walker can. I think doggy day care is one of the best solutions for people that work.

You are not a bad parent. You may not have done things the way that works for me, but you have not had the fine people mentoring you I have or housebroken 17 dogs. As I suggesting in my one other post, bad info is easy to find. I think it is no coincidence that other people seem to more trouble housebreaking dogs than I do, and much of the instructions I see elsewhere leave out many of my techniques.

Kyliekay: my trainer that I hired (when I rescued my first dog a terrier, blue tick mix,4 months old)... told me that when I took my dog out, to only take him out for, business peep or poop every 20 minutes, and to take him out after he took a nap or played a lot. I was told not to walk him or play with him till he did his business first and to try to take him to the same spot each time he went potty. If he messed in the house no scolding... clean it up and take him and the towel outside to the spot where he was supposed to go. This is what I did and he did quite well. I also was able to be with him most of the time, as I work from my home. Good luck

It is a well accepted fact that exercise stimulates the body to eliminate. I continually depend on it before taking a young dog into a public place. I had my dog in the church, the glass shop twice, the bank, the drug store, the county building, lunch at a service club, the hardware store, plus working in a recycling center much of the day. I just happen to have some experience controlling when and where a dog eliminates. When a dog has to go, it will stop whatever it is doing and go.

Many puppies enjoy being outside. If you wisk them back inside as soon as they do anything, without a chance to play a little, they may realize the longer they put it off, the longer they get to stay out.

If you learn to read your dog, there is no need to take it out every 20 minutes. We certainly didn't a month ago when we had a 2 month old with us at a convention.

I see a lot of bad advice from professional trainers.

OK another question I have a pen and I've been putting her in there for a little freedom outside, I live close to the road and she has already ran out in it before so I'm not comfortable with letting her run free so I put her in the pen. She has recently started to poop in the pen, but I still can't get her to pee outside. If I put her in the pen when she is outside is that OK or should I just be taking her out to try to poop and pee and immediately bring her in?

And when I bring her is it into the house or directly to the crate and lock her up again?

As I explained above, if a puppy wants to play around a little after it goes, it is best to do so. And yes, the pen is a good idea. They very quickly get to where they can out run you and get into trouble. Following an unsuccessful trip outside, it is best to shut the puppy in the crate a short while before trying again.

Try Feline Pine pellets and a really long litter box. You only need about an inch of litter. The important thing is that the dog can move around. They totally go in there. PetSmart has the bix boxes. The litter smells like pine because it is actually ground up pine chips that have been reformed into pellets. Take the crate out. Leave the box in the room with the pup and take up the dry food. It will work.

So she has been going when I take her outside now. I take her out in the morning when I get home and before I go to bed. They only thing I really still have a problem with is that she doesn't tell me when she has to go out so I still have to watch her constantly and sometimes she will pee on the carpet still. I tried the thing on oprah with the bell and put it on the door for her to ring but she only rings it after I ask her if she needs to go outside.

Going to the door when it needs out seems obvious to us, but I am afraid not to some dogs. Taking it out whenever it accidentally gets near the door, as I say in my sticky, has solved the problem for me.

first off let me start with saying i know i'm probably a bad parent.
i have a 11 month old cocker spaniel and she has a crate and it's in my laundry room. i keep her in the laundry room and her food and water is also in there with her. i'm clastrophobic and i know she would be too so i don't lock her in the crate i leave it open but when she is in the laundry that is where she goes most of the time. in the mornings i let her out of the laundry room when i get out of the shower and she USE to go straight to her pee pads in the living room and go to the bathroom. but lately she has just been peeing beside them on my carpet. i tried to make her go outside but she always wants to play or walk around and never goes. and even if i keep her outside in her pen for a couple hours. she still won't go outside, she will wait until she comes inside and go. i'm getting very frustrated and don't know what to do because nothing seems to work??? HELP!

and another question i have is some information i see says leave food and water out for dogs and some say feed at certain times.
i leave food and water out constantly for her to go to is that right or should i just put it down at certain times? ( she will eat but not want to poop right away she will wait sometimes two hours before she has to go or she'll sleep and not go right away) i feel like a bad parent but i can't watch her all day to make sure she doesn't pee on the carpet.

Interesting however I feel that once again it has deviated from strictly answering the specific question asked to a playground turf war..

#1, Dog are not clastrophobic, this is once again us as humans trying to attribute attributes to dogs that they do not have.. One must ask the question if you were not chastraphobic would you worry that your dog would be.. or if you had a fear of the dark would you worry that your dog shared the same feelings.. this is your emotion and your feelings (not berating you at all, it is a legitimate fear among humans) but one not present in dogs...

#2 Create a feeding schedule, feed her at X time everyday and take note of what time she needs to eliminate.. Once you know what time she needs to eliminate, feed her, place her in her crate and at X time take her outside and give the potty command, or walk her around, exercise (as labman pointed out stimulates the need for the body to eliminate), when she does go.. praise her and say the potty command.. keep this routine going until she reliably eliminates outside.. As for peeing on your carpet, I gather from your post that she is peeing beside the wee pad on the carpet.. One useful trick that I picked up a few years ago was to get some chili powder, kyan, habenero (can't spell those), and sprinkle it on the area where she is peeing on the carpet, This will almost instantly nullify that problem.. I have found that it works much better than the dog b gone stuff etc...

Third, I hate wee wee pads... they were a good idea for the person that invented them, I'm sure he made lot's of money.. but I feel that they are counter productive as they teach your do to use the restroom inside the house. You want to encourage the dogs denning instinct (crating) dogs don't like to pee and poop on themselves or in their den and enforce that the outdoors is the only place to use the bathroom.. Wee wee pads mix up that whole process.. Also the reality is that wee pads are just another form of dog conditioning.. the same ferver that went into teaching them to use the wee pads can just as easily be applied to teaching them to use the outside.. Dogs don't instinctively know to use the wee pads, you have to teach them.. Avoid the hassle and just teach them to go outside in the first place... pawsdogdaycare

Pawsdogdaycare-

Sometimes we do get away from the direct question the OP asks. However, I see that as a way to learn more. You are new here, so I just wanted to point out to you that it sometimes happens, but it is not a bad thing.


Great advice as usual Labman!

Thanks for all the great advice
My dog has been doing a lot better lately and has finally started going outside. Thank you for the help. The only problem I am having now is she still does not know that I will let her out if she wants to go to the bathroom. I have to ask her a lot if she wants to go out instead of her standing by the door or ringing the bell on the door to let me know she needs to go out. So what can I teach her so she knows to let me know when she wants out?

My mom has a kennel so I am constantly training new puppies and dogs. For one thing you should go out with your dog and constantly tell it to go potty or find something else that works for you. Try to get your dog on some kind of schedule, for example I take puppies out almost every two hours or the same time every day.

For the feeding, it is best to only feed your dog 2 to 3 times a day. Over feeding can sometimes result with problems. But always keep water out.

There is a book that has lots of info on potty training and it is called The Loved Dog. I follow must of the authors tequniques and I agree with mostly every thing she has to say. I thing that you should look into it.
Hope this helps!

Who has read the sticky at https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/dogs/information-articles-our-dogs-expert-labman-53153.html#post251809 It is all there, the bell, using a command, etc. plus the technique of taking the dog out if it gets near the door. Going to the door seems obvious to us, but some dogs either don't realize it or may not realize they are allowed to ask to go out. A few times of being taken out when it got near the door, and the dog realizes that is how you respond to them going to the door.

The sticky is free and one click away. I doubt you need to find and purchase a book.

She has been doing well with peeing and pooping outside but lately it has been raining here and she refuses to pee and poop outside when the ground is wet. What do I do?

Way back in post #7 I mentioned walking the dog until it couldn't hold it any longer. If it doesn't like going out in the rain, take an umbrella and walk until it goes. Then praise it and let it go in out of the rain. Perhaps try to find places where the grass isn't too high.

It does help to pick up the old thread with an ongoing problem.

My routine is to take her out when I first get up and leave her in the pen for awhile while I get ready for work. Then I put her back inside in the laundry room then when I come home I take her back outside and leave her in the pen for an hour or so and then bring her back in. she did really well with it and went in her pen outside when she had to go poop or pee. But the last 2 weeks it's rained on and off days and so the ground in her pen is wet and I can't get her to go to the pen when I let her outside and she doesn't want to poop in her pen outside she keeps pooping inside. What should I do?

Kylie try covering the top of the pen, this is what I did when I was potty training my mother-in-laws chihuahua dog. I covered a large section of the pen, when it was raining she went for the covered part. Did her business and was back in the house. She also wore a shirt/coat to ward off the chill.

It is nice once the puppy can just be put out. However, until you get there, you are still going to have to stay out with her, make her move, and praiser when she can't hold it any longer.