Hi
Hope there is somebody who might be able to help me with my young dog. Jasper is a cocker spaniel and is now about 6months old. Over the last few weeks a few problems have started to occur,

Firstly he now wee's and poo's at night without fail, VERY nice to come down to in the morning even if I let him out very late at night and stand there until he has done it.

Secondly he barks and howls all night, I'm starting to have concerns about what my neighbors think...
I’ve tried telling him off, I've tried praising him when he is good, and I've tried everything that everyone has advised me to do

If anybody has any suggestions please help

Thanks Jason

It could all be a challenge to your leadership. He is growing up and thinks he is a big boy now. You need to do several things, starting with neutering if not already. It is no cure all, but an important step in cases like this.

The key to most behavior problems is approaching things using the dog's natural instincts. Dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog. Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones. You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with a treat. Start at Raising Your Dog with the Monks of New Skete For more on being top dog, see Establishing and Keeping Alpha Position

Crating him at night should solve the fouling the house and maybe the barking too. Other dogs may not be as bad as the young Labs I am plagued with. Still your house and dog will be much safer with the dog in a crate when you are away. The dog may be
Happier in its den than loose in the house. It relaxes, it feels safe in its
Den. It rests, the body slows down reducing the need for water and relieving
Its self. Dogs that have been crated all along do very well. Many of them
Will rest in their crates even when the door is open. I think the plastic
Ones give the dog more of a safe, enclosed den feeling. They are harder for
Dogs to open too. Metal ones can be put in a corner or covered with
Something the dog can't pull in and chew. Select a crate just big enough for the full grown dog to stretch out in.

Leave it some toys. Perhaps a Kong filled with peanut butter. Don't leave
Anything in the crate the dog might chew up. It will do fine without even any
Bedding. You will come home to a safe dog and a house you can enjoy.

Accidents and damaged possessions are the fault of whoever was watching the puppy. When you are watching it, immediately correct it as soon as it goes for anything except its own toys. In a quiet, but firm voice ''Bad dog, its name drop!''. Gently remove what ever and replace it with one of her toys, or if older, hold eye contact until the puppy drops it.


A dog that has not been crated since it was little, make take some work.
Start just putting its toys and treats in the crate. Praise it for going
in. If you have been able to trust it with any bedding, put that in the crate.
Feed it in the crate. This is also an easy way to maintain order at feeding
Time for more than one dog.

For the past two nights my 5 month rat terrier would start barking at 2:00 in the morning and wouldn't stop. Last night after a whole hour of ignoring his barking I jumped out of bed and leaned over his crate and started yelling "NO!: repeatedly while banging the crate with my hand to startle him. The good news is that he was quiet for the rest of the night. The crate is already in the bedroom and he has been sleeping throughout the night so my guess would be that he is changeling my leadership as Labman said. I felt terrible about yelling at him but it worked. Should I have handled this differently ? He is scheduled to be neutered next month by the way.

It is hard to fault what works even if it never would be in a book by an expert. Our daughter had it work on our puppies a few time back when she was still at home.

I am not sure dogs naturally follow our sleep 8 and be awake 16 hours. I think they want to follow shorter periods of each. They do their best to adapt to the strange pack they are stuck in while trying to be the best little wolves they can. It may have been less a matter of leadership than just needing to let the rest of the pack know something was happening outside.