10 year old cocker spaniel still messes in house

[czaubi]

About six months ago we had to let my sister's cocker spaniel live at our house. Ever since we've had him he goes #1 & 2 in the house...even after going on long walks(which he has eliminated as well on the walk) We are at our wits end & are considering giving him away or buying a highly insulated dog house and let him live outdoors. Does anyone have any suggestions??Is there any hope?

 

[elegy]

has he been to the vet to make sure there's nothing wrong physically? has he *ever* been housebroken?

if it's just that he's never learned, you're really going to have to go back to housebreaking 101 and treat him like he's a puppy. don't give him the opportunity to make mistakes.

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?articleid=157

 

[Brattina88]

ditto elegy

It sounds like he needs some basic re(?)training...

Redyre Rottweilers no longer posts here , but I find this very ammusing, and very good general advice:

House Training
Copyright 2004 R L Pless, all rights reserved.
Free for use by anyone as long as author credit remains intact.


House training your dog is simple if you follow a few basic rules.


1) The puppy must have NO time unsupervised in your home. NONE.
If you are not directly watching the puppy, it should be in the crate, or outside in a safe area. You MUST watch the puppy at ALL times when loose in the house. Use baby gates, crates, or tie the leash to your belt.
2) The puppy should sleep inside the crate by your bedside. This way you can hear if the puppy should happen to need to go out during the night.
3) You must go WITH the puppy outside for ALL trips for elimination. You must have treats with you. When the puppy is urinating, say "GO PEE PEE" in a nice praise tone of voice the entire time. When she is finished, pop the treat into her mouth at once, and praise praise praise. This should be something she gets at no other time, like tiny pieces of string cheese or boiled chicken. Same for defecation. Say "GO POOP" while she is going, and food reward and praise afterwards. You must observe and reward ALL outdoor potty time.
4) Keep a schedule. Feed at the same time, and walk outside at the same times. Your pup needs at least 4 trips outdoors each day, and 5 is probably better. Pup needs to go out at wake up time, lunch time, 4-5 PM, after dinner or any other meals, and before bed.
5) Use a key word each time you go out. I say "Let's go out!!" in a happy tone of voice each time I'm opening the door to go out with the dog.
6) If you catch the puppy IN THE ACT of eliminating in your house, CLAP YOUR HANDS, say AH AH, OUTSIDE!! And immediately rush her outside. If she finishes there, do your usual food reward and praise.


The keys to getting your dog reliably housetrained are:


SUPERVISION: NO loose time in the house if you are not watching


REWARDS: ALL outdoor elimination MUST be observed and rewarded. If you only do this ONE thing, your puppy will get housetrained.


PATIENCE: Anger and punishment have no place in dog training. Elimination is a natural and pleasurable experience for your dog. You can teach her to not soil your house, but punishment will NOT help. It will only teach the dog to hide when she needs to eliminate.

If you have RELIGIOUSLY followed these instruction for 4 weeks and you are still finding spots after the fact in your home, it's time to take stronger action. Take a good sized newspaper, roll it up tightly, and band it on both ends. Keep it handy.

The very NEXT time you find a spot that puppy has left, yank out that paper, and hit YOURSELF over the head several times as you repeat: I FORGOT TO WATCH MY PUPPY.

Works every time.

On a more serious note, I understand your frustration with the house training... but Please consider that Cocker's are not meant to live outdoors. They are a "high matenence" breed, and thrive on human contact and attention. The don't want to be living outside, and that isn't a ver good life - especailly for a cocker. Most of them want you to, at least, be in their sight, or be touching you at all times...

The dog needs to be restricted to one room so you can watch him, so he isn't set up to fail

HTH

edit: what's his name? do you have pics

 

[czaubi]

thank you!

Thank you so much for all of your advice! I will begin the training immediately!

 

[moonchild1970]

Crate training the dog can be a God send too!