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Hello all. I have a six month coker spaniel that isn't quite getting that pee and poo belong outside. She was never introduced to Potty trining till I got her at 5 months old. The vet told me it could take longer since she is older.
She is at home all day with people and gets ton's of walks throughout the day. She does pee and poo pretty much on command when I have her outside. But when inside I always have to keep a watchfull eye on her. When she does do her business outside I am always praising her accomplishments. She also will not leave the back door to go to the washroom unless she is accompanied with someone even first thing in the morning when I know she has to go. Any tips would be appreciated.

It sounds ot me like you are doing lots of things right with the praising and going on command. It seemed to take my minpins forever to realize that their business belonged outside and outside only too. It all sounds very familiar. Do you have Brad's E-book? One thing that helped me get the idea through my dogs heads was the reprimanding when they didn't go outside....whether it was a minute, an hour, a day or a week later. As soon as I started his technique for this, things improved! And even now if I find something, like my shoe, in an odd place I can just say "Who Did It?" and both dogs go into a submissive posture and look at the object and then go off when given the release command and lie on their beds with their heads down.

Just a note...beware of "talking" to them at close range after eating tuna...they are more concerned with your breath....

Hope this helps some.

I will keep that in mind. But I am conflicted from other books that I have read that says you have to catch them in the act or else they don't know what you are yelling at them for.

As long as you take the puppy over and remind them of the mistake, they know what they are being talked to about and why they shouldn't do it in the house. Have you read Brad's section of his book on potty training? I would get his book and read it! It definitely worked for Lindy. I would also recommend having her on umbilical as much as possible when you are home and then crate training her until she is responsible enough know better than to go in the house when you aren't home. That also helped her figure everything out. Now when I let her off umbilical she stays close to me except when she needs to go out and she goes down to the door and whines.


Good Luck! Just be patient. It will come!

It's kind of funny when you hear someone say you can't reprimand your dog after the fact. I thought so too when I did my reading when we first got our dog, and have since learned otherwise after starting Brad's training methods. Dogs are so smart, and when you think about it, why on earth wouldn't they remember? They remember commands, they get excited when we take a certain route in the car because they know they're going to the park. They remember people, they remember places, so why shouldn't they remember that they misbehaved and pooped on the floor 10 min ago? Or a day ago? Or a week ago? I'm not sure how the whole "they won't know what you're punishing them for" started, but I guess some people just don't like having to reprimand their dogs, that's their perogative. But, sometimes it's necessary. All you have to do, is bring them over, make them look at it and say, What is this? You know you're not supposed to do this, Bad...or whatever you feel comfortable saying in a stern tone, and then put them in a time out while you clean it up. They get the picture, believe me.

Well thanks for all the advice and I will be sure to try out your recommendations. I will keep you posted how things go.
I plan on getting his book for sure.
Thanks,
Lisa

Well it has been three weeks since I posted this message and my Daisy still is not catching to the whole house training issue.
She does not go to the door to let me know. When I put her out to go she stands at the back door and does not move. Someone has to go out with her to go. Even in the mornings when I know she must have to pee and poo. When she had an accident I take her to the spot and talk to her about it and tell her it is bad and it belongs outside. When she goes poo in the house she usually goes in the basement to do it. I know she knows it is bad because when I see it and try to bring her to her accident she never wants to go. She is 7 months old now and I am worried she will never get it. I wish I could let her run free throughout the house without seeing any pee or poo in my house. If I know she needs to go but did not go outside I put her leash on her and walk around the house with her attached to me so she can't have any accidents without me seeing.
If anyone has any encouraging words I would appreciate it.

Has she been kennel/crate trained at all? Often it can be an invaluable tool, dogs naturally dont poop where they sleep and this re-enforces that behaviour and transfers it to 'the house is where you sleep, outside is where you poop'.
Also are you doing "the Brad" ie. umbilical, being alpha, dogs being dogs (not on couches or beds) and getting enough mental and physical stimulation? Even leaving out one thing can be critical in training a puppy. When in doubt review if you are doing everything100%, many people on the forums find that when they weren't giving 100%, they weren't getting the results they wanted.
Meaghan/DragonRider

Yes, she is crate trained. She sleeps there at night. She get's plenty of exercise. She is usually ready for bed at 7:00p.m. I have three children and she is never left at home by herself and is constantly outside now that the warm weather is here. Yes I follow Brad's techniques. I don't allow her on the furniture and she never sleeps in my bed. She is really a good dog other than that. She just want's to be by your side constantly. I do use Brad's umbilical technique when I cannot keep my eye on her. I just acna't wait for her to go to the door and notify me she needs out. I didn't think it would be so hard for her to get it.

I had that problem too for abit. When I questionned my breeder about it (pre Brad) She told me that my dog shouldn't have access to any part of the house unless she's on umbilical. (just reafirming what you've been doing) I did that for maybe a week and it seemed to work. She would become antsy and I would put her out.

Good luck!