Hi there. I'm hoping for some advice and possible reassurance!! We have a beautiful male cocker spaniel who is 6 months old. We got him when he was 14 weeks. We have been trying to toilet training but there seems to be very little progress. We don't have problems with him pooing as he does that on his morning and evening walks. Its weeing that we're having the problem with. He now goes on paper and I take him out regularly and give him lots of praise and a treat for going outside. We are trying to be consistent in letting him out in the morning and at night before we go to bed but he just doesn't seem to be getting the idea that he needs to go out every time. Either that or he waits til we've gone to bed to do his business. I'm grateful it is on newspaper rather than all over the floor!! Both my boyfriend and I work although we go home at lunch times. We tried cage training but he howled from the moment he went in until the moment he came out! Can anyone offer any suggestions? How long does it usually take? We're so lucky as generally he is a good boy but this is driving us both a bit crazy!!

To be honest I think that by letting him have newspaper you are giving him mixed messages, your teaching him to "go" outside but then praising him for "going" inside, personally I would stop the paper training and go back to basics taking him outside every hour or so, and praise him when he does what he should out there, just ignore any mistakes inside the house and clean it up thoroughly while he is not watching, if you are consistant enough he will soon realise what you want from him.

What do you do when he wets in the house?

Crate training needs to be gradual for a puppy, you mustn't just shut him in and expect him to be ok with it - he needs to learn that the crate is a great place to be before you even contemplate shutting him in it.

6 months is quite old for a puppy to still be wetting inside but it really does depend on your reaction and how you went about the crate training.

There's no need to be putting paper down if you are taking him out enough and you must be taking him out enough for him to learn... what is regularly?

Sorry for the questions but it's difficult to give much advice without asking them!

We take him out first thing in the morning, at lunch time and in the evening. As we both work this is as often as we can manage during the day. Looks like we may have made progress last night as it was the first night I managed to get him to go outside before we went to bed and he didn't wet all night. He managed to wait until I let him out in the morning!! Now if only we can get that every day!!

We tried all sorts of things with the crate training. We left the door open so he could wander in and out and get used to it we left treats inside for him, he had toys in there. He just hated it though. I know a lot of people have said that dogs don't usually mess where they sleep but Barney managed it in spades!! Its not been a problem to have him wandering about as he has the dining room and kitchen to himself while we are out. Its just the toileting issues we have had. Hopefully if last night is anything to go by we might be getting somewhere, not that I want to jinx it.

Will it just be the next stage to take the paper away so he isn't getting mixed messages?

Thanks for the advice so far