Expert: Delores Beck - 5/4/2011

Question
I have a 6 month old English cocker spaniel. He was 4 months old when we got him. He is crate trained.
I have a bell.at our kitchen entry -we have stall doors  to gate him in. We do this with us when we are home working in the  kitchen and for an hour in the morning before week and again in the evening  after he has had "freedom" with us for an hour yet it is to early to  crate him for the night.  His crate is also in the kitchen.  8  weeks in to ownership,  he hits the bell 1/2 the time to go do "business" and the other half to get out of the gated kitchen!!  A work in progress on that...  
HE never mess his crate at night or any other time at this stage ( we work and crate him for 4-5 hours when we are not home.)
He has started submissive peeing...when I call him to me...if  he  doesn't respond right away I  repeat the command, he  will often assume a cowering posture and pee.whether inside or out. And when he is being put on his leash to go out he will often pee...especially with my husband. Or when  my husband comes home after me, he will be very excited to see him and pee as he approaches him!

He did this the first couple of weeks we had him-it stopped completely and now for over a week it is back with a vengeance.out of nowwhere- no change in his return--plenty of positive reinforcement for good behavior.  I have never had a puppy who did this.  We don't scold him for this, just scoop him up and bring him outside to his spot.  He is approached quietly and only corrected when we catch him "peeing" . Very frustrated...

Answer
The first thing to do is rule out a Urinary tract infection.  So common and often the reason for lapses in housebreaking.  Just get a clean, small container and catch a first-morning urine sample and take it in to your vet.  Unless you're going immediately, refrigerate it.  Request a urinalysis AND a culture.

If it turns out this is behavioral - you're doing all the right things.  Never yell or punish.
Ignore, clean up and just move on :).

When you call him, use a "happy voice" and instantly start to walk away.  I'd like to know what happens.

This is not at all unusual and will normally stop by itself.

But how long are his daily walks?  At this age excess energy and boredom can cause a lot of behavioral issues.  Does he never get out of the kitchen?