Couple of questions:

1. minstrel has just lately started fouling in the kitchen during the night. doesnt do anything on her walks anymore, she thinks the kitchens her toilet.. have had to bleach the floor every morning for the last week!!!

2. after her walk when I go to put the lead back on she will go mad, it will take me 10 mins to get hold of her!!

dont want to put her out in a kennel, although this has been advised as her parents and herself were brought up in a kennel...

she had been house trained but seems to be reverting back to old ways...

OK - to answer your couple of questions I'm afraid I've got to ask a couple more - what breed is Minstrel (but I think I might guess at Chocolat Lab? ;-)) and how old is she? Are you in the UK? (In which case fireworks may well have been an issue recently which has triggered the pooing :( ) Bleach isn't always the best thing to clean up after a canine accident - far better to use a hot solution of biological washing powder followed by a wipe down with surgical or white spirit..

On the recall issue, just as dogs pick up signs from us that we want them to (like hand signals for 'sit') they also pick up on signals we don't want them to - like when we call them that one last time on a walk - only this time we have the lead in our hand, or we always call them in the same place - the dog learns that this is where the fun ends, and they can turn it around if they are smart to getting a bit more fun by getting Mum to chase........

digger, your right she is a choc lab..

she is 4 1/2 months old and weighs in at 17.5 kilos...

she wasnt fased by the fireworks at all really, and regarding the lead, yes it is the same area really when I call her for the lead, thought about that one but do not really know how to overcome it, not sure i want to use treats?

It's hard to tell sometimes if our dogs are phased by things or not - this may be her way of telling you she is......... Even so, simply return to your original program of housetraining (which I hope was taking her out at reguarly intervals, on waking, after eating, playing or any other activity which is exciting (like visitors) and praise rigourously for the required 'performance'. Don't scold her for it, as this can lead to various hang ups like Crophagia (eating poo - we think it's yucky, to a dog it's perfectly normal........)

On the recall front, call her back plenty of times during the walk - put the lead back on for a short period, then release her again. A good hint is never let the dog see the hand that gets him - hold out a hand with a small treat while it's the other hand that takes hold of the collar (and make sure the dog doesn't get the treat BEFORE you get hold of the collar.......) repetitions of this will soon mean that recall becomes something that only occasionally leads to the end of play time, most of the time it's actually good fun!

What time is her last feed and do you go out with her for her last pee and poo to see if she does make the effort to go !

It might be worth feeding her earlier and then taking her for a walk last thing at night.

My lot are as regular as clockwork and normally poo staraght after their scoff ! We feed at 7.00am and then 6.00pm.

It sounds although she thinks it is a game putting the lead on to go home ! I will use the commands , Stay and then sit. Once they are sitting calmly then the lead is slipped over their heads and then the praise ! Seems to work for my crew :)

HTH

Lucy

I think alot of dogs forget there training at this age . just keep on putting her in the back garden when you think shes going to go or short walk :( back to basics im afraid and i dont think its too late my neigbour re trained her dog at 18months old . so keep going and it will be fine:) alot of work sadly thou