First.... excuse me while I go ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

OK. The problem!

At the front of the house we have a porch, with hessian type carpet. When you go out the door, you go out of the internal door and then out of the external door - it's about 3 steps through the porch.

Recently, when we take Hogan out for a pee, when we stop to go out of the external door, he squats and pees right next to me!!!

Every time he has done it, I have treated it like peeing in the house, "AH AH" then shooing him outside. Sometimes I wonder if he just doesn't want to go outside (cold, wet or dark?) and other times I think there may be some residual smell that I haven't managed to get rid of, and he thinks of it as I pee place cus that's how it smells?

Anyway, yesterday, I really nearly got very mad, in fact I had to put him in his crate and go out to calm!

I had just taken him for a walk, and just got back, it had just begun to rain. I left the porch door open (outside door), but the inner door closed, and went out into the garden to pick up poop. I turned round, and there he was - standing right in the middle of the porch, peeing!!!!!!!! Man, it makes me mad just thinking about it! He had the whole garden - and goes into the porch and pees!

I shouted, and ran towards him, and he stopped, and ran out into the garden. I'm sure he knew he was doing wrong.

I cleaned up the porch, and sprayed it all over with odour neutraliser, to try and get rid of any smell at all. I've already resigned myself to the fact that we will have to replace the flooring (not a big problem it's cheap stuff) but I want to stop this habit he has got into!

Also now, if we walks into the porch, if you try to get hold of him, he ducks away and panics, like he's done something wrong, so I think he's associating the porch with shouting, and being shooed out. He has never been physically struck for peeing in there.

Also, yesterday, he poo'd in the house! He didn't even ask at the door - just slunk off to the kitchen and by the time I followed him there (literally a few seconds) he had already gone! Arghhhhhhh! Where has my perfectly potty trained puppy gone?

Any ideas would be great - thanks.

So, Hogan is still a baby and babies make mistakes. They all go through periods where we think they are brilliant and then a little slide and we think they have forgotten everything. Take a deep breath and repeat, "Hogan is still a puppy, and puppies will have accidents." IMHO I do not think he is associating the porch with the house. Seems like he is associating it with being outside. He is also becoming afraid of the porch because of the accidents. So, I would first start back with more of a routine for potty breaks. When you take him outside put him on a leash and walk to the last door and make him sit (yes you get some dog training in too) while you open that back door. He will find it very hard to pee while sitting. If he does happen to pee, tell him no and take him out. Don't make a big deal of it as that will probably only make him more nervous. In order to make him like the porch more, do some training and games out there with him. He needs to learn that is part of the living space and a nice place to be. If you can take him out there and sit with him (read a book or something) and let him play with bone or fav toy. If he should stop to pee, tell him no and put him outside.

Remember his is a baby and growing in spurts and that means his bladder too. He is still learning to control it and it still is small so be patient. He will get it and be a good boy. My boy, Ringo, was the hardest dog to potty train. I thought he was getting it and then a backslide. We had multiple backslides. I kept thinking I was doing something wrong because all my other dogs have always learned it fast and easy. Not my boy. I think he would just wait so long and then just could not control it well. Finally it was like a lightbulb went off one day when he was approaching 6 months and he has not had an accident since.