Potty training

Question
I have a 5 year old Cockapoo and he continuously pees in the house on a daily basis.His peeing spot is specifically in the Kitchen. And when he does get caught he will stop peeing in the Kitchen for a couple of days and pee on a corner in the hallway! He IS potty trained. He asked to go out and will be let out immediately. We watch him do his duty and When He is let in with in within an hour he is peeing in the house. But he will make sure no one is watching and when he is done he will immediately go into his cage and this is when we know he has peed. Sometimes its a full pee and other times he will be in 3 spots in the kitchen with just a drop or two! I can not handle it anymore.If I can not get any help with this I am going to have to give him away.  

Answer
First: threatening to "give away" your dog sets the dog up for failure and communicates to the dog that he is not in a "safe" place, which is possibly the reason he's marking to begin with.  Dogs communicate with body language and they observe us 24/7 for cues/feedback.  When a person dislikes a dog enough to threaten to give him away, the dog has received this communication loud and clear.  TO WHOM are you giving this dog?  People aren't lining up down the block to take an anxious dog who is marking his home.

Your dog is not house trained effectively.  Watching him "do his duty" from inside the house does not communicate to him that this is the behavior you WANT.  Dogs "ask" to go out for various reasons but much of the time it's to peruse the backyard, look for squirrels, scent interesting objects that may have passed in the night.  Unless the dog is TAKEN OUT routinely (at least FIVE times a day) and rewarded (praise and tiny treat) over the course of weeks, he will not understand that going outdoors is for THAT purpose.  When a dog begins to mark in the house (a drop or two here and there) that dog is either not neutered and responding to bitch in estrus somewhere within a few miles, has a bladder infection or urinary incontinence problem that needs veterinary attention, and/or is highly stressed.  The dog does NOT KNOW his urination in the house is "bad" but what he DOES know is that you don't like it, so whenever urine is present he goes into his cage (which hopefully has not been used to contain him out of anger).  If you can count to ten between Act A and Act B (urination and hiding) the connection has been lost to the dog, he just knows there's urine there and you will be ANGRY.  This anger is misdirected; the dog is not born knowing what the "rules" are in human households; the dog needs calm, patient and fair leadership and if there's no love lost between you that dog is miserable.

First stop: veterinarian.  Dog needs urine analysis and overall health evaluation to rule out disease or illness.  Second stop: your local kill shelter so you can see what happens to dogs that are dumped by owners: they die by the thousands in the US alone.  You then need to begin re-training this dog.  Take him out regularly and reward/praise every single urination.  If he's not neutered, do it; although testosterone related behavior may still linger (and marking can be the result of this), it should diminish.  When you are unable to observe him, confine him to the kitchen but don't socially isolate this dog or he will continue to mark out of emotional stress.  While you are at home, purchase belly bands: these are articles that prevent dogs from urinating, they are humane and fairly inexpensive.  You can check them out here:
http://www.gwlittle.com/cat/Product-Types_357.aspx

If he has a "favorite" spot to secretly urinate, put his food dish there twice daily (during his mealtimes); if he has been "sneaking" around there's a REASON and it might be physical.  A dog that has developed this habit (how long has he been doing it? if it's for quite a while it won't fix itself in a week) needs to be monitored when he's free in the house: closed bedroom doors, blocked stairs, so he can't "sneak" away.  If you observe him leg lifting indoors, clap your hands, whistle, hoot, do NOT yell "NO", remain calm, take him outdoors immediately and when he urinates outside reward/praise and bring him back in.  Don't use the belly bands until the veterinarian has guaranteed no physical reason for this problem.  "Designer" dogs (such as the cockapoo) are bred by people who want to make MONEY and often these people care little or nothing about whelping areas and health of the dam (mother).  Puppies from neglectful or abusive breeding practices are notoriously difficult to house train.  Your dog has a reason for what he's doing.  You need to address that reason.  If you don't care for the dog, look for Cockapoo rescue in your area.  Most of these "designer" breeds have well developed rescue programs and a dog with this problem is easily placed into a loving home.  House training issues are the easiest behavior problem to extinguish and every living creature deserves to be cared about and cared for.