Dog going to bathroom inside

Question
Hi,

I have a 10 year old Cocker Spaniel.  He is housebroken, however, recently he's started to go to the bathroom in the kitchen (usually both #1 and #2).  I think that this is him acting out and not a medical issue.  This morning I let him out twice (and he did 1/2), then when my wife was in the basement w/ our daughter, he did his business in the kitchen.  

Of note, we have a 15 month old daughter.  However, he's only recently (w/in the last month) started doing this.  I've made a point of giving him more attention (not after doing this!) in case he feels neglected, but it doesn't seem to be working.  Any ideas?

Answer
Cocker Spaniels tend to be very anal retentive dogs. They like things to be exactly how they expect them to be and not change. They like schedules, they like people to act in ways that they expect and they like dogs to speak proper doggie grammar, which is kind of hypocritical considering the shape of their ears and tails. They are, by the way, on the list of dogs most likely to bite a small child. Many people are surprised at this. It's not because they're vicious, it's because they are very particular and become upset and frightened when things aren't done exactly as they expect them. Let's face it, little kids at weird. they hug dogs and stick their faces in theirs. Cockers generally hate being hugged. Of course, I am generalizing. Really every dog is different. Don't think I'm down on Cockers. I had one as a child and I have a Cocker mix now. My grandmother was a Cocker fanatic. They're just not easy dogs from a psychological standpoint. They can be crotchety.

Changes to the household occur several times during the life of a child. Of course when the baby first comes home, again when the baby starts crawling, again when the baby starts walking and then when he starts going to school the schedule gets all weird and then they start bringing all these other kids into the house. Any one of these can cause a dog to go wacky. And of course it doesn't have to be the baby either. It could be new tile, new furniture. My dog freaks out every time we change the storms for screens and vice versa. You'd think he'd get used to it but he's just that big a nut (it's better if we make him watch us change them.)

Okay enough of that. We can speculate why your dog's being a butthead all day but what you really want to know is how to make him cut it out.

Your dog needs confinement. If he can't be watched he needs to be restricted to his own space, whether that's in a crate or in the kitchen or wherever. If he messes his confined space, he needs smaller confinement till he doesn't mess anymore. You can use a tether. I personally like a crate. With an older dog and a young child in the house, it's a good idea for the dog to have his own space where the child is not permitted to bug him (and for the child to have her own space where the dog is not permitted). I like to use a crate to make the dog's own space. Of course if he's never been crated, at his age, you may want to choose another option. If you do want to try crate training read this article first
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-7644-Detroit-Pet-Training-Examiner~y2009m7d29...
You can also use a tether.

Also go back to some original housebreaking tricks. Like treating him when he goes potty outside and watching him carefully when he's around the house so you can catch him trying to go in the kitchen and scoot him out the door quick. I know it's hard with a baby, but watch and confine is what you'll need to do.