Adopted Dog and Housetraining

Question
Hi,

A little over a month ago, I adopted a 2 year old cocker spaniel named Misty. At the center where I adopted her, they informed me that she was in fact both housetrained and crate trained. So far I have noticed no problems with her crate training. She goes in when she's supposed to with few problems (she did whine some at first when I left, but I've been using Kong toys and stuffing to pacify her from that). However, the problem I have found has been with her housetraining. She is fairly reliable, but not quite to the extent to where I can leave her alone in the house. I leave for classes at 8am, so I let her out around 7 every morning. I then let her out again when I'm home around 11:30, which is also when I feed her, then let her out again about an hour after she's finished eating, after which time we usually play or go for a walk until I have to go back to class at 4. When I return home at 6, I feed her again, and then let her out around 7, then let her play before putting her into her crate at night. Her schedule is pretty consistent. However, recently I have been finding little accidents in her crate that she has made while I've been gone, and sometimes she goes inside (almost always on a rug) after just having went outside. I take her out on a leash, so I know that she's using the bathroom while we are outside. I was hoping perhaps you had some advice on how I could go about maybe re-training this dog and helping to build some consistency in her training, so that she wouldn't have to spend so much time in her crate while I'm gone.

Answer
Hannah,

Just a little over a month is not much time to have her adjust to her new surroundings. She is still adjusting to you and her surroundings, and I would highly suggest keeping her in the crate until you know you can fully trust her when you are gone. Your letting her out sounds that it works with your school and it looks like she is not left very long at any giving time so I would keep that up. To correct potty in the house you must first be able to catch her while she is doing it if she has already done it you can not correct her. If you are able to catch her in the act a loud NO! then preceded to take her out if she does outside then reward her for doing so. Make sure you have washed the carpet with a product that neutralizes dog urine, if not she will be able to still smell it and return to the same spot. Adding these few little tips to what you are already doing should help.
  
If you need any more help please ask, congratulations on adopting your new companion.


Lorie