We have a two year old standard Manchester Terrier named Maddy that we got from a breeder last month. She is a retired show dog and she spent her time living in the breeder's house as well as kennel. The breeder warned us that Manchesters do not like the cold and when put out to go to the bathroom you have to watch them or they will run out, turn around and jump at the door to come back in without doing anything.
For the first couple of weeks I watched her like a hawk and taught her the command 'do your business'. After a couple of weeks I let her out of the crate more and she gained more freedom until she snuck off to pee in the basement. Back to heavy-duty crating. It has now been five weeks since she came to us and things were going well. Maddy was getting a lot of freedom, as I am a stay-at-home mom so she follows me around the house quite a bit.
Then, this evening, it is cold, wet and rainy outside. I took the dogs out for a 40 minute off leash walk down by the lake. We return home and I dried Maddy off and let her run around as I got the kids ready for bed. I came downstairs twenty minutes later and slipped in a large puddle of pee in the hallway. Argh! Even though she was out running off-leash for 40 minutes she held her pee the entire time! The breeder had mentioned that she has five year old dogs that pull that stunt. Was I kidding myself to think I can change this? I would like to think it is a learned behaviour as opposed to a breed characteristic. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

My suggestion would be to go back to the basics with crate training.

If you think she should go potty outside (like it's been several hours) then follow these steps... If she doesn't go after 10 minutes, put her in the crate, then after 10-15 minutes, take her straight out the potty spot and ask her to go. Continue this routine until she goes outside and then praise like crazy and play with her inside the house. Repeat the process. Eventually she'll figure out that if she doesn't go potty, she doesn't get to come out of the crate and play. You should also tie her leash to your belt buckle or waist so that she is always being watched. I have a little Rat Terrier and that's what worked for us.

Of course, my Great-Grandmother had a little dog when I was very young and she just trained the dog to go in a litter box. The dog was happy becuae it never had to go outside int he cold, and shew as happy becuase she didn't have to clean up messes. So...I guess you have a few options. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />