Pooping in crate all of a sudden

[ladyviola]

Hi! So Daisy is about 9 months old now and was house trained pretty early on at about 4 months old. She rings a bell when she has to go out and rarely has accidents indoors. She has now started pooping in her crate and I do not know how to fix this. Before, when she was in her crate and needed to go, she would simply scratch at the crate or bark/yelp to let me know she needs to get out. Or if I was not at home, she would simply hold it. I know she was holding it, because as soon as I would let her out, she would run to the door and ring the bell to get out to poop. She no longer holds it or let me know she needs to get out and will simply go in her crate.

She won't pee in there, only poop. She only has room enough to lay down & turn around. She poops in her crate and literally lays in it because she has no room in there to "escape". I work from home and so she is pretty much only in the crate at night and on occasion when I have to run errands or go to church. If I do have to put her in the crate during the day, it's always for less than 3 hours, but it seems there is a mess every time she is in her crate. I always let her outside to go potty right before bed and anytime I have to leave the house for a couple hours. I have tried feeding her in her crate and changing up her eating schedule; she still poops outside as well as in the crate. I do not understand why 1) she just won't hold it and 2) why she will not let me know she has to go (like she was doing before). The strangest part is that she really does like her crate. She goes in it voluntarily and will sleep for hours in it. Please help, I am at my wit's end with this!

[lovespandp]

Hmm- That is odd- has anything changed in your household? Anything different? What if you put a pad on one side of the crate? Will she poo on the pad if a pad was in there? Does she seem ok health wise? Is she eating more? Usually a dog will not go to the bathroom where they “sleep” so it is odd to me all of a sudden she is doing this, that might be a red flag..

[kimp5]

Well Im no expert beleive me, but my girl does that occasionally too. Its almost for her like a little tantrum.."your going to put me in here when I dont want to? well here you go" I came home yesterday after being gone 1.5 hours and she had basically thrown the poop around the cage...today it was on her bed in a nice smooshed pile...now she will go for four-5 days and be an angel.its a pattern,.then day 6 "to heck with it" is her motto..

[Tridntrue]

Our Eevee does what we call a "mad pee" when she's mad to have to be in her day pen.

[ladyviola]

LOL! Well I did a little test and let her sleep in my bed for two nights and guess what? No accidents or even a look to suggest she needed to go poo. She held it until the morning. Maybe she is "acting out" to let me know she doesn't want to be in there. IDK, lol.

[kimp5]

yes, I think these little guys and gals are much smarter than we give them credit for...http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/images/icons/icon6.gif