Dog Crate Training

Question
I have two boxers. A one year old girl, and a 5 month year old baby boy. They both are in there own seperate cages during the day, and in seperate rooms. My girl boxer from day one was in her cage and never peed or pooped in her cage. The 5 month year old boy goes both pee and poop in his cage every other day. They are only in there cage for a approx 3 hours, then I take them out for a hour, then go back to work and they are in there for two hours, then my boyfriend comes home and they are out for the rest of the day. He goes both pee and poop several times before I go to work and before I leave them in the cage. He still seems to poop large amounts in his cage within those few hours, and used to eat it. But stopped eating it, now he steps in it and smushes it all over the cage. He has to get a bath every time this happens. He goes on plenty on walks to move his bowels. At night they both have there own beds they sleep in next to one another at the end of our bed on the floor. He doesn't wake up at all at night to go to the bathroom. I wake him up at 2:00am each night and take him out, then he will go, otherwise he wouldn't wake up to have to go at night. How can he hold it all night, but when we leave he seems to go more and more. I clean his cage so there isn't any odors left behind for him. I've tried all the tricks I can think of and nothing is seeming to work. He eats two hours before I leave each morning. And goes poop and still goes before I come home for lunch in his cage. Then I don't give him any treats or anything when I leave, and he still goes again after I leave and before my boyfriend comes home. I'm lost in words, and can't seem to find a solution. Thanks.

Answer
At five months he's still learning about potty training, but this may be the beginning of mild separation anxiety, also.  It may just be something he needs to outgrow - it's difficult to deal with in the interim, though!  The first thing I'd do is crate the two dogs in the same room - that way he won't be totally alone, which may help if SA is the problem.  You might also consider upgrading his diet - less fillers mean smaller, firmer stools; that way if he does go in his crate, it won't smush all over.

Here are some articles about separation anxiety that might be helpful:

http://www.goboxerrescue.com/articles/training/separationanxiety.htm
http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2002/sa.htm
http://www.clickertraining.com/node/1556

Also, "I'll Be Home Soon" is a good booklet on the topic by Patricia McConnell.

Good luck!