Odd change in behavior (deficating)

Question
I've enjoyed reading all the good information so far on this site I stumbled up on, so I will ask my own question.

I've had a husky, Aspen, since she was 5 mos old. She is now 6 years old and has been a great dog. I got married a year ago, and we bought our first house, with a fenced in yard she enjoys. She gets along great with my husband and his 6yo daughter. Aspen has even been given free reign of the house while we are gone for about a year now.

However, we went away to Florida for a week and had a trusted, Aspen friendly, friend house sit for us. That was 2 weeks ago...and Aspen since has started pooping and sometimes peeing in a consistent spot in the dining room.
This is frustrating, because she is such a good Sibe...and has been trusted. Why would she start doing this at this age? Should we go back to crating her while we are not home?

Thanks for your input on this strange turn in behavior!
Kristi

Answer
That is a slightly strange behavior and one that I'm unsure of the cause.  I would suggest the following:

1) Make sure to clean the area with an enzymatic based cleaner (e.g., Nature's Miracle) and thoroughly clean it.  This should help eliminate any smell that seems to be telling the dog this is an acceptable place for elimination.  Make sure the dog is out of the room and does not see this cleaning.

2) Crate her, or at least isolate her to a room when you are not around.  Ideally, you would like to catch her in the act and reinforce the house training.  Use basic house training technique again, catch her, verbally correct, move her outside immediately and verbally praise for the using the correct spot.

Unfortunately, I don't know the cause of this, but sometimes prolonged seperation can cause old habits to be broken or problems to arise.  It might be her "acting" out or just being stressed.  Hopefully, this process will help correct it and she should go back to being her normal self.  If you see other behavorial issues or changes however, it could be a sign of other problems, so be alert just in case.