crate training a Scottish terrier

Question
Our Scottish terrier puppy was about 11 weeks old when we first brought her home, she's now 6 months.  Since day one we have had a difficult time crate training her.  At first it was that she pooped in it in the wee hours of the morning- we remedied that by taking her on a pre-bedtime walk to allow her a chance to go.  As far as house-training when we are home goes, she seems just fine, she even "speaks" at the back door when she needs to go out.  During the day she is crated usually from about 7:30am to 12:00, then from 1:00 to 5:00, my boyfriend comes home to let her out and play at lunchtime every day.  On good weeks she poops during this window of time, but lately she's gotten into the habit of pooping in her crate before then.  Sometimes she even goes again at some point in the afternoon before we've gotten home.  Her crate stays next to our bed and she hasn't had an accident at night in over 3 months.  She's never been able to go more than 2-3 hrs without urinating during the day, I've always figured it was simply a result of her smaller size.  The problem that really has me frustrated though is the pooping in her crate during the day- Please help!

Answer
Katha -

How big is her crate ?  Sometimes the spacious crates kind of encourage the dog to go in it since they can go in the front or back and still have space to lay down.

The only other thing that comes to mind offhand are the tips I usually give to walk her about 15 minutes after each meal and before you leave in the morning.

She is certainly old enough now to be holding it.

Are you feeding a good quality food ?  Some of the lesser quality foods have a ton of useless bulk, which makes the poops bigger, and hence she would have to go more....

Let me know your thoughts.

-Beth