Pooping in crate

Question
QUESTION: We have a 3 month old black lab mix, Zoe.  We adopted her from the SPCA on a Saturday and borrowed a small crate. She was fine Sat and Sun night, but pooped Monday when we had to go to work. We have my husbands mother or sister stop by in the afternoon to let her out and she even pooped twice Tuesday during the day. I bought a larger crate with a puppy divider on Monday and made sure it wasn't too big. I clean her area after she goes. We let her out often and she makes very few messes in the house. We've only had her 4 days, but I want to nip this in the bud and would love some suggestions. I don't know if she has seperation anxiety or if it's something else, but I let her out this morning at 2:30am, she peed, but wouldn't poop.  Five minutes later we checked on her because she was crying and she pooped. I stayed outside with her for at least 20 minutes before I left for work at 7:30 this morning and she wouldn't poop, but I know my mother in law is going to find a mess when she stops this afternoon!  Help! Let me know if there's any other info you need.

ANSWER: That is a difficult problem, and nobody has a good solution.  Some books even deny it happens.  I think it is mostly the stress of being left alone plus perhaps in the past being left shut up in a small area and no way to keep its sleeping area clean.  One of the best techniques is to fill a Kong with peanut butter and freeze it.  The dog may be too busy licking the peanut butter out to worry about being shut up alone.  

Having somebody come it to give her a break helps too.  If her stools are soft or loose, take a sample to the vet.  If she has parasites or something, clearing them up will help her go longer without relief.  A sudden change in chow can lead to problems too.  it is best to keep young dogs on what they were eating before.  Any chow whose first ingredient is a meat or meat byproducts should produce small, firm stools.  You might talk to the vet about medication too.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks, I will try the peanut butter. I just realized that when she was at the SPCA, she shared a cage with her brother, could that have anything to do with it? They did have a separate area to relieve themselves other than where their beds and water were, so it was clean.

I've only noticed two loose stools since we've had her.  We were rewarding her with a sample packet of Pedigree puppy food that the SPCA gave us, but I started just using her Nutro Max puppy food for rewards.  The SPCA gave us a 5 lb bag of the Nutro Max food, so I assume that's what she's been eating.

She's going to my vet tomorrow, so I'll talk to him about it.  Oh, and she is already spayed (thank goodness, I always felt so bad taking my past dogs for that!)

Oh, one more question.  What's your take on taking a puppy to PetSmart or for walks?  I've read you aren't supposed to take puppies to public places because of being susceptible to diseases.

Answer
Talk to the vet about Petsmart.  If he gives her a combo shot, she will still need to avoid possibly diseased dogs another 2 weeks.  The AVMA has a good explanation at http://www.avma.org/communications/brochures/canine_parvo/parvo_brochure.asp

The Nutro only may be a good idea.