4 year old dog going to the bathroom in the house

Question
We have a 4 year old female boxer.  Up until recently she has been very well
trained.  She is normally a very well behaved dog, and she is super cute
(check out her picture)  I am a teacher and this summer was home everyday,
since I have gone back to work, she has been going to the bathroom in the
house during the day.  She used to have the run of the house, but since then
we have confined her to the kitchen.  She continues to go, and not only go but
she eats the feces and then throws it up, you can only imagine how awful that
is to come home to.  She spends a lot of time at "grandmas" house with 4
other dogs.  She goes in her cage over there with no problem, because she
has always been in a cage when left alone there, she also never has an
accident there.  but when we have tried to cage her she tears at the cage with
her teeth and we then come home to a bloody mess and dog!  We have tried
not feeding her as much in the morning, and we always make sure she goes
before we leave and no matter how long we are gone for, be it 1 hour or 6,
she goes.  She knows she is bad because she will then go and hide in the
back corner of the yard or in the bath tub!  When we are home with her she
never goes in the house, only when we leave.  Help??? what can we do???

Answer
This is a tough one.  better leadership may help.  The key to most behavior problems is approaching things using the dog's natural instincts. Dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog. Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones. You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with a treat. Start at http://www.dogsbestfriend.com/ For more on being top dog, see http://www.dogbreedinfo.com./topdogrules.htm

You may be able control the feces eating with food additives. The best solution to stool eating, coprophagy, is cleaning them up before the dog has a chance. That won't work in this case.  You can try food additives, the home remedies pineapple juice or canned pumpkin or the commercial products Forbid or Deter.

Why dogs do it is poorly understood. It may be diet related, but changing the dog's diet might cause worse problems. Whatever problems it causes for the owner, it doesn't seem to hurt the dog unless you are trying to clear up a worm infestation.