2yr Maltese Pooping in Crate

Question
My 2yr old female Maltese has recently started pooping in crate when we are away at work. She has a consistent schedule. The week before last she did it three days in a row and we took her out and cleaned her. The fourth day I left her in crate and sat her outside on the patio before cleaning her for an hour to let her know that was not good. Then she stopped for the entire week until today she has done it again. How do know if it is out of some sort of spite or if there something else wrong?

Answer
Dogs don't really do things out of spite, although it is easy for us with our imaginations to twist things around and think they do.

You need to make sure that the dog has totally eliminated in the morning before everyone leaves. The best thing would be for someone (a neighbor?) to let her out at midday as some dogs just need to eliminate more than others. This could be due to what she is being fed, or it simply could be her own metabolism.

If this isn't possible, I would suggest that if she is fed in the morning that you try feeding her later in the day immediately after getting home. Another thing you could do would be to put her in a slightly larger area, say an exercise pen, and put papers or potty pads down for her to use. If some things cannot be "fixed", it is better to figure out how to live with them with the least amount of trauma for everyone.