7 mo female doxie pooping in crate

Question
I have a 7 mo old doxie.  She really is great, but I'm having trouble with her going poop in her crate while I'm at work.  She is good around the house while I'm there.  Some days I do come home 2 times a day, every 4 to 4 1/2 hours.  Usually she is fine and hasn't gone in her crate.  But on the days when I can only come home once a day, she makes a total mess of her crate.  I've done all I know to do and still she wears me out with the daily mesh.  I have to bathe her and clean her crate.  Sometimes worse then others.  I have her on a feeding schedule, she eats at 5:30am and goes out before I leave for work at 6:45 (I make sure she goes pee and poop) and then she eats again at 7pm and also goes pee and poop before we go to bed around 10:30 or so.  Is this an anxiety issue, boredom issue, or a lonely issue.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  I'm at my wits end.

Answer
Hi Heather,

I understand your frustration in getting your dog house trained. Daschunds are notoriously hard to house train, as are dogs that came from a pet shop, where they had no choice but to soil in their crates.

You didn't say what size crate you're using. A crate need only be big enough for the dog to stand up, turn around and lie down comfortably. If it's too big, it will give your dog room enough to soil in the crate, and also lay in a dry area. I'll assume your dog's crate is the correct size.

You also didn't say if your dog is able to "hold it" over night, and if the dog is crated over night, or not.

The "total mess" you find in your dog's crate, is it loose stools or diarrhea? If it is, you need to have your dog examined by your vet. It could be either a parasite, a food intolerance, or stress.

It's possible that your dog is stressed by being left alone during the day, if these messy accidents aren't happening when you're home. Separation anxiety is a fairly common problem in dogs.

For now, since you've been having such trouble with the crate, and it's all counter productive to getting her trained. Skip the crate while you're away from home during the day. Keep using the crate when you're at home, for short periods of time when you can't be watching your dog, and for the over night if she's been good in her crate for that time. It's very handy to have a crate trained dog, so don't give up on that!

Rather than crating, with the help of a child-gate, or two, find a room without carpeting (kitchens work great) put down "Pooch Pads", any kind of housebreaking pads, or PLENTY of newspapers. At least in the beginning, newspaper the entire area your puppy has access to.

There are also portable wire "exercise pens" made for dogs that are about 6' in diameter you could use instead of using child gates to section off a room.

At first there will be no rhyme or reason to where your dog eliminates. She may go every where and any where. She may also play with the papers, chew on them, and drag them, you just have to live with it. Don't get upset or punish your dog (she won't know why you're upset, unless you catch her in the act!), just accept. The important thing is that when you get home, clean up the mess and lay down fresh papers.

As time goes on, she will start to show a preferred place to do her business. When this place is well established and the rest of the papers remain clean all day, then gradually reduce the area that is papered. Start removing the paper that is furthest away from his chosen location. Eventually you will only need to leave a few sheets down in that area only. If she ever misses the paper, then you've reduced the area too soon. Go back to papering a larger area or even the entire room. Once your puppy is reliably going only on the papers you've left, then you can slowly and gradually move his papers to a location of your choice. Move the papers only an inch a day. If your dog misses the paper again, then you're moving too fast. Go back a few steps and start over. Don't be discouraged if your dog seems to be making remarkable progress and then suddenly you have to return to papering the entire room. This is normal. There will always be minor set-backs. If you stick with this procedure, your dog will be paper trained.

When you are home but can't attend to your dog, follow the same procedures described above, or crate her. The more time you spend with your dog, the quicker she will be house trained. Your objective is to take your dog to her toilet area every time she needs to eliminate. This should be after a play session; about 30 minutes just eating or drinking; and just upon waking. When she does eliminate in her toilet area, praise and reward her profusely and enthusiastically!

By not crating her all day, she won't acquire the bad habit of soiling in her crate. You won't have to feel stressed out because you'll know your puppy is safely contained, and has ample papered areas.  

I hope I've been a help.
Best of luck!
Patti