Feeding, House Training, Coughing

Question
My dog, a 6 month old American Eskimo Female named Dakota, eats in large mouthfuls and hardly chews. I try crushing the food to smaller bits but she still hardly ever chews. Could this effect the health of a puppy, because Dakota has begun to cough sometimes during the morning, and after she eats and drinks.
Also, she refuses to use the bathroom outside. She can poop just fine when no one watches, but everytime we bring her inside after waiting, she begins to pee on the carpet. Is there any suggestion on how to coax her into using the bathroom outside?

Answer
I have a known fix for the eating.  It is very common in Labs.  One of the studs for the dog guide school was named Hoover, and he passed on the eating habits that earned his name for several generations.  You can spread the food out on a cookie sheet or something.  Some of my friends just dump it on the floor of the crate.  Or you can put large rocks, too big to swallow, in the food bowl.  Either way, the dog can't get a big mouthful gulp down.  I wouldn't think the rapid eating would cause coughing, but I guess the big mouthfuls of hard, dry chow could scrape the throat on the way down leaving it irritated.  

The housebreaking is a little harder.  Are you enthusiastically praising her for pooping outside? Wait until you have a large block of time. Then take her out and keep her moving. Walk, play fetch, whatever, keep her moving except if she seems to want to stop and sniff around. At 6 months, you can risk letting her snoop around places other dogs use. Exercise stimulates the body. She can't hold it forever. If she can no longer deny nature, and she urinates, praise her. Rave about what a good dog she is. Give her a treat.

Also, watch her carefully inside. It seems some of them can squat and pee in mid stride.  Rush her out and again keep her moving unless she stops to sniff. If she starts to run in tight circles, let her.  Again the praise and the treat. Use gates and closed doors to keep her where you can see her. When you can't watch her, crate her.

Many people strongly strongly push cleaning up all evidence of past accidents. I am slower to suggest that. Dogs will return to the same spot if they can find it. When you see one sniffing the spot, that is your clue to run it out.