Housetraining issues while away from house

Question
QUESTION: My husband and I have a 8 month old puppy.  We crate him when we are gone but I would like to start leaving him out of the crate while we are gone.  He is not destructive at all but the problem is on the few occasions we have left him out of his crate while we were out of the house (for about 15 minutes) we come home to find that he has pooped in the house.  He never poops or pees in the house when we are home, he always goes to the door if he has to go potty.  He has no problems holding it when he is crated.  I am going to have to start working 8 hours days (my husband works full time as well) so I would feel better if he wasn't confined to his crate all day.  (although I will be coming home for lunch break to let him out).  Any suggestions would be very helpful!  Thank you in advance!

ANSWER: Hi Hillary

This does sound very unusual.

Some dogs do stress when left alone and this could be why he's pooping, when you leave.

Are there any other things that go on?

Another consideration is timing, though you mention an absence of only 15 minutes, this may not apply, but worth considering.

How often when you are home does he go potty, what are his signals for needing a potty break, what is his feeding schedule.

if you can answer the above questions, it will help me try an figure out why he does this.

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

QUESTION: Well I am pretty sure that when we are gone, he just looks out the window for us or stands by the door and whines because that is what he does when we just go out to the garage.  Also, his toys are always in the same spot we left them when we leave the house. When I am out mowing the yard he just looks out of the window at me, when I am done mowing I will come inside and find he has pooped (even when he had just went potty not long ago).  When were home he goes about every 3 or 4 hours.  But when I work a 5 hour shifts he can hold it just fine in his kennel until I get home.  When he needs to go potty he goes to the door.  You are probably going to be upset with me when I tell you he doesn't have a feeding schedule.  My schedule varies so much it would be hard for me to feed him at the same times every day.  My husband travels for work and is rarely home.  So i just leave food out all the time and when he eats it all I will put more in the dish.  Him pooping because he is stressed makes the most sense but maybe it is because he does not have a regular feeding schedule??  Thank you soo much for helping me with this issue!  I really appreciate it!

Answer
Your mention of whining indicates this is a separation anxiety issue.  Also that he watches through a window if you are mowing the lawn and the fact that his toys are not touched suggests that he is too busy with worrying to play or other wise amuse himself.

Look up separation Anxiety in dogs and see if this fits the bill.

There are several things/products on the market to help and training also helps.

The fact he does not mess in his crate is that dogs will not mess their sleeping area, which is what a crate is all about.

I am glad you are trying not to have him shut in his crate for 8 hours that is just too long.  Another option may be doggie day care, however if this is severe separation this will not help as he will just whine and stress when you are gone.

The only other option is to place him in a room with an easily cleaned surface, place the crate there for comfort and put a radio on a chat show (human voices) and leave an old T-shirt with your scent on it for comfort.  If you have the time before you start your full time hours, start doing little away trips, leaving him in that room, with the radio and your shirt.  Start with 10 minutes and build it up day by day, so he gets used to being left alone.