House-Training

Question
I just got my dog about a month ago. I was told that he was house-trained and at first he seemed to be. Suddenly he started pooping in the house. My mother and I take him and my other dog out every morning and night at the same time. He never pees in the house, he always pees outside as soon as he gets out there. He even poops out there most of the time too. At first he pooped in random places, but now he poops in the same place almost every day. I am home most of the day and when I am not my mom or brother is there. On average, he is alone for about 3 hours a day, tops. I never catch him doing it, I always just happen to find it. I don't know when he is doing it. I'm pretty sure that it's not while I am gone, because I don't see it when I walk into the door. Why is he doing this if he knows to potty when I take him outside? How can I get him to stop?

Answer
There are a couple of reasons why this could be happening.  It may be that he really doesn't know he's always supposed to poop outdoors.  This often happens to dogs when they move, or change homes.  There's also the possibility that he was "caught in the act" and startled or punished.  Dogs that have this happen sometimes decide that pooping in front of the human is scary, so they wait and do it on the QT.  Some dogs poop more times per day than others, so it might not be enough to only take him out twice.  Sometimes, it's a medical problem, such as intestinal parasites, or irritable bowel.  If you are certain there is no medical issue, then really the best solution is to simply go back to house training 101.  You can use a crate to limit his freedom in the house, or tether him to your waist so that you can supervise him so that he can't sneak off to defecate in the house. If he really was house trained in his previous living arrangement, it shouldn't take long to retrain him in his new surroundings.