Dog poops in her crate, but wont poop in front of me!

Question

I am currently fostering a dog that has lived outside on a chain all her life.
She has adjusted well to the house and I have trained her to be a well behaved
dog in every other way but this one thing. She poops in her crate every day.
She doesn't just poop in it either, she smears and smashes it around the
bottom of the crate. She is house trained as for as peeing, for she asks to go
outside to pee, but she won't poop in front of me. She has a clean bill of
heath, the crate is the right size, I feed her in her crate to make it her den,
and I take her out as much as possible. Even when I have been home all day
and took her out every hour, she waits until we go to sleep and then poops. I
have never seen her poop, so I can't correct her on it. Even when I take her on
long walks she doesn't poop. I make sure to take the long walks 8-10 hours
after I feed her, since this is the digesting time. I am at a loss, and fear she
will never be able to be an inside dog and get adopted. Frankly I am also
getting tired of cleaning up poop with a hose outside everyday. I have done
so much research and do everything I have read about house training, but it
is not working.  Help!
Sincerely,
Lindsey McKee  

Answer
Dirty dog behavior is a psychotic symptom, it's like a person who cuts himself. So training a dog not to poop and lay in it is difficult as the behavior is undoubtedly the result of some trauma. It could be that she was improperly housebroken and is afraid to poop in front of someone because she was beaten before. That may be why she ended up outside, because they didn't have the patience to housebreak her properly. Making her poop in front of you will be traumatic for her, but if she's going to leave a normal life she's going to have to learn to do it and you'll have to help her through it. Ask your vet about a suppository to make her poop. And then when she does, praise her and treat her. Super jackpot treats. Repeat this every few days until she starts going on her own.

Also, instead of crating her at night, consider setting her up a bed near yours and putting her on a very short tether (shouldn't allow her off the bed). If she still poos right there on the bed, you can spend a sleepless night or two lurking the darkness waiting for her to poo. And when she is in her crate during the day, make sure there's nothing in there that she can hide her poo with. No blankets or anything.

Also, let her know you think it's disgusting that she poops in her crate by expressing your disgust vocally and through your body posture as you clean it up and make sure she can see you. Don't yell at her and don't be intimidating, just be horrified and disgusted. Direct all your aversion to the poo, not her.