puppy going potty in their crate

Question
hello. I have a 6 month old chihuahua mix female. I just got her one month ago from the animal rescue league. She is going potty (#1 & #2) in her kennel. She could be in there for 20 minutes up to four hours and she goes almost every single time. She seems to be house trained for the most part. I would say about 95% of the time she lets me know when she needs to go out. She even goes to the door.
For instance, this morning she went #1 and #2 twice before I left for work....two hours later my roommate tells me she has gone #2 in her kennel.
I have sectioned off her kennel so it is big enough just for her to stand up and turn around. Any suggestions?????

Answer
Tara,   This is most likely a "learned" behavior.  Meaning she was born at a puppy mill, a poor breeder or possibly over crated at the animal rescue league.  This is a common problem that happens when a dog is crated so much early in life that they know nothing else.    Something like this takes time and patience to overcome.  It took me 6 months to break my dog of it.  With plenty of "outs" and praise when they go outside, the problem will eventually go away.  

Also - what type of crate are you using?  It is best to use a nice open wire crate so they don't feel so confined.  It sounds like you already are, but I wanted to mention it.  Sometimes the plastic air line carriers cause anxiety which can also cause accidents.

So, unfortunately, the best solution to this is to just continue what you are doing and clean up well after her.  The crate and her -- because if she smells feces or urine the problem can get worse.