He is 9 mos and about once a month for the past 3 months he has pooped the crate , he actually did it twice in the past 2 days so this month he pooped the crate twice, im still feeding puppy food, and i did give him a bone i bought at the grocery store which could have made him ill, im thinking obviously he is sick and possibly caused by the puppy food ( i should change to adult:?)or maybe the bone caused this, other than that he sleeps in the crate and i take him out, he pees , back in the crate with his food for the day , out then he poops, back in a little later for dinner then out when he poops again, he was doing this regularly and it worked great, lately thou he isnt darting right in the crate for his food, almost to say "i dont wanna go in there anymore" but he isnt going to win this war, if this is waht he is thinking??? any opinions are good THANKS

He is far past the age (IMO) to be fully potty trained, with no crate accidents.

If it's been going on for 3 months- it's not from a bone. How long are you leaving him in the crate with food? How long is he crated at a time?

You've got to be proactive, and take him out BEFORE he has the chance to poop in there...

There is no war here. Think about it, if you had to poop in your bed, where you also eat, would you want to go back in there?

Clean it *really* well, and when you think its clean, clean it again. Make it a nice place for him by giving really good rewards for going in. IMHO, the crate is one area that its okay to bribe the dog for life.

Is there a way that you can write in more detail about your daily routine for us? Everything, exercise, meal times, wake up, how long he is crated for.

It would be a big help in helping you figure it out.

By chance do you have a bed,mat, blanket, rug, or towel in the crate?

My dogs all seem to have to poop pretty much immediatly after they eat, or, certainly within 1/2/ to one hour of eating.
Maybe he needs more of a walk after eating, prior to going into the crate.
It could be a timing thing.

Finn is 10 months here. We also feed him in his crate. Here's the trick though, we only leave the food in there for 20 mins. If at this time he snubs his food, ok then he isn't hungry. We will try again in about an hour since if we leave the food in there he tends to flip the bowl and lay in his food.

After he is done eating though, we taking him outside to go potty and for a drink of water. Finn also was doing the whole, oh man! I gotta go back in my crate! Come ON!

Well we made it fun to be in the crate. We would play a marker game with him. If he went in the crate by himself without prompting he gets a treat. If I say its bed time and he doesn't put up a fuss, he gets a treat. Every time he goes in the crate he gets a treat. This makes him think "Yes! The crate, I get a Treat!!"

For the pooping, he still is considered a puppy. How long are you leaving him in the crate at a time? How long are his potty breaks? Are you certain that he isn't the type of dog who poops a pile right away then about 20 mins later goes again? Finn is like this, thats why I ask.

If you were feeding him a raw bone and still giving him dry puppy food, if I remember correctly you don't want to do this a lot because mixing dry and raw is hard on their tummies. Correct me anyone if I am wrong on this! If you say you got a bone at the grocery store is it raw, those smoked kind, you just a plain hollow bone??

Finn is giving the dried hollow bone with nothing on it. If we want to give him a "chewy" treat I would recommend a bully stick. Make sure though you can keep an eye on him for that treat because towards the end they get pretty small and they might choke.

Also for cleaning the crate since you feed in it. We use a mixture of 1-5 parts bleach and water solution in a spray bottle. Once a week that crate gets cleaned out. Spray the bleach solution on it, then wipe out with a paper towel. Make sure it is dried out before you put him back in otherwise I wouldn't even want to be in there. If there are blankets in his crate wash them once a week or more if he tends to shed or gets food everywhere.

JMO on this stuff. GL and see if these ideas as to why he is doing any of this triggars any ideas in anyone else's brains!!

 Quote: Mary McKeever

Finn is 10 months here. We also feed him in his crate. Here's the trick though, we only leave the food in there for 20 mins. If at this time he snubs his food, ok then he isn't hungry. We will try again in about an hour since if we leave the food in there he tends to flip the bowl and lay in his food.

WOAH! My dog only gets a chance for 5 min... lol.

 Quote: Kelly Byrd

 Quote: Mary McKeever

Finn is 10 months here. We also feed him in his crate. Here's the trick though, we only leave the food in there for 20 mins. If at this time he snubs his food, ok then he isn't hungry. We will try again in about an hour since if we leave the food in there he tends to flip the bowl and lay in his food.

WOAH! My dog only gets a chance for 5 min... lol.

He's lazy. He knows its there, but will sniff it, Nibble a bit, lay down nibble a bit more. If you could see him eat you would laugh your behind silly. Also we feed him when we feed the kids. At MOST it's 20 mins. But once one child is done eating, usually my 3.5 year old, its only been like maybe 10 mins if that. She can't sit still.

When he sees the kids move, good luck getting him to focus on anything but watching his girls and what they are doing. But in all honesty yep, 20 mins is the max we allow his food in there.

Crazy! My other half threatened to buy Koenig one of the slow feeder bowls just 20 minutes ago. 3 cups of kibble, yogurt, and meds GONE in prolly 60 seconds.

Matt,

In reading over your previous posts, this has been an ongoing issue since November. (No post on it in January, but Nov., Dec., February and March.)

If it was his dog food, you'd be having the problem a lot more than you are.

If it was the bone, each time you've had the problem, you'd have given him a bone - do you remember if you have?

I suspect you have not paid attention to or figured out the dog's normal digestive rythm, and are not getting him out of his crate often enough.

What times of day / night is this haqppening?

The times it has happended, have you been gone from the house or slept later than normal?

Have you "timed" how long it is after you feed the dog that he has to poop?

Was this dog raised in a kennel before you brought him home?