Is it possible to teach a dog that you are trying to tell them to go poop? Like instead of let's go potty let's go poop?

I use the same command for both, but I also read my dogs and know when they have to have a bowel movement also. You will get to know your dog and what their "schedule" is. When housebreaking, I use a crate, an alarm clock and set up a schedule.
Outside after food, play and napping and also if the pup is quiet for a while and then starts getting restless and sitting at the door of the crate. Also I am up every 1.5 to 2 hours the first couple days and then start to lengthen the time at night.
I make a big party out of the pup doing their business.
Seems to work really well for me.

Yes, both my dogs know the difference between being told to pee and poop, but you can't control nature. If you say go pee n the dog poops, it is a "you gotta go when you gotta go" situation

how long after they eat should they be pooping?
It seems that my dog keeps pooping in his kennel when I leave him in there. Even when its a short period. Kinda like he's scared or he does it cuz he doesn't want to be in there. Do they out grow that? Or is it giving him the habit that it's okay to be in there. He is 11 weeks.
I know he may have to actaully go some of the time but most of the time I know he doesn't cuz it will be after he just went or only in there for a short period and at night he's in there for at least 6 hours and he doesn't need to go.

What is your schedule for him as far as feeding? Are you exercising him enough? Is he comfortable in the crate or are you having crate issues as well?
I usually feed my pups (and some of my dogs) in their crates and for the pups I would wait 15 minutes to a half hour, depending on what the pup was doing. I had one pup that would need to go 10 minutes after feeding and I had another pup that would crash out for an hour before needing to go out.

Lovella:

There are some that recommend that you feed your pup in your crate and then there are others that recommend that you do not.

Health Issues: Is the pup ill or going poop frequently when not in the crate?

Crate Issues: Is the crate TOO Big for the pup?

I have the Biggest Crate in the KITCHEN and has been used for occassionally crating, but more just to get him used to having it around for future use. The crates that we use consistently are in my van and in my son's room. What was interesting is that I was not feeding in the Kitchen Crate, and the pup decided that it was a "potty area". So I re-cleaned the crate up, and started feeding him in the crate. Also for the first week while feeding him in there, I kept the crate door closed so that he couldn't get in there unless I wanted him in there. Why? To create excitement to get into the crate? Imagine the food and water in the crate and the door closed and the pup cannot get in. Guess where he wants to get to? You have to try to get into their heads. You have to make it that they want to get into their crate. Well after 3-4 weeks of feeding in the crate, I've moved the food dishes back to their original places. But I did take the large fluffy pillow that my pup likes to lay on, and put that into the crate. For 2 days he tried like crazy to get that pillow out of the crate, and was almost successful. But he gave up and today he is laying on the pillow in the crate, with the door open and looking just completely comfy.

What motivates your dog? What makes him excited? A Toy? A Treat? His Dog Food? Put his favorite thing in the crate and don't let him in. Make him sit or lay down or follow some other command before you give him access to the crate. Make it a game. Make it a challenge. Make it fun. Make it rewarding.

Hope that this helps!

If it has been about 30 minutes since eating, I bring my pup outside to go poop.

There is an interesting routine here. Sometimes he just goes right away;

Other times he wants to go but just can't seem to get it out. When this is the case, using the 16' Flexi-Lesh, I tell him to run and move my hand to one side, and then I tell him to run and move my hand to the other side. He will run back and forth until he has run enough that he can go poop.

Other times he isn't interested in running, he just wants to sniff and chew. I let him do this for about 5 minutes or so, then I say enough, let's go. At this point he knows we're going back inside, and if he truly needs to go, he goes into a quick squat and does his business.

Like with a young child, you are still learning their personality and vice versa. It will take time to figure out their habits and motivations, but you will. They will also know when they can get away with sniffing and stalling like on a nice warm sunny day, and when they have to get down to business like on a cold wet rainy day.

Cheers!

Lovella,

Louanne asks the question, but doesn't elaborate. If the pup was taken care of properly before you got it, it will not want to pee or poop in it's own crate. It thinks of the crate as a den. However, if the crate is big enough that the pup can eliminate at one end and sleep at the other, he'll be ok with using it as a bathroom. The fix for this is to put a divider in the crate, or block part of it off, to make it smaller.

When we brought our pup home at 9 weeks old we took him outside every time he came out of the crate, and at least every 2 to 3 hours while we were up. My son took him out at 10 when he went to bed. If my wife or I stayed up later, we took him out again before we went to bed. My son got up every morning for 2 months to take him out at 2 AM, then again at 6:30 AM. We never had a single accident in the crate. Had one in the dining room, but never in the crate

See also http://leerburg.com/housetrainingproblems.htm

I may have missed it, when did you bring home your puppy? Did you get a working line GSD?

Rich

Well okay the issue is that he likes his crate. He stays in there at night no whining and even during the day or if we take him to a friends house as long as there are people around. But the minute we leave and no one is around and he knows it - he poops in there. It seems and I'm almost positive he's doing it cuz we're not there and so he doesn't want to be there. Again when we are there he's okay but when we are gone he's not.
My husband leaves in the morning for litterally 5 min and he will poop in there! It's pretty much EVERY time no one is home and he knows it.
Will he outgrow this?
The kennel is small and we even have it blocked off to be smaller but that does not stop him.

How many times are dogs supposed to poop if you feed them 2 times a day? It seems that he goes about 3 times if we are with him all day. And if we leave him he can go each time he's left in the crate and we leave the house. Even if that was another 3 times!

I hope you all don't mind but I am going to start a new thread since the subject of this one has nothing to do with this other problem and I want as many opinions, suggestions anything as I can get!

Thanks!