Shylo is 9. She stays inside the house and has run of the living room and kitchen while we aren't home. She was going to be an outside dog but when we got her she had heart worms so that wasn't an option. She poops inside almost every day. It isn't a lot but it's still there. We feed her once a day (two cups at night). When we all wake up in the morning, she gets let outside and stays out there for 1-1.5 hours. And she still poops in the house. I am the last to leave so when it is time for me to leave, I let her inside. Every morning as I am walking out of the door I give her a dentastick. She doesn't get water during the day either. When we got her from my MIL, she was in her kennel ALL THE TIME (I think the concept of not using the bathroom where you live is lost on her). Although we have noticed that she does not poop on the side of the carpet that she sleeps on.

How do we stop this from happening?! Crates are not an option for this crazy dog, she doesn't even like to be in her big kennel outside (i think she knows she can run around the backyard so that's where she wants to be when we leave her outside).

Well you can not train a dog not to have to poo.  

So you either crate her or it will continue. You can not correct or alter a behavior if you don't catch it happening.  

Her not liking crates is not a very good excuse not to use one if she's pooping in your house everyday.  That seems a little ridiculous.

it is possible to teach her to like a crate but it is not possible to teach her that she cannot poop.

Callie, from my viewpoint, you have a two sided battle on your hands.

• Changing what I sense is your attitude about a crate.
  
• Changing her attitude about the crate.
  

Item, the first:  I think I'm reading that you don't like the idea of having to crate her while you're not in the house.  If that's the case, you need to get over it - her crate is the safest place for her when you're not there to take care of her.  If she handles being crated then she's going to do little more than sleep while you're gone.

Item, the second: Paraphrasing a well know expression "When a dog's gotta go, a dog's gotta go!" but if the dog's given ample opportunity they're going to hold it until they have a chance to go outside.  While you say that she has plenty of time to run in the morning, you don't say anything else about her day.  What time do you get up, what time does she eat, what time does she go out; what time do you get home, what time does she get her evening meal (assuming you're feeding twice a day), how much time does she have outside after you get home; how much time does she have through the evening to go out ... well, you get the idea - to present some possibly workable ideas for a solution we really need to know what your (and her) schedule is like.

I'd suggest that if you and she have a relatively regular schedule, one where she gets out in the morning (as she does) for a good romp, then is crated while you're at work and then taken out immediately you get home and then as needed during the evening I'd be willing to bet that your problem will disappear.  Basically I'm suggesting that you "house train" her all over again, take her out more than you'd consider necessary and she'll get the idea that outside is the place to go.

One other thing that you don't mention and I consider a bit telling, you don't mention how much and what type of interaction you and she (and "we" suggests that there's another person, at least, in her picture) have.  If she's an only dog then she'll need human interaction more than if there were another dog to play with.

I read this earlier and I kind of understand why Shylo wouldnt like her crate, or even her kennel for that matter. She was locked up in her kennel , as you said, "ALL THE TIME" before you got her, now she has the taste of freedom to run around the yard. I think that could be overcome, with time and patience. But a few other things popped out at me when I read this. One is that you let her out when you all wake up, and shes out there for up to 2 hours before you have to leave...is it possible she's eating something out there/getting into some food (like cat food or something)? Because judging from her meal schedule, she'd probably poop when you let her out...but you never say if she has or not (like...do you ever check?). Also, what about walks...at night after she eats or in the morning before you leave, does she go on a walk? Dogs usually poop on their walks and if youre not walking her, maybe doing that will help here. The other thing is...does she know one of the purposes of being let out in the morning is to do her business? I can better explain by telling you what I mean by telling you what I do...before I go to bed, and after I wake up in the morning, I let the dogs out telling them "go pee pee" and they do...they know one of the purposes of being let out is to go pee or whatever (thats besides their walks...in the morning, and in the evening.) You kind of can't automatically assume that Shylo will just *know* to do her business outside, mostly because of her background of being locked up in a kennel a good part of her life. I personally think a morning walk would pretty much solve the pooping in the house while youre gone problem...the crating would be another issue to work on, however, if she has to go, she has to go and can go inside her crate if she really NEEDS to go (they dont *want* to, but...if nature calls...)

Artic_Wind wrote:

I read this earlier and I kind of understand why Shylo wouldnt like her crate, or even her kennel for that matter. She was locked up in her kennel , as you said, "ALL THE TIME" before you got her, now she has the taste of freedom to run around the yard. I think that could be overcome, with time and patience. But a few other things popped out at me when I read this. One is that you let her out when you all wake up, and shes out there for up to 2 hours before you have to leave...is it possible she's eating something out there/getting into some food (like cat food or something)? Because judging from her meal schedule, she'd probably poop when you let her out...but you never say if she has or not (like...do you ever check?). Also, what about walks...at night after she eats or in the morning before you leave, does she go on a walk? Dogs usually poop on their walks and if youre not walking her, maybe doing that will help here. The other thing is...does she know one of the purposes of being let out in the morning is to do her business? I can better explain by telling you what I mean by telling you what I do...before I go to bed, and after I wake up in the morning, I let the dogs out telling them "go pee pee" and they do...they know one of the purposes of being let out is to go pee or whatever (thats besides their walks...in the morning, and in the evening.) You kind of can't automatically assume that Shylo will just *know* to do her business outside, mostly because of her background of being locked up in a kennel a good part of her life. I personally think a morning walk would pretty much solve the pooping in the house while youre gone problem...the crating would be another issue to work on, however, if she has to go, she has to go and can go inside her crate if she really NEEDS to go (they dont *want* to, but...if nature calls...)

Thank you for your answer!

Shylo is with my husband and I while we are home. I've read that other people have let their dogs out in their home during the day, so why can't we? We tried to get her used to her outdoor kennel but she barked constantly all day long and the neighbors were complaining. We don't have room in our house for the size crate we would need for her.