Hey guys have any of you had any experience with puppys that are really hard to house break?
I have one that is out most of the day with the rest of the pack and then goes to bed for the night in a crate, safe for her she like to chew too. And almost every night she will mess in her crate. It doesn't matter if she has been out all day or not, doesn't matter if she is put to bed late, she just poops. I got to be honest I am getting really tired of cleaning that up, and of course noone else will clean it up either!!!! What do you think. almost a year old, live with other dogs of all ages, noone else does this, gets attention,tried feeding her earlier in the day, no difference. HELP!

Maybe you need to disinfect and get the smell out of her crate better. I would wash it real well with a strong cleanser, bleach it, let it air dry and then wipe it down with a full strength vinager to neutralize the smell. She will grow out of this phase...have patience, some puppies just dont "get it" real soon.

What happens if you make the crate 'small' so that it just fits her. This way she has to 'mess her bed' so to speak, which most dogs will not do.
Second suggestion is to condition her to keep her crate clean by feeding her last meal at or before 3pm, then walk her and perhaps even match her prior to going up for the night, and then making sure that she is the first out in the AM.
Good Luck, some dogs will do anything for attention and my dog mom intuition is telling me that she is looking for extra one on one attention.

Yes I have tried to make the crate smaller, she doesn't mind sitting in her own poop, or spreading it all through my house on the way outside. I also have cleaned the crate pan very well, along with all of the other crates, you know how that smell can be.
But I will tell you this, if I leave her out, say if I fall asleep on the couch, she is fine all night. I just don't trust her enough to do that all of the time. I'm afraid one night someone will forget to pick up something or fotget the gate and she may find something to get into. I'm sure you know what I mean.
I have not tried a much bigger crate, I just can't spend the funds right now, but I guess that maybe an idea. Yes and I have feed her earlier too. Your right about her attention needing......she would be better off in a home by herself, the queen. But as I said all of the dogs get there attention throughout the day.
If anything the older girls get a little less. I am very fortunate that I can take all of my dogs with me all day everyday. They do get one on one time during the day, I don't know I have always paid attention to that, having three children of my own, I never wanted to hear that one got more attention than the other and I guess it just rolled over to the dogs too. It's kinda funny, my husband asks when it will be his turn!!! I keep telling him, in a few years honey!!!

Thanks for your help

Can you put her in an x-pen overnight? Something to break her habit of pooping in her crate?

You know I will try that tonight, I'll let you know how that turns out!!!!

And as much as I prefer feeding twice a day maybe give her a larger portion of her daily food in the morning and just a snack in the afternoon so she will not be as full.

She is a baby and just because she is outside all day doesn't mean that she potties before coming in at night! Set a routine...bring her in an hour earlier and then put her out by herself just before you go to bed for the night. Feeding her earlier will help also, as suggested in previous posts. You have to re-teach her, because now she is learning that being dirty is ok, even tho it really isn't. Good Luck!

We had a girl with the same issue and we did the ex-pen thing. She messed in that for a couple of weeks and then stopped. She hated her crate and would just go in it for some reason. At least in the ex-pen she did not lay in it so it was easier to clean up.

The thing is , the longer she is allowed to soil her crate the more the behavior is reinforced. Take her out of the crate, maybe baby gate her in the kitchen , OR put her outside,or put the crate next to your bed, so you can get her out in the middle of the night, [yikes!] anything to break the cycle of pooping in her crate which by now is a "set" behavior. So do something different, completely, at some point you may be able to go back to the crate, but not now.

I had one like this and got a double door crate and hooked an ex-pen with a kiddie pool and shavings off one door. That was she had a place to go that was ok until she out grew the problem.

Does she poop when you take her out for her last potty break? Maybe try matching her if not.

If she likes to be out, maybe you can station her. I've done that for some of my girls. Doggie bed next to mine, and station them with a lead tied to the dresser so they can't go anywhere.

Well good morning to all
Tried the x pen, same thing happened. You guys have got to give me something I haven't tried, maybe a magic wand!!! HA!HA! I have done the early feeding, the less feeding, the more daily food. I always walk the pups before bed, so I know that they have gone and when. You know I believe that she is so attached that she is onlying doing this so she can see me. If I think back all fingers are kinda pointing to that. She must just be one of those dogs who needs to be near you all of the time. Now remind you she has been to a few shows and has NEVER messed her crate in the truck or if for some reason I had to crate her during the day again she has never messed in her crate. That why this sounds a little weird to me. Eats well, sleeps well, plays well, rides in car well, sees the vet with a wagging tail ! Loves the kids. I am going to try a few more things and I'll let you know if they work......just in case someone else has this problem.
Thanks for all the input.

Why not try doggy panties? Maybe she won't "poop her pants". It's worth a try. If it's successful, give her LOTS of praise.