[Ivy Houston]

I am not sure what to do about this.....
for the past week or so my dogs have being pooing in ther crate while I am gone. I'm not sure which one is making the mess because Jabroni and Snoopy share a large crate together, so it can be either of the two. They are not known to do that, which is why this is concerning me so much, also the fact that I don't want them sitting in their own filth.

This is my set up, I have three crates setup side by side.
Squeeker on the left and Sula on the right and Jabroni and Snoopy in the middle (they share a large crate)
What I am thinking is maybe they don't like being in the middle. That is the only thing that has changed recently.
Has anybody ever experienced something like this?

 

[Murphys Dad]

I would try separating them for a day or two and find out who is pooping. Then I would put a webcam or videotape them somehow to see if it's out of distress...

 

[Brien]

I've never heard of putting puppies together in the same crate. So I don't know if that could be the cause of it. Can you try putting them in separate crates?

In the beginning we had Bodie in dog pen. What I did is place a 2x4 piece of wood towards the end of his dog pen to create kind of a separate voiding area. In that area we put newspaper down. He liked having that separation even though it was only a piece of wood he had to step over. It worked very well. We kept doing it for several weeks before removing the wood and no longer putting newspaper down. He then learned he had to start holding it.

Also, you might want to adjust feeding times so they don't have to go during the times they are in the crate. I've found once you establish a schedule it's real easy to make tweaks to get the desired results.

 

[Ivy Houston]

Jabroni and Snoopy are not puppies. They have been sharing a crate since I got them. I used to put them in separate crates when they were puppies, but Jabroni kept breaking his teeth on his crate trying to get to Snoopy. Ever since they share a crate and he never broke another tooth again.

Also, I have always been feeding them in the evening time so they wouldn't have too much urgency during the day. I walk them every morning and I make sure they all do number one and two before coming back inside the house.

This has been an issue for the past week. Before that, there was never an issue with them doing it in the crate.

I don't know what is wrong, or what is bothering them.

 

[Brien]

Ohhh... OK, thanks for the clarification.

Any new changes to their diet?

 

[Ivy Houston]

I have been feeding them Eaglepack for the past 2 years.
This morning I moved Sula's crate to the other side of the room. I placed her directly in front of the others so she doesn't feel too detached from the rest of the pack. I am predicting that her freaking out in her crate was making the others a little too uneasy.
Hopefully this will do the trick.