8 Months She should be accident free right?

    • Gold Top Dog
    Hm, if the daycare is undermining your housetraining that does seem to be a bit of a head-scratcher. I'm not sure if you can train a dog to not go in one crate if she's going in another, but I guess you'll have to try. In addition to removing that bedding, make sure the crate is small enough that she can't get distance from her mess. I suppose another option is to not use the crate for housetraining at home, but to arrange a Xpen with litterbox - not ideal but possibly more workable in this case? I wouldn't postpone the food change, since once she's on Innova her "output" will indeed be smaller as you say. Try giving her some probiotics to ease the transition... you can switch over in a week tops and be done with that, probably a good idea.
    • Gold Top Dog
    I find it very disturbing that she would poop in her crate in the first place. Did you by chance buy her from a pet store?   
    Most dogs come with a powerful desire to not-potty where they sleep, which is the only reason crates help housebreak dogs-- the dog holds it as best he can while in there. Dogs who are forced to potty where they sleep, such as pet store puppies, tend to lose this inhibition, and now you're in trouble. I would never ever take her back to that day care-- any place that forced dogs to poop in the crates, and thought it was ok, is not somewhere you want your dog to be.
    Once a dog starts pottying in the crate it's lost its usefulness as a housebreaking tool, and you probably should start confining the pup in a larger area, such as an x-pen or kitchen, so as to not contribute to the breakdown of the pup's cleanliness instincts by being forced to potty in the sleeping place.
     
    Then let's address why the dog can't control his poop. An 8-month dog should only be pooping once a day, twice at most. Is your dog pooping more often? the food you are feeding is a really poor choice, some folks refer to it as "science death". So definitely a food change is in order. A better food means a lot less poop. The feeding directions on bags of dog food are a joke. I recommend starting out feeding half of what the bag suggests and then adjusting up or down as needed to maintain the dog in proper weight. You should be able to feel ribs easily, and be able to see them on a short-coated dog like a bulldog.
    • Gold Top Dog
    I can't help you with your situation, but I wish you the best of luck.
     
    I would like to give you some "food" for thought.  I don't know if the once a day feeding would be a good idea (I'm sure someone else can give more insite on this). Some dogs will throw up bile if they have had an empty stomach for too long.  It does really depend on the dog though.
    • Gold Top Dog
    She was good today! Maybe we are back on track - who knows...
     
    Mudpuppy: No we did not get her from a  pet store - she came from a breeder. When we saw the area the pups were in it was clean and everything but I think when possible buyers were'nt around it wasn't cause she "cleans up" after herself. It's nasty and we have tried just about everything you add to the food to make it taste bad (LOL - thats just mind boggeling!) but it didn't work.
     
    Mudpuppy: Once a day? really? OK, thats probabaly a large portion fo the prblem right there. The food change is back on - starting tonight! She poops 4 times a day (and not little tiny ones either - sorry if that groosed anyone out) - Once in the morning, once in the afternoon, once after dinner, and once at 10pm before bedtime (actually this morning it was 2am - not fun. But she wouldn't go at 10 so I was excpeting it)
     
    Mudpuppy and Jones: The pen/kitchen thing isn't a bad idea - I'll look into an x-pen too. The only porblem is we tried that when she was 4 months old and no matter what we did, the little Houdini found a way to get up over the babygate we had in the dooreay (we could look for a taller one though). Our ultimate goal is to let her have free roam of the house and use the crate as her downstairs bed/den - if this worked I would be very happy.
     
    Thanks for all the help everyone! It's very nice to get some constructive, helpfull advice from the people on this site...
    • Gold Top Dog
    Just want to second that it's not normal that the dog poops in the crate, and that I would not go to a daycare that minimized this.
    • Gold Top Dog
    She poops 4 times a day (and not little tiny ones either - sorry if that groosed anyone out) - Once in the morning, once in the afternoon, once after dinner, and once at 10pm before bedtime (actually this morning it was 2am - not fun. But she wouldn't go at 10 so I was excpeting it)

     
    oh, this is NOT normal and is probably the root of the problem. I suspect over-feeding plus poor-quality food, which are mostly fillers, which all comes out the other end. You mentioned Innova puppy food above, definitely a better choice and will help with the poop problem. But be very careful to not over-feed-- don't pay too much attention to the directions on the bag. Feed by your dog's body condition.  Skinny is healthy. Ribs should be easily felt.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Thanks, I/we are hopping this is the problem. I'm really starting to think so because she was good again yesterday and last night. Nothing in the crate when I got home and even though she didn't go #2 on her 10pm walk she went the entire night (with free roam of our room) with no accidents. And she is still on 3/4 of the old food (switched 1/4 of th eInnove last ngiht).

    She had to go bad this morning but she obviously wants to and has the ability to hold it for the length of time she should. I'm hoping the problem is caused by the old/bad food sometimes making her have tp go REAL bad...
    • Gold Top Dog
    Just wanted to give everyone who has provided helpful information and encouraging words an update because I realized today that it has been a little over a week with no accidents in her crate (or otherwise).

    We started switching her food to Innova Puppy (dry) last Friday and as of Sunday night started to cut the amount from 2 cups a day to 1.5 cups a day (1 cup in AM and PM vs. 3/4 cup AM and PM) since now there is more Innova then Science Diet. I know it's situational and based on the individual dog's needs but using what the bag of food suggests for daily feeding amounts as a guideline I figured I would start cutting it back (Innova was 1.3 cups per day and SD was 2.3 cups).

    It could be a coincidence or me wanting there to be a change but it seems that she has MUCH more energy. And OH BOY has the output slowed - by half (twice a day) and we are still feeding a little of the old food (not to mention she is still a puppy) so that very well may go down to once. She still doesn't seem to want to eat much in the morning though.

    She eats more then she used to but for example, this morning she left about 1/4 cup of the 3/4. Gonna have to watch this and once we get her on only Innova tailor her food - I'm starting to think she just doesn't like to eat first thing in the AM. But since she is a small dog I want to get something in her belly in the AM - maybe we will go to 1/3 cup in am and 1 cup in pm depending on her weight and all that.

    I'm not too worried about it though because on Wed. and Friday (we changed her day-care schedule) she goes to Day care and everyone there loves her (they were all chanting her name when she walked in this morning) and she hangs in the prep room with the tech's and they give her lots of treats throughout the day. Plus when she is in her crate I put her unfinished breakfast in her Kong and jam a cookie in the end and when I get there to take her at lunch it's usually all gone.

    Anyway, sorry for he long post again and a BIG THANKS to everyone who provided help and kind words...