[mypony89]

We have a 15 week old puppy, a Shepherd/Cocker Spaniel mix. I bought a cage for her to grow into. The crate by itself if too large but it came with a splitter so I split it into two portions. The portion she is in gives her just enough room to lie down in. The problem is though, that even though she doesn't like peeing in the cage she poops in there and lies down in it, smeers all over the place and always gets on her. This is a daily occurance. What can I do to stop this?

[lange]

Is she pooping in the crate when you're home? Did she first cry or whine when she'd poop? Did she cry or whine before she had the accident? Has she been doing this since the first day? How long ago & from who did you acquire her? Could she have an upset stomach?

[mypony89]

Is she pooping in the crate when you're home? Did she first cry or whine when she'd poop? Did she cry or whine before she had the accident? Has she been doing this since the first day? How long ago & from who did you acquire her? Could she have an upset stomach?

She poops in it when we are asleep at night and also on the days that we have to go to work so I don't know if she whines before she has the accident. She has been doing this since the 1st day we got her and we got her from the humane society. They never said anything about something being wrong with her and the vet hasn't either. I have crate trained 2 other dogs the same way and it worked wanderfully but she just doesn't seem to care if she poops on herself. Im at a loss.

[lange]

Usually a dog will whine or cry being in its mess so at some point she learned to tolerate the filth because she had no other choice. This is something you'll see in neglected or puppy mill dogs. Unless she IS crying but no one is around to help her out.

The only idea I have is you can try paper training her in your bathroom or somewhere you could close her off in. Paper training makes it harder in teaching your dog to house train but if you're dealing with a dog who can't hold it very long and is sitting in it's own filth then you don't have many choices. The second choice & more ideal thing to try is to have someone come by your house when you're at work to let her out more often. Including adding a potty break at night.

[Yogi]

At what times are you feeding the dog?

[cigwyllt]

When you leave her during the day how long is she left?

[mypony89]

We feed her around 4pm and she is crated around 10PM. When we are gone to work she is in there for 8 hours, the same amount of time our other 2 dogs wait.

[Yogi]

Originally Posted by mypony89

We feed her around 4pm and she is crated around 10PM. When we are gone to work she is in there for 8 hours, the same amount of time our other 2 dogs wait.

One thing, she is far too young to be left in a crate that long. At this age, 2 hour max. As for the feeding, does anyone take her out to run around and get her system in gear. Metabolism needs to be heightened so that she is processing and having a bowel movement. She will generally need to go twice before she is crated.

[Taming Rover]

Originally Posted by Yogi

One thing, she is far too young to be left in a crate that long. At this age, 2 hour max. As for the feeding, does anyone take her out to run around and get her system in gear. Metabolism needs to be heightened so that she is processing and having a bowel movement. She will generally need to go twice before she is crated.

I agree with Yogi on this one, the rule of thumb that I've heard is how ever many months the dog is that's the maximum number of hours they can be in a crate at one time, at least until they reach 8 months. They shouldn't have to be in a crate for any longer than 8 hours and preferably not every day.
How old are your other dogs? Crate training is great as a tool for when your dog is a puppy (from 8-12 months) but after that point it's good to phase out the necessity for the crate all together. (except maybe for sleeping in as a den) Ideally by then the dog would be trained enough to be trusted not to destroy the house (As long as they get enough exercise!) or poop/pee in there.

It's very important, for a puppy especially, to get enough exercise, playtime and potty breaks during the day. You can't really expect to be able treat a 15 week old puppy the same as you would treat an adult dog. You really need to put the time into a new puppy to work with them and work out any issues that come up.

For this situation I would recommend having someone come in during the day, or even bring your puppy to doggie daycare where someone can be interacting with her and allowing her lots of potty breaks.
In one way it sounds like there is a possibility your pup could have come from a mill since it is a normal instinct for a dog not to want to eliminate where they spend a lot of time, and certainly not to get it all over themselves, although if she is in the cage and she has to go, she simply doesn't have the muscle capacity yet to hold it like your other dogs so she probably just lets loose and then possibly just gets it on herself while playing around in there and being a puppy.

If she hasn't come from a mill and it is just a matter of needing more pee breaks during the day then it's important at this stage that she have someone around her as often as possible to see the early signs (or maybe hear the whining as lange said) and let her out promptly so that she gets the idea sooner rather than later that outside it the right place to go. It seems like she's just getting used to doing it in the cage now and you don't want it to be a habit that continues into the future.

[cigwyllt]

There is no way a pup of 15 weeks can be expected to last without going to the toilet. You need a total rethink on how you care for him. To leave a young puppy for that long on a regular basis is unfair. To leave him in a tiny cage is doubly cruel.