2 year old Shepherd pooping in crate. :(

For two nights now, my 2 year old German Shepherd has pooped in his
crate. Nothing has changed in the dog's life, the routine is exactly
the same, bedtime the same, food is the same. Yet, these two nights in
a row, I wake up for our normal morning walk and am greeted with the
odor and having to clean up the crate.

What should I be looking for? I can't imagine what would cause him to
do this.

Lynne...

I'm no dog expert, but my first thought would be that he is sick. My
dog pooped in inappropriate places when she had worms. I'm sure there
are a number of other reasons he could be doing this. I'd take him to
the vet and have him checked out. Take a stool sample with you.

Janet B...

What's the consistency? The first thing I ask is this possibly a
medical issue? I also question why a 2 year old dog needs to sleep in
a crate at night, but that's another story. A vet check is never a

Handsome Jack Morrison...

I think that *is* the story.

bad idea when a behavioral change takes place, especially when it
involves something physical. Run a stool sample over to your vet as a
first course of action.

Handsome Jack Morrison...

I wouldn't do that yet.

Maybe after he explains why the dog still needs to sleep in a crate at

Rocky...

Best to get the ball rolling - he can tell the story while the
stool sample is being processed.

Handsome Jack Morrison...

Not in my opinion.

Just how long does it take to answer *one* little question? 10
seconds? 20 seconds?

If everyone starts running their dog's stool samples over to vets
everytime they find a "mistake," there's gonna be a whole bunch of dog
poop piling up at veterinary offices around the country.

Rocky...

A $50 test can tell a lot, including whether or not the owner
minds spending $50 on their dog. Anyway, it was presented as a
change in the dog's regular behaviour. $50 well spent, IMO.

Suja...

I'll admit that I'm a little paranoid about the dogs' behavior and health,
but I've caught things that other people haven't - Khan's Lyme disease and
Thyroid problem, someone else's dog's UTI, another one's skin infection, a
third one's discoid lupus, etc. The vet is always a good first option when
something isn't quite right.

Rocky...

And even when the physical is all positive, you've at least
bought some peace of mind by ruling something out. Now it's
time to get on to the more expensive and involved processes of
behaviour and training. That's not to say they can't all be
concurrent, or that they shouldn't have been addressed earlier.

FWIW, 2 years old is about 1.8 years longer than any puppy has
been crated at night here.

Paula...

Two is still adolescent in many dogs. I don't think it's that big a
deal that the dog is still crated at night. It could be a problem,

Handsome Jack Morrison...

It's not that he's crated; it's *why* he's crated.

It's a piece of the puzzle.

Rocky...

I agree, and I still think that the OP's first priority should
be a trip to the vet.

Paula...

If my dog had one accident, I wouldn't rush off to the vet, but when
it is repeating, I'd be over there with a stool sample. I agree with
the advice to go ahead and look at any behavioral issues that may be
at play, but if nothing is jumping out, as the OP has said, check with
the vet in the meantime. Part of Jack's problem seems to be that
because he has enough experience with dogs that he can tell just an
accident from problem poop more easily, he thinks JQP can't. I
haven't seen that to be the case.

Handsome Jack Morrison...

I don't.

Answering the question is Priority I.

Going to the vet is Priority I(a).

The distance in time between Priority I and Priority I(a) could be as
little as .09 hours, and possibly save the guy half a C-note and maybe
a couple hours of his time.

Note: Never before in the history of rec.pets.dogs behavior has a hair
been split so finely!

Heh.

PS: Think he'll ever reply?

but it could be just precautions. Some dogs go destructo in the
night. I've had one of them before. It was more productive to make
sure there was none of that at night and then correct it when attempts
were made during an hour I could be watching for it. For JQP, I'd
rather see my two year old sleeps in a crate than where can I find
someone to take my two year old.

Handsome Jack Morrison...

Since we're probably (IMO) not going to get any feedback from the OP,
lets kick the can down the alley a bit.

Why do *you* think that a 2 yo dog is still confined to his crate at

Rocky...

Sometimes I look after friends' dogs at night - such was the
case this past Canadian Thanksgiving long weekend when friends
went out of town. One brought his Terrier's crate, but I didn't
use it and had no problems. As far as I know, Kipper spent the
night on the couch. I heard him wandering for a bit, but wasn't
concerned - he knew where to find me.

Personally, I believe that many people crate non-puppies at
night because they don't trust the dog to not poop or pee or
chew the couch. Since I've never had a dog chew anything
inappropriate and irreplacable, I don't worry about chewing.
Since cleaning up pee and poo is such a small worry in the grand
scheme of life, I don't worry about that either.

I can probably come up with more reasons than "lack of trust" in
the dog, but that one strikes me as the most common.

night?

Handsome Jack Morrison...

Look, I wholeheartedly agree with the general practice that a change
in behavior should normally trigger a trip to the vet. But if I could
save $50 (and a trip that may not necessarily be a short one) by
answering one simple little question first, and it only took me a few
seconds to do that, I'd try to save the $50.

The fact that a 2 yo dog is still confined to a crate at night is not
an insignificant revelation.

I have a feeling though, that we're not going to get a response out of
this guy anyway, so...

Anyway, that's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it.

night.