I have 3 labs, ages 12, 5 and 3 - female and two males respectively. Most people will tell you that they are the easiest dog to train. I respectfully disagree. All dogs are different even within the same breed. Labs are very stubborn and I think it is difficult to change their behavior for that reason. You may be doing nothing wrong.

How do you react when you find the "accident". I am a major believer that rubbing the dog's nose in it does absolutely no good. Labs learn faster with love and treats and don't respond well to negative scolding.

Did you crate him from the time you rescued him or just start recently? Is his crate in a place where he can be part of the family or is he in the crate in a spot where he is completely cordoned off from the family. Perhaps during the day when he has his "out time", you could leave the crate door open so that he sees the crate as his den. Maybe a small blanket would deter him from soiling in the crate. Encourage him to rest in the crate with the door open. Put a few toys in the crate. It may make him like his crate more.

My youngest is 3, and we put his crate away when we put a new floor down in my office. He had still been hanging out in the crate. I wanted to put the crate away in the event I got another puppy - he wouldn't be giving up his home to another (new) dog. He started pooping on the floor in my foyer every nite. Not loose stools, completely formed. Same spot each nite. Couldn't figure why he was doing it. We started leaving the door open at night so he could go out if he felt the need. Went out but still pooped each nite. I decided to get the crate out of the closet and re-assembled it. No more pooping on the floor since the crate was put back into my office. The point is you need to get to the bottom of why he is doing the potty in the house when he was already trained.
How long is he crated before he goes in the crate? Maybe taking him out to poop one last time before he goes into the crate help. If he has alot of energy maybe taking him for long walks or throwing a ball or frisbee for 30 minutes before putting him into the crate might help.

My SIL rescued a lab recently and was having major behavioral problems. The lab rescue sent her a behaviorist (they paid for it). Is that an option from your lab rescue? The behaviorist told my SIL that the problem was no one knew exactly how old Jack was, but they were treating him like an adult dog since he looked adult because of his size. He suggested treating him like a newly adopted puppy and starting as you would if you brought him home at 7 weeks. It worked like a charm, but Jack didn't go in the house.

How many times a day does he poop? If he is pooping 4-5 times a day at 6 months, I think that is too much and perhaps he is eating a food that is too rich for his system? What are you feeding? Is he on a regular twice a day feeding schedule. At 6 months he doesn't need to be fed 3 times per day. Also, the amount of food - the recommendations on the back of the dog food bags are much larger than what I actually feed my dogs. Do you take him out about 30 minutes after his meals? Also, is he out long enough so that he can poop more than one time, or do you come in right after he poops once?

Lastly and most importantly, I would make an appointment with your vet to be sure he is not having a medical problem that is causing it. I think that is the first place to start to be sure he is well and nothing is going on medically with him. The vet may have suggestions as well. You are certainly not going to be the first client to experience this situation. Is he having loose stools? Also, definitely take a stool sample to the vet's office for analysis. He may have a worm or parasite situation.

Best of luck to you.

Labmomma - Thanks!

We never crated a dog before, but decided to with Bailey on the advice of our vet - and did from Day One. We've had a blanket, bed etc. in that crate, but he would just go on that.

I never yell at him once the deed is done (I yell at myself!) - but will tell him "No!" when/if he's caught in the act. Unfortunately, that's only happened a few times.

I will take him to the vet again, just to be on the safe side. He's is on Nutro Puppy food, which we cut back becasue he was pooping a LOT in the beginning (which also could have been the stress of the "move") - he gets fed like our other lab boy, twice a day, with the larger meal in the AM.

What's so frustrating is that we'll walk outside with him for what seems like forever, and then he'll come inside, and poop in the usual spot. OY!

His crate is in the family room, so he can be in the core of the house, near where the action is. He doesn't cry in his crate, but I've never seen him just go lay in it either. I think he really prefers to just lay near where ever I am. :)

I will tyr some of your suggestions, and especially try to keep a close eye on when he has his accidents - maybe there is a connection.

Thanks.

Tether him to you on a long lead when you are in the house. He's a baby, and a non trustworthy baby. He either needs to be under your direct supervision and control (leashed, tethered) or in the crate. Learn to read his sign of when he needs to go. Dogs give out clues. Sometimes it's sniffing a spot, sometimes it circling, sometimes it's something else. By keeping him close to you on a long lead, you can learn to read his signs and take him out before he actually manages to go in the house. When you learn his particular sign, always take him out immediately with the same phrase. You're teaching him to associate his bodily function with a particular spot and a particular vocalization. You might also want to teach him another method of alerting you to his potty needs. A bell on his exit door that jingles when he goes in and out works well. When he brushes against the bell and it jingles, out he goes.

Beginning crate training means to confine him in the crate for an hour or so at first, maybe with a chew toy or Kong. I like feeding them there too. It makes it a nice place to be, and dogs don't like to poop where they eat. Be sure he's actually getting structured exercise as well. Feeding him in the morning and then walking him til he poops. Some dogs are just "big poopers" and will need to poop more than once before they're ready to come inside. If everything checks out health wise for him, your boy may just need to poop more than others. When you bring him in, tether him and leave his crate open. Maybe put a biscuit in it for him so he again sees it as a nice place to be. Let him be tethered for an hour or so after pooping and peeing, and then take him out again. This time, when he comes in, put him in the crate and leave him for a couple of hours. Vary the crating and the tethering until he's stopped pooping in the house. Then you can try some time off tether. If he poops, back on tether.

It's going to be a learning process for both of you how to communicate with each other. Just be sure you're really paying attention to what he's telling you. Every dog is different. Look for those differences. And, as always, catch him being good and reward that.

I agree with most of everything already said. Just a few cents to add:

I adopted a 4 month Shepherd/Hound last April. She knew absolutely nothing. I started to crate train her immediately, which has helped lots with the pee/poop issue.

From what I understand, you have a dog that has been traumatized. (Mine was also). This can cause numerous behavior issues that we as humans must only guess at when trying to deal with them. My vet suggested from the start that even though my dog was 4-5 months old, she must be treated as an 8-9 week old. This made tremendous sense to me, I really had a dog that knew nothing, just like a very young pup.

This theory meant that my dog required constant supervision when not crated, with a leash attached to her when I needed to get her out the door quickly.

Quality treats along with huge amounts of praise are a must when you are house training, this is no time to skimp. I used boiled chicken liver (still do). I took it with me when walking, every time the dog peed or pooped, she got praise plus the treat.

I put huge amounts of work into correcting this, and finally did.

Also, when talking to your dog, don't make direct eye contact for a while. This is a direct threat to the dog, and you could start a new set of problems like submissive peeing. You sound like you have the gentle touch, you just need to make sure that what ever you do isn't any type of a threat to the dog.

Sounds like you have a wonderful pet! Keep us posted!

SG