I know the subject of housetraining has been done to death, but I'm still puzzled about Warro's (GSD) behaviour

He's one year old now and sleeps in a crate at night, which he has no problem with - it's just his bed to him and he will go and sleep in it with the door open.  However, he still poos in it at night (and sometimes wees in it too!).  It doesn't seem to matter how late at night or how early in the morning he goes out, he still does it in his crate :rolleyes:.  He did have a period where he stopped for a while, then he started again

He's my third dog, and the other two are fine, and I'm pretty sure I followed the same procedure with housetraining with him as with them, so I'm at a bit of a loss.  I've made sure I clean the cage properly, with bio washing powder then vinegar to neutralise the smell, but I wonder if it's just a habit now.  Other than this he is an absolute sweetie :)

Please help!!!  Believe me it's been even more difficult over Christmas trying to clean up after a night on the Ribena!!!

I would take the crate away in that case, a year is too long for a GSD to be toileting in the house still, it is a habit that you need to break.

For the crate to be his safety den and sleeping area is one thing, but if it is also his toilet it needs to be removed. Just put his bedding down in a slightly different place and then get up much earlier the first couple of mornings to let him out and hopefully this will solve the problem.

If the crate is a bit big for him then you could maybe try a smaller one.
My bitch was doing this and my mum suggested that it may be a bit big.I bought the next size down and she has never done it since.It seems that if they have enough room to be able to stay away from their mess then they will do it but if the crate is just big enough they wont as they dont want to lie in it.
This may not be the case with your dog but its worth a thought. :)

I think the smaller crate may well be worth trying first, his cage is really big. We do have a smaller one for my bitch, Sasha, so we could swap round and see what happens. 

Am a bit worried to what will happen to the lounge if I scrap the crate altogether . As although the chewing has pretty much stopped, he likes trying to sneak up on the furniture and thinks that soft furnishings are there to be played with .  He's so clever, he won't do any of this while we are around, but there is definite evidence that when we're not about, he gets up to allsorts of naughty things, the little monkey!!! Why do they have to be so flaming loveable

Paula