Hi

We rescued our dog Harry, the vets thinks he's about two years old, he's a maltese cross terrier, we think!!!  Since we've had him whenever he does wee or poo outside, either in the garden or on a walk, we praise him like mad, saying good boy and making a real fuss of him.

Harry though doesnt seem to know the difference between indoors and outside....Pippa, our other dog who's nearly 5, will always whine to go out, so when she does, I take them both outside. Pippa does her business but sometimes Harry just looks blankley at me so I stand there.....he'll wee but no poo.

Their daily rountine is this:
I get up 6.30am take them both outside Pippa wee and poo Harry wee only....out for walk ....wees and poo....home and feed them... during the day let outside every couple hours....Pippa wee and or poo...Harry ever wees.
Diner about 5pm......outside again....Pippa wee and poo....Harry...wee only.  Around 10pm.....take them outside....Pippa wee and poo and Harry....wee and after about 20 mins poo maybe.

In the morning we often have another poo in their room, which is cleared up without fuss...do you think that maybe Harry only knows that he must do poos when he goes out for a walk and not in the garden? He has done some wees and poos in the house but I never have a go at him just pick him up and take him outside, he doesnt snif the ground or go round and round so Im not sure what he signal is and he doesnt whine if he wants to go out...so we're both not communicating with each other....

any ideas? thanks

I think, to break this cycle, you should contain Harry overnight in a crate.
It is very unusual for a dog to soil his bed and by doing this, you are cutting out one big 'Poo oportunity'.
Following the rest of your routine and watching him like a hawk, should avoid any more accidents indoors. This will set his new pattern and hopefully solve your problem.
I do feel that no matter how many times you take him out by day, if allowed to poop indoors overnight, he will never be truly clean.

I would say that at 2 years old, and if he has a normal gut, he would only be expected to 'go' twice, maybe 3 times a day. Defaecating at night is not always because they need to go, it is often separation anxiety or unnatural wakefulness.

try going back to basics and taking him outside maybe every half hour or so and as he toilets say a word that he will learn means go to the toilet now.
for example i always say the word 'business' and someone else i know says 'hurry up'. this way when he remembers the word and what  it means you will be able to take him in the garden and say this word and he will start sniffing and looking for somewhere to go.
i've used this with all three of my dogs, even my last who wasn't house trained when i got  her at 6 months but they soon learn to toilet on command or at least try and go if you say the word all the time but remember when you first start that you must get him to associate the word with going to the toilet, therefore it must be said as he does a poo or wee.once he knows what it means then you can say it when you walk into the garden and he should respond to the command.
don't forget to praise him as well.    
breaking the cycle is the only way forward so you need to make sure he goes outside constantly for a while.

Thanks for the advise...Harry sleeps in a crate but if we try and close the door he gets upset...so how do we get over that?

We use the word 'poo' all the time, we trained Pippa like this, but he doesnt get it. Last night I took him out for over 20mins and he didnt go for a wee or poo and this morning he's pooed.

We hope we can break this, Harry and I go training every Saturday, so Im going to have a word with them too...I think the crate will work, it worked for Pippa!!!

Just another thing, Pippa poo's more than three times a day, is this ok shes nearly five...never does anything in the house so I shouldnt worry..

>We use the word 'poo' all the time, we trained Pippa like this, but he doesnt get it.

He won't know what it means if it's used all the time! Only say the word when he's actually pooing, so that he associates the word with the action. Once he's made that association he'll recognise it, but until then it has no meaning whatsoever.

Harry sleeps in a crate but if we try and close the door he gets upset...so how do we get over that?

Personally I would the not lock him up then. I have a dog that was crated pretty much 24/7 before I got her and she absolutely cannot be locked up as it panics her, so I never do. She wasn't house trained at all so I treated her like a puppy. Two years on and I wouldn't say she is 100 % reliable, but she is 95 % reliable -any accidents is my fault for not letting her out frequently enough. She's fine during the night now but it took about a year. So it all worked, but it did take a long time. I just never made a big thing out of it. Praised her for going outside to start with, then just let her out frequently.