7 year old Italian Greyhound using crate as bathroom?

Hello everyone. I am hoping you can offer me some advice regarding my 7 year old Italian Greyhound. We adopted him when he was 5 years old from an animal rescue. Since my boyfriend and I have had him, he has been pretty good about using the bathroom outside. He lets us know when he has to go and we usually take him out on a schedule.During the day he is crated (when we are at work) and lately he has been doing his business in his crate. I know Italian Greyhounds as a breed can be difficult to potty train but he has been good up until this point. He is a very emotional dog and can be very vindictive if he is not given enough attention so I thought maybe this was the reason but I am starting to think it is something else.When I come home from work he is looking at me shaking and scared because he knows he did something he shouldn't have done. He is epileptic and every once in a while he has seizures but since we have had him he has never released himself during a seizure. At first I thought maybe he was having seizures when we weren’t home and that was the culprit but his seizures happen very infrequently (about 2 every year) and this bathroom issue is almost an every day occurrence. He is not on medication for his seizure as per his vet.I have no idea if the two are connected and he has been vetted since we discovered he is epileptic. The last time we brought him to the vet (about 8 months ago) he came away with a clean bill of health. I do plan on bringing him to the vet again.I thought maybe UTI? But he is doing number 2 as well not just urinating.Until I take him to the vet (appointment this weekend) I wanted to see if anyone else has had an experience similar to mine.Maybe I’m just feeding him to much, I don’t know.Any advice or feedback would be greatly appreciated!Thank you!He is in the crate 4 hours then I am home for an hour during lunch and he is in for another 4 until I get home. We have been doing this with him since we've had him and no problem until now. The crate itself is really to large for him but we have the piece in there where you can adjust the size. I think it is the correct size but I will double check when I get home. (I am at work now)His behavior has been the same, no signs of pain or discomfort either. My boyfriend does work crazy hours and some days he doesn't get home until late into the night. My greyhound and my boyfriend are buddies and very close. I have thought that maybe it upsets him that my bf is not around as much? If this is the case, what can I do to help him out so he is less stressed?

maybe he is in the crate too long and just cant hold it.

How large is the crate? It should be large enough for him to stand and be able to turn around in, no larger than that. A dog usually will avoid relieving itself in it's crate unless he has the space to do so (although not necessarily, of course a dog would usually prefer to go outside whenever possible). If the crate is the correct size, then my guess is it is either physical, like you had guessed, in which case the vet will hopefully be able to sort it out for you. Or maybe it's psychological. Has anything changed in your lives? Different work hours, someone he's used to not around anymore, change in routine, things like that can sometimes cause behavioural issues also.Edit: I don't think that your boyfriend coming home later than usual sometimes would cause too much anxiety. As long as he's still getting plenty of attention when you guys are around. I wouldn't stress about it too much. I'd check the kennel when you get home, then wait to see what the vet has to say.

I have two IGs and I have to leave them at home for 8-9 hours because I work too far away. Therefore, I do not crate them during the day, but rather I confine them to two "dog proofed" rooms in the house with a litter box and water.Stress at being left alone can build slowly on a IG, in my experience. My first dog, when he was alone, was fine for a year or two, but then started chewing the fur off his tail. The vet told me it was stress induced, though nothing had changed over those years. He simply got that way over time from being left alone. When I adopted a friend for him (another IG) and expanded the area he stayed in, this habit went away. He is a lot better now and stopped chewing his tale entirely.