with a rescue you have very little info which is frustrating I know first hand, with Kal I did the same and either it was a trust issue , new environment ,or anxiety I didn't know but I was so worried about kidney stones and they say neutered males have incontinence problems as well.so I went to health food store and got dried cranberries andsure enough he got better.another problem I had was he was guarding food and water and drinking way too much but it was just getting use to us a new routine and surroundings.good luck sounds like he might be doing it to get outta the crate too chi's are smarter than us sometimes.

Thanks for the info. I'm so happy to say that its looking like an anxiety problem. Last night I took him out, peed, didn't poo, and crated him. He barked a little and whimpered a bit so I took him out an hour later thinking he had to go. Took him for a longer walk and he peed only. Crated and he went right to bed. This morning, 6 hrs later, crate was clean and dry!! So happy for this little guy!
Though he wasn't too happy about going out when its -1° out.

They're really a lot smarter than people who don't know the breed give them credit for. They're one of the most intelligent breeds in fact. Sounds like he's doing well and just needed to settle in. We're always here for advice. Welcome to the board

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I got Butterbean as a rescue at four years old. She didn't come with a crate, and I've never crated her since--just give her run of the house and let her sleep in my bed. She does best with a walk about every four or five hours. That means I come home on my meal break from work to walk her, and also have to get up at least once each night to take her out. She's only had one "accident," but it was my fault--I was very slow to get up one morning, and didn't pay enough attention to her signals that she needed to go. Poor thing. As long as I stay pretty strictly on schedule, though, she does perfectly fine.

i figured it might have been anxiety and well the world can be a scarey place in a new home and new house noises,love and reassurance are the best medicine sometimes.

chi dad I have 4 beautiful chi babies and yes your right most time the accidents are our fault the love schedules and even my disable chi's gotta go they gotta go , I trained mine to use potty bells,kinda hard to ignore those things lol.

Another good day. He's a very good dog and seems very structured. Pees in the same place, poos in the same area. I'm up to 3hrs+ between trips outside. He's going to make some family very happy.
Thanks to all of you for you advice. I was worried that I was dealing with a poorly trained/untrainable dog. He is pretty intelligent.

That is great news