Do you think I am housebreaking correctly?

It's after 1 in the morning and I cannot sleep so I hope this makes sense.

I think I'm doing something wrong with housetraining but I'm not sure. I've read the articles on crate training... Molly is now 18 weeks. She is crate trained...well, I'm trying not to doubt but I think she is. This she has been consistant at. She can go from 10:30 at night to 7 something in the morning--but she doesn't whine I seem to be the one getting her up! She eats after playing with the kids for an hour or so and then gets put in her crate for 30-45 min. Then she goes out and often does both. Usually the kids play with her again for another hour or so and then she gets taken out again but I have been letting her roam the uncarpeted part of the house and we both enjoy that before they play with her again. She does/did have a bed too that I had her stay in when we had dinner but yesterday she jumped in it all by herself (which isn't unusual for her to do) I found it wet afterwards but I had washed her paws because of the mud and rain so I thought it was that. I was enjoying her freedom of the house and since everything seemed okay I dismissed it. Today I put her in the bed while I dug out from under the washing machine one of her favorite chew bones. My youngest daughter said she had peed. She was right. She peed in her bed (NOT HER CRATE) her soft fluffy bed. So I figure that she must have done the same thing yesterday and thought it was okay today. My question is...(I intend to take the bed away because it is now a target for her)....should I just let her roam the house and wait for her to pee? And catch her? Is crate training and taking her out in a rigid schedule enough to teach her to go outside? She doesn't get the opportunity nor do I to see how she will tell me she has to go outside. Or am I being too impatient? Am I expecting too much? She is crated in the afternoons for 3 to 4 hours as I get things done and then again the kids play with her for an hour fed her crate her for the 30 - 45 min and take her out again...same as the earlier one. Walk her if it's not raining or play with her outside for awhile make sure she has peed again before taking her inside play with her in the utility room and at 8 or so I take her with me to play downstairs beside me while I watch tv or talk to my husband until 10:30 then outside again. Am I doing this right? Why do you think she peed in her bed? I guess you'll say because I wasn't watching good enough and I guess that's right. But she has a strict schedule in the crate or in the utility room playing (hasn't peed in the utiity room for some time and I believe it was twice) yet she did in her bed. Any suggestions? My sisters and brother have said they trained their puppy in 2 or 3 weeks...do they really remember since it was so many years ago or is their something wrong with me?

My girls are investing alot of time in Molly. They love her enough to do that and I want them to be rewarded by having a fully trained puppy. I don't want to mess things up by my ignorance...and since this is my first training experience I am feeling inadequate.

 

Hi seejay, just a couple of things, I know that we all need our sleep but 8+hours is a little long for a pup to wait overnight (shes about 4 months old now ?) Could you lessen that by about 2 hours for another month or two.

Another thing is while she is not peeing in the crate (and it sounds like youve done a great job in crate training her in general) you might want to rule out a bladder infection, with a mild infection they can still hold it for a while...worth having your vet check this out.

Remove the bed, this could be that she is just putting her mark on her own space (she has the crate to sleep if she wants so the bed may not be a sleeping area in her mind).

After eating, drinking, playing, sleeping pups usually need to pee, I wouldnt put her back in her crate after she has been fed, I would take her uotside on leash have some small treats with you, take her to a spot where she like to pee/poop (usually a grassy area or she already have her 'spot' to use as her bathroom), give her a command word "go potty" (or something), keep saying this and then when she is going tell her 'good potty' and keep repeating, then right as she is finished keep saying good potty and give her the small treat (I use chicken or beef, you want something' special' that she doesnt normally get as a treat and the piece only needs to be as big as your small fingernail).
She will learn the key words your using and eventually you wont have to use any treats (if your consistent then only a week or two) but still give her praise for going where she supposed to go. If you catch her going in the house then just say 'no' in a stern tone and take her outside immediately.....dont ever shout at her or anything after she has already gone in the house as she wont associate peeing/pooping with you being angry and it will confuse her and/or more her anxious.

If she has eaten her dinner, you take her outside and she doenst go (keep her out for about 20 minutes but dont play with her, just tell her 'go potty') then bring her inside and crate her for about 10 minutes then take her out again and tell her go potty.......

Repetition and consistency (and a vet check up) should solve the problem.

 

what DeLauk sez. I concur. And.......in the gentlest possible manner, how much time is she spending in that crate? Mebbe a play pen, or penned off area for some of the time, as well?