Potty training Olde English Bulldogge

Question
I have purchased and Olde English Bulldogge for my son about four weeks ago and we love him to death. He i approximately four months old on Jan 1st.  We have an open wire crate that we put him in at 7:30 in the morning and my son arrives home from school at 4:00.  They are inseparable.  Our problem is potty training.   He's in the crate during this whole time Monday through Friday.  When we first brought him home we contemplated using the crate at night but it seemed unfair for him to be in the crate all night and then again all day.  He sleeps with my son who has a bedroom in a rather large basement.   They spend a lot of time down there.   He will go to the bathroom outside if we take him and actually even sniffed at the door yesterday, we opened it and took him out and he went.  However this morning after eating he turned and headed right downstairs, when my son went to get him he had deficated on the floor, which he also does at least once sometime twice a night, so needless to say we're picking up every morning. .   Do you have any solutions or tips on correcting this problem, short of putting him in a crate all night. We did try this one night and got frustrated with the barking, he does not seem to bark when he sees us leave the house knowing we're not there.  My son is getting frustrated please help with some ideas you might have for better training this type of dog.  Thank you.  

Answer
You've had this puppy a month and he's crated 8 1/2 hrs. a day and you wonder why he's not house trained? I don't know why you think crating him more is the solution. He's already exhibiting signs of separation anxiety by his barking when you leave him. If you think your son is getting frustrated, put yourself in the puppy's place.

This is a miserable life for any puppy and you may think that's unkind or rude, but it's the truth. You are going to have a dog that is a psychological mess if you don't make accommodations for him to have social interaction during the day. He needs someone to come in midday, take him outside, play with him and reassure him that someone is going to be back in just a few hours.

He doesn't even know what outside is for at this stage of the game and to top it off, he's just barely 4 months old. Even under ideal conditions a puppy isn't fully trained at 4 months.