Confused about crate and potty training

Question
Hi, my husband and I live in an apartment and we just baught an english bulldog. He's really smart and only 10 weeks old. I just read about the crating thing and my question is... When in the crate, do I put food and water in there? I stopped justing letting the food be out because he doesnt eat all the food in one sitting. He eats, gets distracted, plays, then eats some more. So I just try to help him focus more on the food so that soon after I can run down to the little doggy area by the apartments to let him do his bussiness. But I feel bad not refreshing his water because I know bulldogs are prone to overheating. But if I leave it out, He goes over there looking for water and pees a lot throughout the day. It doesnt matter if I catch him in the process and say "no" and put him on the pee pad. He just looks at me and five minutes later he's on the carpet peeing again. then at night when I finally got him somewhat used to the crate he pees in it. I thought dogs werent supposed to pee where they sleep. So what do I do? I tried making sure he pees before I put him in there, but he gets destracted and plays and shows no sign of having to go. Then I put him in and he pees. Help! What do I do? I love him to death but I cant stand him peeing everywhere. Also, He doesnt really like any treats or toys. I'm confused.

Answer
You're dealing with a 10 week old puppy. You can expect him to pee a lot for the next few months.  Usually it takes at least 3-4 months to get a handle on house training, sometimes longer. He's a baby and you're already expecting too much from him.

Do not feed or water him in his crate. I take it you must be home during the day.  This is good.  Make a schedule for feeding and outside time and stick to it.  Crate time is for napping and night time.  Usually puppies wake up, pee, eat, pee and poop, play and sleep, in that order. Give him all the food he can consume in about 5-10 minutes then pick up the dish. Leave the water down.  You should be feeding him 3 times a day, all he can eat in that time. Pick up the food each time and after his last feeding, pick up the water...around 6 in the evening.

See if you can confine him to an area in your home that isnt' carpeted until he gets the hang of it. You can purchase what's called an exercise pen which makes a circle and he can be in there and still be able to play.  Put down a pee pad or paper and he'll get the idea but again, he's just a baby.  This is going to take some effort on your part and a lot of patience.

Last but not least, he gets distracted, again, because he's a puppy with an attention span of about 30 seconds. He doesn't need treats at this age. He'll find toys he likes on his own.