Housebreaking and crating

Question
We have adopted a black lab retriever mix who is now 10 weeks old. He has been with us for 4 days now. We've had some success with crating. We crate him between quick breaks from a trip to outside and food. Sometime he stays without crating for 3 - 4 hours a day - playing with the kids - even'. Each time we crate him, he stays for 2 hours max.
How many times are we supposed to crate him.
How many times a day should they poop in a day?
He eats about 2 - 3 cups of dry food a day.
Thank you. Pam

Answer
I never crate my puppies if somebody is available to watch them.  Just at night, when we are away, or when we are too tied up to give the puppy the attention it must have.  We do keep the rest of the house blocked off from the room we spend most of our time in.  So how much time in the crate varies with our schedule.  With young children, you may have to put him down for a nap in his crate at times.  

At that age, usually they will have a bowel movement within a half hour of each meal, and maybe more in between.  The 2-3 cups may be about right.  The only way to really tell is by his ribs, see http://www.puppychow.com/products/popup_body_condition.aspx  A fat butter ball may be cute, but having a waist is much healthier.  Cut back a little, but not less than 2 cups of a meat based chow.  More for a grain based chow.