Urinating in crate

Question
I have a female toy poodle puppy that is 15 weeks old.  She is doing very well with potty training, we taught her to ring a bell at the door. She does still have occasional accidents, but it's probably my fault for not taking her out soon after playing.  The problem is, when we go to work or to bed, we crate her and she doesn't seem to be able to hold it very long.  According to the charts I've read on crate training, at this age she should be able to hold it for 4 hours.  My husband comes home from work every 3-4 hours to let her out, and most of the time she has urinated in the crate.  We have the crate sized down so that she just has room to sleep, at first she had a lot of anxiety (whining/crying) in the crate, but that is better now that we
cover the crate with a dark sheet.  I'm wondering if she just hasn't developed enough bladder control yet, or if it is anxiety related?  What are your thoughts?

Also just wondering what is the best brush to groom a poodle?  I've been using a slicker brush, but it seems to stab her sometimes and she yippes.  I hate to think that I might be hurting her.  If you could recommend a particular brand that you prefer to use on your dogs that would be helpful.

Thank you for volunteering your time and expertise,
Valerie  

Answer
Hello Valerie,
It is probably that your dog just hasn't gotten full control of her bladder yet.  Dogs usually get their full bladder control at 12 weeks of age.  I would put puppy pee pee pads down in her crate and give her about a week more.  If she continues to potty in the crate, you might take her to her Vet to rule out a Bladder infection.  

As for brushes, I use a Slicker Brush for my dogs, but if your girl has sensitive skin, you can use a pin brush.  Just be sure that you brush her daily to keep the mats out of her hair.  You might also want to run a comb through her hair after you brush her with the pin brush.  You can also use a Mat Detangling spray if she gets small mats and is hard to comb out.  

I hope this helps you some.  If you have other questions for me, please feel free to ask.

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim