Housebreaking my toy poodles

Question
Dear Kim,

I just got a male and female toy poodle from a breeder/dog show judge that was breeding them.  They were spay/neuter two weeks ago.  They were used to being taken out of their cage and put in a holding pen to potty while their cage was being cleaned.  I now have them in a 47"X35" cage with puppy pads at one end and their bed at the other end.  They pee anywhere in that cage that they want, which is against the belief that they won't go where they lay.  When I come home, I take them from that cage and put them in another with puppy pads in it to try and mimick what they are used to.  It isn't working.  What can I do?

Answer
Hello Kathy,
It is really hard to re-train dogs to potty where you want them to when they are used to going wherever they want to.  It takes alot of time and patience, but with persistance it can be done to a point.  
{I am assuming that you are trying to train them to use Potty Pads indoors.  If you are trying to teach them to potty outside, then just revise these directions to an outside potty spot}

First, remove their bed when they are in the crate.  They don't need one and they will just soil it until they learn not to pee just anywhere.  
Go ahead and place puppy pads or newspapers down to make cleaning easier for now.
Next, get them on a schedule of being few twice a day (that is, if you free feed them now).  That way, you will know when food is going in and you can estimate when it will come back out.  
You also need to get them on a regular potty schedule.  I assume you have a 9-5 type job, so I would have them potty as soon as you get up, after they eat their morning meal, just before you go to work, (if you have time, you could come home during lunch) right after you get home, after they eat their evening meal and just before you go to bed.  I would put a water bottle in their crate rather than a bowl of water and teach them to use that.  That way, they don't take in as much water and they aren't peeing as much.  
Also, remove the water in the evening, about 2 hours before you go to bed.  This will help curb the drinking and peeing throughout the night.  

When they are loose in the house, I would start by leting one loose at a time so that you can better supervise them.  Let one out for a short time (take him/her potty first) then potty again before you put them back and get the other one.  
Keep their potty area in the same place all the time so they know to routinely go there when they need to go.  If they do have an accident, put the solid waste right on their puppy pad, and clean the urine with a paper towel and put it on their pad, (this is so that they will see that they have gone potty "here" before and will be more likely to go there again) then clean up the remaining
mess with a Pet Approved Cleaning product.      
When you see them start to go potty somewhere other than their approved potty place, tell them NO! in a firm voice, pick them up and take them to their potty place; then (even though it sounds funny) get mad at the place where they pottied at.  Yell at it, tell it "Bad Potty" and hit the floor.  They will think that that is a bad spot to potty and they will stay away from it.  You don't want to yell at THEM or rub THEIR nose in it or anything, but you can get mad at the mess.

As they get used to going potty on the puppy pads, you can leave one or two in their cage and put a blanket on the other side of their crate for a bed.  Make sure that they have access to their potty area when they are loose in the house so if the need arises, they can go to their pad and go (and when they do that for the first time, praise the dickens out of them).  

With some time and patience, they will surly get the hang of going potty at their potty place.  Use lots of praise when they do something right and a firm NO! when they make a mistake.  

I hope this helps you some.  If you have other questions or concerns about this or questions in general, please feel free to ask.

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim