Adopted Poochon urinating

Question
QUESTION: Hi There!
My husband and I are new dog owners.  We adopted two Poochon's from the Human Society about 4 weeks ago.  They are 2 1/2 years old. We absolutely adore these dogs but we are struggling with them urinating in the house.  Since the day we brought them home we have kept them on a strict schedule taking them outside -- every morning at 5:30 am; 5:00 pm; 10:00 pm and sometimes in the evening around 8:00 pm. Each time they go outside we give them praise and a treat.  Every few days we seem to have an accident.  It's typically when we leave the room.  Please note we have a small 1100 square feet condo, so they can basically hear or see us from any location.  We're frustrated because we fear it's behavioral and we won't be able to stop them. We really don't want to get rid of them because overall they are fantastic dogs but we cannot have frequent accidents. Is there something we can do or are we are doing something wrong?

Please help!
Carrie

ANSWER: The best way to correct this is to use a crate(one for each dog) and keep them in there at all times except to take them outside and feed them ect It is good you have a schedule,that does help. and you can keep to that in the crates,and do that for about 3 weeks and then slowly let him out more,and if accidents reoccur,back in the crate they go for about 10 days

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: We keep the dogs in a crate while we are at work.  My husband and I considered keeping them in the crate even while were at home and with them but we thought that was cruel.  So per your advice, we should keep them in the crate basically at all times and this isn't considered mean? cruel?

Thanks!
Carrie

Answer
Keeping them in the crate is not cruel-and is in fact recommended by the SPCA. It's only needed during house training,once they are done that you can just keep them open. It's the fastest way of house training a dog. so don't feel bad about it,once they are house trained they won't need to stay in them