How to extend holding it time

Did I understand this right:
When they are alone and in the crate they can hold it for 8 hours.
When you are at home and they are out of the crate, they tend to go out every 2 hours.
When they are alone and out of the crate they have an accident after 30-40 minutes?

Perhaps they are nervous because it is not the normal situation that they have so
much place without you or Mike.
I would train this in the same way you trained them being alone.

First time: 5 Minutes dogs alone and out of the crate.
The nixt time 10 minutes, then 15 minutes, 30, 45, 60 Minutes.

I

NO, they don't have accidents every 30-40 minutes, they ask to go out every 30-40 minutes...and for the most part they do at least pee.  I'm at my wits end right now...Mike tells me daily they are "my dogs, not his"...though he plays with them and cuddles them etc just as much as I do...but for some reason he has it in his hard head that it's time to wean the crate...which means he has been leaving them alone in the house...two rooms only...but still...it seems to be Bo who is having the troubles more...you can tell his poop from Jetta's because his is more spread out (he walks while going) and is in the living room while Jetta only goes in the kitchen.  It's just so frustrating because I KNOW they can hold it longer if need be, but I'm not sure how to train them to do so outside of the crate.  I didn't know if there was some sort of a trick to use to help them learn to hold it even out of the crate while we are gone.

I agree with that... they need to think of the two rooms as their crate... then later the WHOLE house as their crate so they don't have any accidents in the house. Now how do we do that? I don't think they are ready. If they can't hold it being in just two rooms of the house... they aren't ready to be out of the crate. Do you still praise them and give them treats when they go outside... if not continue doing that. I've been able to leave Odin out of his crate for several hrs while I'm out of the house. We still use the crate but if I know I won't be gone for TOO long I let him stay out. I've been able to do that with him since 9 months old. Well that's when we first started trying to see how he'd do.

He WAS marking his territory in the house though!! I didn't even notice because it was on a plant in the hall way till I think he'd done it SEVERAL times because after that it SMELLED BAD and after I moved the plant to clean it looked like he'd pee'd there MULTIPLE TIMES. But since I used the Simple Solution on the area there he hasn't done it since. I haven't put the plant back... a little worried about doing that.

Anyway... I'll stop rambling now! lol

Here is my take on teaching when to hold it.   kash has finally gotten it.  However they need to be on a strick schedule.  

You wake up first thing you do, is outside to potty.  No coffee for the Aqua family not morning newspaper.  Then IMO you would then feed them.  Get ready for work walk them again before work.  Then not sure who is home mid day but someone walks them round the same time everyday.  You get home, walk them, feed them.  then right before bed, walk them again.

That is my schedule.  They eat at night - they are on raw.  I know they do two poops in the am.  One at 5am, the other round 7am.  Then they normally do both for the dog walker, and then a small one with us at night   - during the week they only get walked.

5am
7am
noon
3pm
6pm
10pm

Thats it.  They are sooo good to the schedule that there are no issues.  Weekends are difference since its not set, but if you observe the dogs, you know when they have to go, and not just when the ring the bell to go out.   By them constantly ringing the bell - its great they are telling you, but you are falling subject to them allowing them to control you, and not you control them.  And if you take them out every time even if you know they dont have to go, they are totally playing you - dogs are smarted that you think!!!  ha ha

So establish a routine, dont give them full roam and if they dont do well, then they are not ready, go back to basics and get out the crates.

I've also got Gaby on a strict schedule, we get up around 8:30 am everyday, and we go straight outside, and she has a pee and poo, then I take her for a run.....after the run we come in and she gets fed....

then around noon we go back out for another pee and poo, and go for a 1 hour walk or I put her on the treadmill for 30min depending on weather conditions....around 5pm we go back out for a pee and poo, and another off leash boxer burn around the yard, and then it's back in for feeding...

then around 8pm we go out for a pee and another boxer burn, then she is good until about 10:30-11pm where she gets her last meal for the day, and the last bathroom break where she does both pee and poo, and of course a short boxer burn again, then were off to bed for the night....she will occasionally wake me around 4am for a pee, but normally makes it through the night...She has not had an accident in the house for a few months now accept for one during her sleep last week...I think she was dreaming of peeing :lol:

hmmm...the schedule thing just won't work in our family.  Mike works 3rd shift 7 days a week, I work it 2-4 days a week and the other days have very weird sleep patterns.  Not to mention the fact that I'm in school as well.  Our schedule is kinda...

get up 11 am -12 pm (if I didn't work the night before)
Let pups out
playtime/food time
Let pups out
playtime
out (only if they ask)
crate time while i do chores/errands (mid afternoon)
out immediately
playtime
food at either 10:15 before work or at around 12:30 am if I don't work
Out
final play session
bed


that's about as close to a schedule as I can get...although it does vary if I have school, or something like that