Hi Kelly,
I've been following this thread with interest, so I'll add my two-pence
worth. First of all, I hve two Bichons (3-years old and nine months old) and
my friend (with whom I walk my dogs) coincidentally has a nine-month old
bichon/cavalier cross - just so you know where I'm coming from. I've also
had dogs of various breeds/mixtures all my life.
Bichons are often hard to house train but crate training has worked for me
(and my friend), as well as other people I know with Bichons. First things
first... the crate must never be seen by your young dog as a punishment, but
as a refuge - somewhere he/she has his own space. It must never have bedding
that has been soiled - if your dog wees or poos in there then you should
change the bedding. Apart from the obvious needs of nature, dogs will
poo/wee (a) to mark their territory and/or (b) to get attention. They can
also sometimes wee/poo inside if they are stressed. I personally believe
that (especially) young dogs should not simply be patted with a "good-boy"
if they do something right - but should be given a treat - I try to carry
cut-up morsels of chew-bars with me. Young dogs have a short attention span
(espcially bichons and cavaliers), so the treat should be given
*immediately* the dog does a poo or a wee outside. It's no good waiting to
reward until you happen to notice that they have weed/pood. Dogs (of all
ages) will usually wee/poo during exercise, so excercising or playing with
your dog at potty time should trigger results. It's worth mentioning that if
you feed your dog canned meat, it will usually "pass-through" in four to
five hours after eating, while if you're feeding your dog dried food it
takes about 14 hours to pass through; this is because of the nature of the
dog's digestive enzymes. So this is something to be considered in feeding
times. Another thing I'd mention is that your dog must never be given the
impression that his crate is a punishment, so if he does have an accident,
please do curb any inclination to push him into his crate. The last thing
I'd mention is that it doesn't help in house-training if food is left out
after feed time(s); a continuous eating regime means an unpredictible
poo-time.
I hope this all helps.

Regards.....