We didn't kennel mine for all of that time. We got them at 7 weeks, and by now, at 14 weeks, they have almost no accidents in the space we give them. We bought the smallest indoor wire pen at PetCo that they sell, it will give you about a 5'x5' square I think, but we arranged it in a shape to fit our living room. We had their bed and food and toys on one side, and a potty on the other side, as far from the toys as we could. We would play with them outside of the pen, always returning them to the pen when we were done, and we'd say "go potty" to get them to know the words.
If they did actually go, we had treats and a celebration. I never said a word if they didn't go on the pad, but we nearly invited the neighbors over when they went on the pad. They would get so excited.
Hopefully this helps you a little bit.
It really isn't necessary to kennel them for all of that time, but giving them a smaller space to live in, and less place to mess, helps them learn a LOT faster where it is you want them to go potty. Now, they have run of one room in my house, the living room, gated off with a part of the pen, and I have one accident a week to clean up usually. They are 16 weeks right now.
I don't know that I think it is 'cruel' to try before 16 weeks, certainly it worked in my situation. I didn't have the expectation that they would be almost trained by now, but the way we set it up really set them up for success in my opinion.
Good luck!!
