please tell me it gets easier (long, please help)

I am positive that marking is not a housebreaking issue, marking is a deliberate "claiming".
Anyway, badrap, I'll be interested to see how that works out.

i keep forgetting to ask this:
 
may i please have some suggestions on the best confidence builders?  to help with the marking, i mean.  i'll do anything that i can, at this point.

ORIGINAL: badrap

i keep forgetting to ask this:

may i please have some suggestions on the best confidence builders? to help with the marking, i mean. i'll do anything that i can, at this point.

What breed(s) is Rosie?
Also, are all dogs in your house spayed/neutered?

why do people think marking is a sign of "lack of confidence"?  isn't it usually the top dogs, the confident ones, who go out and mark the territory?  my alpha bitch carefully pee-marks our yard and our most common walking routes. The alpha male marks near her marks, but not as often, and the lower-ranker dogs don't mark at all. If we go somewhere different on walks, none of the dogs mark.
 
If your dog is ONLY peeing on her bed, that's kind of a weird marking behavior. Shouldn't she also be marking the doorways and furniture? 
 
Hmm. Sudden thought: spayed bitch leaking urine in her sleep? 

why do people think marking is a sign of "lack of confidence"?

No, marking is not all about confidence! Of course not! [][] It's a sign that there is a conflict between pets or somebody else in the house. Personally, I find a connection between 'conflict' and 'confidence'...

That's a good article on marking:http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/DogTip_Marking.php

Also, fromhttp://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pets_urinemarking
... What prompts a dog to urine mark inside his own house? Typically, it is related to some perceived threat, such as an unfamiliar person or dog in the home, or the introduction of something new—anything from a new pet or baby to a new couch, suitcases and grocery bags. ... Conflict between pets within the home can also lead to urine marking. On rare occasions, a dog who marks frequently during walks may become highly aroused and continue the behavior upon returning home.

From:http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/our_pets_for_life_program/cat_behavior_tip_sheets/urinemarking_behavior.html
... Some pets, though, may mark when they feel anxious or upset. ... Your dog or cat probably isn't getting as much attention as he was used to getting. All of these changes cause him to feel anxious, which may cause him to mark.

All I know is that marking is a complicated behavior []

ORIGINAL: badrap

it's not so much that i think the prong is "bad".  it has saved me a lot of rope burn and sore muscles.  there are a few things going on here:  one is that i would like to feel like i'm treating my dog with respect, and the prong is very reactionary.  the other is that a dog wearing a prong collar projects a very negative image.  i have enough problems with "image" as it is.  people see a prong collar and assume that i'm using it to reign in an aggressive dog, which i'm not, but first impressions rule.  also, the "ideal state" is a loose leash walk without the need for correction.  in my case, i feel i have "managed" and not effectively trained.  because i believe my dog CAN learn to walk without it, i would like to do everything i can to move away from it.

 
Well if you don want to use it then dont [], one thing i want to say is that having a prong on your dogs does not mean you are not treating them with respect, as you have seen your dog does not mind the prong, that "non respecting" the dog because the prong is only on your mind as well as the "negative image" other people might have if they see you with one, if my tool is helping me to save a lot of headaches then the rest of the people can think whatever they want, they are not the ones who have to deal with the dog, and clearly they dont have  knlowledge of what a prong collar is, i think you are doing it more because what other people might think about you (along with misconceptions like a "non respecting" collar rather than anything else)
 
But like i said, its your decision, you are entitled to use or not use anything you want but i just wanted to clarify the prong collar misconceptions []

When Murphy wears his Halti people thinks he's a killer dog, but the reality is that I use it very much like you would use the prong. To get a walk in WHILE training.
 
I used that Halti to help me teach him self control. I didn't want him repeating bad habits so he wore it and I pretended he wasn't wearing it and we practiced "leave it" and "let's go" and "heel" basically.
 
Now he only wears it when he's seen squirrel after squirrel after squirrel and he is beyond self control. No, he's not totally trained yet, but I carry his Halti and we use when he's had enough self control and wants to be Crazy Murphy.
 
So, while the goal, eventually, is to not use it, it's OK to use while you're training. At least you're NOT letting him pull you all over the world and that counts, too.

ORIGINAL: badrap

i keep forgetting to ask this:

may i please have some suggestions on the best confidence builders?  to help with the marking, i mean.  i'll do anything that i can, at this point.

If you are talking submissive urination, that requires you to ignore the dog and make greetings somewhat low key.  But, building confidence has not much to do with "non-housebroken" as mudpuppy described - for that, you would want to go back to square one and supervise, supervise, supervise.  C/T for doing it in the right spot is fine. Associate a cue, also, like "hurry up" or "go pee".  If you think she needs a confidence boost for other reasons, maybe some agility training.   It's fun, and it does build confidence in many dogs.
Also, if you decide to continue to use the prong, but don't want the negative image, consider making a collar cover out of a tube of calico.  It will look like she is just "dressed up".

let me sum up the prong thing like this: 
not that long ago, i lived in a pretty sketchy neighborhood.  every day, we (me & dogs) would walk by this dilapidated house with 3 pits tied up in the yard.  i have never seen any one of the people living there touch, pet, or even talk to these poor dogs, never mind walk them. they had nothing more to amuse themselves than tearing apart their doghouses.  one day, there were people on the porch as i walked by and one of the young guys came running over and asked me what kind of collar that was, "it looks badass".  i told him it was a prong collar for training purposes only.  2 weeks later, ALL the dogs in the yard were wearing them.  these dogs have never left their respective stakes.  these damn kids just bought the collars because they thought it made their dogs look "tough".  THAT is the basis of my problem with the prong.
 
and here is where the marking thing gets interesting:  rosie pees all over the darn place outside.  like every 2 feet, she's marking, if i allow it, which i no longer do.  tek does NOT do this.  she was peeing so much, i took her to the vet to be sure it wasn't a UTI.  she IS spayed, but probably had multiple litters before that.  (she was a stray, and it's clear she's been a mommy)  as for "leaking", i suppose it's possible, as i've never actually seen her do it in the house.  having said that, i suppose it could be either one of them, but tek just really doesn't mark like rosie does.  he'll mark trees and bushes within our neighborhood, but he's not peeing every 2 feet like she does.
 
we did just move, and they did just get new beds because of the concrete floor we have now.  before that, they slept on the carpet or the couch or crates... all were available.
 
now, i would like to add an update:
this week has gone by with me working on training inside the house.  when i have time, i walk them separately.  rosie is a great walker already, so she's doing fabulous.  i've succeeded in teaching her "down", where before she just balked.  tek has always loved to train, and he's really excelling at sit, stay, down, watch me outside in the park with plenty of squirrels to distract him.  as for his walking, it's hard to see if we're really making progress, but it seems so.  i've been doing about 8-10 minutes off the rong, then ut it on before he loses focus and we go for our regular runs.
 
thanks for the advice and support.  we're getting there! 

ORIGINAL: griffinej5

I know others may disagree, but I don't think you're going to ruin the dog, the training, or anything of that sort if you use a prong when you need to. If you cannot take the dogs out to exercise because they cannot walk on loose leashes otherwise, that's no good either. They be nuts and it'll drive you nuts. I think if you use the prong when you do not have time to wait for loose leashes, and use the regular collars otherwise, you'll be ok. Maybe it'll take you longer to get loose leash walking with the regular collar all the time, but I think you can do it.

I totally and completely agree...Calm dogs are a million times easier to train, too.

ORIGINAL: griffinej5

I know others may disagree, but I don't think you're going to ruin the dog, the training, or anything of that sort if you use a prong when you need to. If you cannot take the dogs out to exercise because they cannot walk on loose leashes otherwise, that's no good either.

I agree with this.  The trainer at my clicker class tells us that she has a puppy that she hasn't trained loose lead yet.  So, she uses the harness that the leash clips to at the dog's chest, so when they pull it just pulls them right back around to you.  She tells us they are training tools and are meant to help; to use them when you just can't train them, like when you are out exercising
Sue

re: the leaking of urine. Spayed bitches have a fairly high rate of developing incontinence, which often only shows up as leaking of urine while relaxed, as in sleeping. If a spayed bitches bed starts to get "peed in" that is certainly something to consider.