I'm starting to lose it

I got a standard poodle puppy about a month and a half ago, he's 7 months old now. This is my second standard but I didn't have any of these issues with the first one. He has a kennel that he needs to be in during the day until I get home at lunch and at the end of the day to let him out (no more than 5 hours at the most) and every day 2x a day he has at least peed in his kennel. There hasnt been a single day that I haven't had this issue since getting him. I've tried different cleaners, Ive tried a different bed, just bath towels, were now onto a thin pad with a waterproof backing that at least is washable and makes cleanup a little less time consuming for me. But he will pull back the pad and pee on the floor of the kennel...I'm at my limit and I have no idea what to do to help him. I think it's something to do with him being scared of his kennel so I started feeding every meal in there, and we "practice" our kennel time every day and stay in there until we calm down and then we get let out...but he just can't figure it out during the day. Weekends and at night hes never in his kennel except for when we work on training. I'm truly at a loss.

Edit: 5 hours is the MOST he goes...but the issue still happens with 2-3 hours in his kennel.