Advice Needed: I'm a new owner!

[PittMommie]

Hi everyone, my husband bought me an 11-week old pittbull (I'm not sure what that is in dog years...?), her name is Missy. (We got her Jan 13, 2012 and she was born about 6 weeks before that.) She is such a sweetie and LOVES our 5 year old son SO much! I just hate that we have to leave her all day (9a to about 4:30p). I need help on how to feed her so that she is less likely to pee/poop during the day in her kennel. Also, she is biting her paws and now has a raw spot on one of them and has a hard time walking on it. Have I done something wrong??? Please help answer these questions.
Thanks in advance!!

[spammie]

Welcome to PBF. Your asking a lot of a young puppy, generally, they can hold their bladder one hour for each month of age. There's many sites about potty training, here is an excerpt from one
When you're away
A puppy under six months of age cannot be expected to control his bladder for more than a few hours at a time (approximately one hour for each month of age). If you have to be away from home more than four or five hours a day, this may not be the best time for you to get a puppy; instead, you may want to consider an older dog, who can wait for your return.

If you already have a puppy and must be away for long periods of time, you'll need to:

Arrange for someone, such as a responsible neighbor or a professional pet sitter, to take him outside to eliminate.
Train him to eliminate in a specific place indoors. Be aware, however, that doing so can prolong the process of housetraining. Teaching your puppy to eliminate on newspaper may create a life-long surface preference, meaning that even as an adult he may eliminate on any newspaper lying around the living room.

You may have to get a x-pen and create a space for the bathroom with pads.
Anyway, there's a lot of sound wisdom here. Read all you can.