Our beloved 14 week old golden retriever puppy has been mostly urinating in her crate when left alone. She is completely dry during a 7-8 hour night. The urination (and occasional defacation) occurs despite water being withheld and despite being left in her crate no more than 3-4 hours. She eliminates outside with no problem and clearly has that "down". She also has begun to signal to go out while out of her crate. All that is great. Does she just need more time to develop more control? Thanks.

Looks to me like she is maturing and wants to protest being left alone in her crate. I guess she has failed to read the stuff about dogs not fouling their den and how easy Goldens are. As my answer for almost everything, Obedience training.

Having a good pack structure reduces such problems. The dogs see all the
People and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in
The pack and a top dog. Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members
Outrank the 4 legged ones. You can learn to play the role of top dog by
Reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class
Or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with
A treat. Start at http://www.dogsbestfriend.com/. I could see letting a class go until after the first of the year. Work at home from a book. Don't spend more than 5-10 minutes at any one time. Her neck is still too tender for a regular slip collar. Most Golden puppies will do fine in a flat collar, or at most, a fabric restricted slip collar, Nightingale style, for a few more months. Top dogs have the right to leave puppies in the den when they go out.

In the meantime, a rack in her crate will make coping with her much easier. They are available with the crates, but a piece of closely spaced wire closet shelving from a home supply place is cheaper. You may want to block it up 2-3'' off the floor so her hair can't stick down in the urine. As she sees you simply sponge out the crate without being upset, she will decide it isn't worth it before long.

How big is your puppy's crate? The crate should be large enough to allow the dog to lie down, turn around and stand up. There should not be enough room for the dog to poop in one corner and then sleep in the other. If your crate is too big you will need to partition it with a piece of cardboard, or if your puppy is a serious chewer (like mine) a piece of peg board works nicely. Good luck!

A small crate or partitioning off a large crate works well sometimes with some puppies. This is most likely with a younger puppy new to the home. Sometimes it is difficult to to guess what is going on in those furry little heads.

I am sure the problem has been resolved by now.