Why does my dog urinate in her crate?

Question
Hi, I have 2 9 month old boxer bitches (sisters) - they are great and are quite well trained.  In the evening they go out to the toilet and then go into their huge crate for the night.  They have loads of room and cuddle in together.  The problem is that one of them (I think I know which one) keeps urinating in the crate.  I reason why I think it's her is because she used to wet in her soft bed in the livingroom and she's wet on our bed a couple of times.  It's like when she needs she goes onto a bed of some sort and relieves herself.  She does also let me know when she needs out by standing at the door so why does she wet on the beds?  I need some ideas.  Thanks, Natalie

Answer
First, have her/them examined to make sure that there is not a bladder infection or something going on.

Are these dogs spayed? You did not mention that. On occasion, some spayed bitches have incontinence, commonly referred to as "spay incontinence", when they are sleeping. One of our bitches has this, and she sleeps in my daughter's bed in a little round dog bed that has a washable cushion. This is something that is not done intentionally, but is due to weak muscles that control the bladder. You might talk to your vet about drugs that might help to control this.

It could also be that your bitch just likes to mark certain areas to claim that they are hers, and not her sister's. There is not a lot to do about that one, except maybe put doggy britches on her; this would work for the spay incontinence, too.

And lastly, maybe they just have too large a crate. If it was smaller, maybe the bitch would try harder to hold her urine.