dog peeing in crate over night

Question
I adopted a 2 year old beagle one month ago who was pretty much house broken when we got her.  She had a few accidents the first couple of weeks but none since.  I make sure she gets out every 3-4 hours.  My problem is that she has been peeing in her crate at night.  I have a towel in the crate with her but that's the only bedding.  I thought that maybe she was anxious being crated downstairs while the family slept upstairs so we moved the crate into my daughter's room so she would see her when she woke up but she had still peed in the crate sometime that night.  She goes out at about 9:30 at night and then we crate her for the night.  We get up around 7:00 and she has already peed.  What do you suggest?  

Answer
Hi, Julie,

First, rule out any medical reason - have her checked for urinary tract infection.

I'm sending several documents dealing with housetraining; one I believe mentions leaving the floor of the crate bare, no bedding, towels, etc.  It is suggested that dogs don't mind laying on wet bedding but prefer not to lay in a puddle.

Take up all water after 7 or 8 pm, depending on the family's bedtime.  Make sure she goes out to eliminate immediately before going into the crate for bed.

I think keeping the crate in the daughter's room is great, or at least on the main floor of the home.  Dogs are happiest when they are near their people, and having to sleep downstairs alone can be very lonesome for a dog.

http://www.marinhumanesociety.org/Behavior/Handouts/Housetraining.pdf
http://www.gaylecousineau.com/divadogtraining/hb_shelter_dog.pdf
http://www.ddfl.org/behavior/retrain-dog.pdf     
http://www.hsmo.org/m_obedience/documents/CanineHousesoilingProblems.pdf

One thing that is rare but can happen is what they call "spayed female syndrome," which means that the dog literally wets the bed when sleeping.  We had a female that did this, and it's the same as a child who wets the bed.  They're asleep, their muscles are relaxed, and some pee dribbles out.  Spaying the dog removes the source of estrogen which helps keep the sphincter muscle toned.