Overly Submissive Dog

Question
I adopted a rescue dog 2 weeks ago.  I have the opposite problem most people have with crate training.  My dog, Snow White (a 2yr old American Eskimo), will ONLY come out of her crate to go outside.  She refuses to eat or drink when unless she is in her crate.  She lets my boyfriend and I pet her when she's in there, but she absolutely won't come out unless she knows she is going for a walk or unless I pull her out.  If I do pull her out, she'll sit on my lap for about 5 minutes and then run back to her crate.  If my boyfriend tries to pull her out she does the submissive pee thing.  Should I close her crate doors when we're home to force her to be more social?  We keep the crate in the bedroom...I tried pulling the crate out one afternoon and she split her time between sitting in the crate in its new place and sitting in the bedroom in the spot the crate used to be.  I understand she was probably abused, but we are sooo calm and quiet around her; I don't know how to make her more comfortable with us.

Answer
I don't think you should force her.  Since you only got her two weeks ago, and many such fearful dogs take a lot longer to trust their new caretakers, I think you should simply give her time.  Try to pair food with any scary things.  I think it's fine for her to feel safe in her crate and to go there when she needs to.  She can use it for a base of support.  You can both try sitting down a few feet from the crate and toss some chicken bits on the floor to entice her out, but let her come on her own time.  What she will learn is that nothing bad happens (like being dragged), and good things happen (chicken) when she leaves the crate on her own.  Try some clicker training with her, but consider using a voice marker if she's fearful of the click noise:
www.clickerlessons.com
Doing some training, once she is comfortable enough with you to come out, will give her some confidence.  If she's no better in 2-3 months, consider asking a veterinarian behaviorist for some help.  Some dogs do better if they are assisted by medication at first, just to get them over the hump.  The good news is that even though she seems very fearful, her response is to retreat, not to be aggressive.  Good luck!