I have a 16 week old male GSP (Chase) who persistently wets his crate during the day while I am at work.  He can go all night without a problem and is completely housebroken. This GSP is otherwise so well behaved it scares me.  His only issue relates to day-time crate wetting when I am at work.  I attribute this to anxiety given that he is never in the crate for more than (3) hours at a time.  It only occurs if I am not home. Any suggestions would be appreciated. 

How big is the crate you have him in during the day?  Sometimes if the crate is too big and they can go away from where they sleep they will do that.  If this is the case, get something and block off part of the crate to make it smaller. 

Also, watch how much water he drinks right before you put him in the crate.  I also create a ritual when they are little for when I am leaving them.  I hide a treat or two in the crate for them to find.  While they are busy finding their treat, I quietly leave.  All my dogs look forward to when I go somewhere as they get to find treats.  You might also want to leave a TV or radio on while you are gone as this sometimes helps as well.

I do have a concern that my crate is too big.  However, he's growing so fast that it will be perfect for him in a month or too.  His bladder control is excellent.  My parents have a female litter mate and her bladder control is poor.  However, she never wets her crate although she is not as "sensitive" as my guy.  As for water, Chase will literally tear through a water bowl without stopping.  He doesn't drink small amounts over time like other dogs I've had.

So I am assuming you are still feed him in the morning, probably a kibble.  Feed him early enough so that he can drink (they need water with the kibble), but also allow at least thirty minutes after he drinks.  Take him out and then don't give him any more water before he goes in the crate.  Same process for any other time of the day as well when you know he is going in his crate for 2 - 3 hours.  See if that doesn't help.  Also, leave on the radio and give him something to keep him occupied while in his crate, maybe a Kong stuffed with peanut butter.

Routinely keeping a dog bred to be active stuck in a crate more than 12 hours a day (including night time) borders on cruelty in my opinion and most certainly creates problems.

You need to find some way to keep your dog outdoors where he can go at will and have some quality play time while you are at work.

Dogs forced to be crated so much run a very high risk of bladder and kidney problems as well as developing personality problems.

You really need to rethink the quality of life you are providing for this pup. CR

Kindly show me how you calculate that the dog is in the crate 12 hours a day?  You need to rethink your criticism before you post such nonsense.  The dog is up at 5:30 and I leave for work at 8:00.  He gets out at 10 for 1/2 to 1 hour and again at lunch for at least that long.  The same schedule applies to the afternoon.  He is NOT in his crate at night but rather on his own bed next to mine.  He is run EVERY DAY, rain or shine.  I have owned two GSPs in the past and both lived wonderful and active lives.  Your opinion is wrong and you should probably keep it to yourself instead of generating an unresponsive reply based upon a 7 line post. 

I got it from here: 

Perhaps you should be more specific, because this certainly gives the impression the dog is crated both all night, and during the day while you are at work. 

Apparently that is not the case.  

Don't ask for advice or opinions from people with more experience with the breed if you aren't willing to listen and learn.  Since you apparently already had all the answers why ask at all?

Getting snarky about well intentioned advice is a sure way not to get any more in the future. 

We've owned multiple GSP's constantly since 1969 and I currently own 20 adults and 12 under 7 months of age.  I didn't show up on this thread to make you feel picked on, I showed up to offer advice to give your dog a better quality of life and to save him problems in the future along with saving you the expense of treating problems created with too much crating.

My advice remains the same, the dog needs more time outdoors in the yard or a kennel in order to remain physically and mentally healthy and happy and doing so will eliminate not only the current problem but future problems.

Laura there are things I get upset over. Things such as this are not amongst them. A little more clarity in the OP would have avoided the whole thing.

As I'm sure you've seen from other posts, I'm vehemently opposed to the whole idea invented for yuppies that dogs are just fine when crated most of their lives. I will continue to say so.

I've seen way, way to many dogs end up miserable and full of problems because their owners, well intentioned or not, followed the advice given by others that it's just fine to think of the dog as a piece of furniture or something to be shoved into the closet when it's not convenient to give them what they need to be happy and healthy.

First, the original post could have been misleading depending on where your head was at when you read it.  So, I think everyone can agree that there was room for interpretation there.

Second, crating has different meanings and people use it differently. 

For me, I crate my dogs (at least Ringo and Halo) when I deem it necessary for their safety or mine.  So, if I have to leave the house for whatever reason, Ringo goes in a crate as he cannot be trusted yet.  If it is nice weather I leave my dogs in the backyard.  They have a nice kennel to go into if the weather gets bad or they want to get away. If I am at a dog show Halo and Ringo both get crated.  I never crate Belle as she is claustrophic.  Thankfully, I work from home, so my dogs rarely are crated for any length of time.

Others crate their dogs when they go to work (I used to do that when I worked out of the home).  There is nothing wrong with that as long as they get the attention and exercise they need.  Is it optimal, no.  However, I would prefer to see a dog in a good home even if that means crating during the day, than somewhere where the dog is not loved.

Although I can't speak for Wildrose, my interpretation of what he was trying to say was that he did not like seeing dogs thrown in crates all day and basically forgotten, only to be brought out when the owner decides he wants a few minutes with the dog, then back to the crate and out of sight.  No one wants to see a dog in this situation.  It is cruel.  I do not think that includes folks that have to crate their dog while at work so long as those folks are spending good quality time with the dog and also that the dog is getting the adequate amount of exercise.

Well I realize that in todays world of political correctness it's often thought by many that it's rude or out of place to speak judgementally of others.

Obviously as I pointed out in my first post on this thread and subsequently I feel that keeping dogs crated upwards of sixteen to twenty hours a day continually (read my first reply carefully) was tantamount to abuse and obviously neglect.

Unfortunately there are a great many people who live in urban settings, even apartments whom have been convinced by others that dogs do "just fine" in such a condition.  Those same owners end up then wondering why Rover and/or Lilly end up with a bus load of physcal, and emotional issues and end up being destructive children whom end up being sent off to rescue programs six months or a year.

Yes, I'm very passionate about my dogs, and all dogs for that matter.  As I read the OP, to mean that the dogs were being crated much more than six hours per day with good breaks in between and more like sixteen I felt like this was a horrible situation someone should say something about for the dog's sake.  I care a lot more about dogs even dogs I don't know than I do people I don't know and in voicing my concerns I offend a few people I don't really care as long as somewhere down the line it saves a dog from what I consider to be an intolerable life situation.

Fortunately though when the poster cleared up what was actually going on I saw that the dog wasn't in a horrible situation; just one I thought would be greatly improved with more time outdoors to play and more exercise.

PS.  You're good people who takes good care of their dogs which is why I respect you even when I disagree with you.