A bit of an extreme simile admittedly but it does seem a very odd way of training a pup not to wee in its crate - just give it enough room for the bed, so that it will have to wet the bed and then spend the rest of the night in it!
We made a separate area away from the sleeping area and they coped very well, unless one has been ill they have never weed in the crate since we stopped using the puppy pads, so our strategy worked and they were very easy to remove, with just a wipe out of the crate, no puddle to mop up.
But then I read all sorts of oddness on t'interweb that purports to be good advice, that leaves me shaking my head in disbelief.