Hello, my 5 month old English lab has never slept very well in his crate but is now waking every morning between 5-5:30am. He gets plenty of exercise and stimulation during the day and we try to keep him from napping late in the evening but sometimes it does happen. He seems to be ready for sleep around 10:30 and we let him sleep on a mat in the floor with us while we watch tv And then take him out to potty one last time between 11:30-12am. He does fine falling asleep in his crate but every morning between 5am and 5:30am he wants out of his crate. He does not need to go potty - when I take him outside he just lays down. I’m completely boring and try to put him back in his crate but he either just barks in there or refuses to go back in. I’ve taken to trying to sleep on the couch once he’s up and he’ll sometimes go back to sleep on his bed in the living room until it’s time for his breakfast. Is there any hope of changing this early morning waking behavior without having to let him just bark in his crate? He has the loudest bark and is extremely persistent and his bark wakes everyone up. Hoping for a solution!!!
Our pup is 5 & 1/2 months old now. He used to wake up anytime between 4:30 and 5:30 for a while up to becoming 5 months. I believe this is expected based on how long can they hold. Lately he started to sleep till 6. If he's active late at night, then once he went all the way to 7 am which was exactly like a baby sleeping thru the night for the first time! He is generally well adapted to the crate. We do keep dog relaxation music running where he sleeps. I am not sure if that actually makes any difference though. But sometimes he would take it as a cue and go to crate on his own. We also take away his water and food after 8:30 pm. When I asked our vet the same question when he was about reaching 5 months, they told me that if they are sleeping 11 to 5 am, then we're lucky! It should improve soon if not already.
