Early morning barking

[Jen]

Brutus is six months old and up until a couple of weeks ago, he was great in his crate. He never cried or barked at night, and when he'd wake up, he would just play in his crate until we took him out. Not anymore! I don't know what's changed, but he has started waking up at 5 everyday and barking. We take him out right before bed around 11pm, and again around 6:15-6:30 in the mornings. This schedule has always seemed to work fine for him until recently. Any idea why he's started doing this and suggestions to curb it?! Ignoring him doesn't work. Waking up at 5am everyday, including weekends, to his angry barking is not fun - for us or our neighbors! Help!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Is it lighter now and that's waking him up?  You might try draping his crate with a blanket to keep out any light.  Does he seem to be drinking more, especially in the evening?  If you can't pinpoint any changes, you may just have to "ride this out" so that it doesn't become his "norm".

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

You might have a new neighbor or a neighbor with a new schedule? Perhaps he hears a car leaving or doors shutting that set him off.   This happened to us when we got neighbors with a long commute - left early and came home late.