Sammy Barking In Crate One Hour Earlier Then We Get Up

[Steve, Maria & Sammy]

Hello - Wanted to see if anyone has experienced anything similar:

Sammy (4 mos old, we have had him for 2 mos) has been great about his crate, especially at night, but lately he has been getting up about an hour before we usually get up and barks until we let him out. (We get up each morning at 6:45am and he has been getting up between 5:15am-5:30am). The first 2 times he did it, I took him straight out to go to the bathroom and then put him back in his crate where he continued to bark each time. I tried staying up later and letting him hang out until around midnight, thinking maybe we were retiring for the night too early and he simply "had to go", but that is not the case. Each time this week this has happened, we went to bed for the night at different times (10, 10:45, and 12am). Is it just a phase? I need every minute of sleep I can get! Prior to this week, if our alarms didn't go off for work (meaning Saturday or Sunday), he would sometimes sleep until 7:30-8am. Any ideas?

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

I did the crate banging as well. Worked like a charm for two puppies.

[Dot, Maggie and KoKo]

KoKo is 17 months old and still gets me up earlier than I would like.  She  barked until I would get up.  One morning I just decided to let her bark while I just lay there quietly.  She finally stopped barking and settled down.  It did take almost an hour.  Now she wakes me up with a soft woof and usually its about an hour later than her original wake time.  I'll take that extra hour any day.  I may try the crate banging one of these days.  I don't think she is every going to "grow up".

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Glad it has passed for now-Myla will be 4 next month and ALWAYS gets me up at 3:30-4:30 every weekend!!!