Tobie barking at 5am!!!!

[Andrew and Amy]

Hey all. 
I just signed up today but have been puttering around on the site for the last 4 months. 

Tobie is 6 months old today!

For about a week now tobie will start barking at 5 a.m.
I usually get up every day at 6 am. 

Background info:
We have a. Crate for him. We have used it since we got him.
It's down by the entrance to our house. Our bedroom is upstairs.


This just started. I try to ignore it just because I don't want him thinking that is how he gets out of the crate. It's constant and very loud. He did it this morning for 40 min straight.
He has never done this. He has barked before in the night but it wa like 2 weeks ago when we were changing his food and he had a day or two of the runs.

Tobie is not neutered yet. Soon. 

Does anyone have any tips? Could this be him starting to be more "older" 


Thanks in advance!!!!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

We stopped crating our dogs at night when Fudge was about 4 months and we stopped with Vern after about two weeks...LOL!  I kept them in our bedroom with our bedroom door shut and they preferred to sleep on the floor or their dog bed. We never had any accidents, but you know Tobie better than I do. Personally, I think he probably wants to be where you are, but again, you have to make that decision as to whether or not that is an option for you because once you start something, they never forget. The sleeping in our bedroom worked for a long time, but then Vern started standing by the door and pacing, so one day I just opened the door in my desperate need to get some sleep and now the dogs sleep wherever they want. Fudge is three and Vern is two. I think they go through sleep phases and Tobie may be in a new one.  If you think it might be outside noises, you could always run a fan or a white noise machine. Good luck!