Sleep regression?

[Becky]

Hi all. I hope you can help me out. Lucy is almost 6 months old. She had been sleeping through the night (11:30 - 6:30/7:00) for the past month no problem. We had a routine going where she would sleep through the night, then wake up and go out to potty in the morning and then come on our bed and sleep there while my husband was getting ready for work. Over the past week or so she has been whining and waking us up in the middle of the night. Since this is out of character for her, we have been letting her out of the crate to go outside and go potty. The problem is that when we try to put her back in her crate, she cries and whines and makes a racket banging on the door of the crate. I think she prefers to sleep with us in the bed and now thinks that after going potty she is entitled to come up on the bed with us even if it isn't morning yet. The strange thing is that she goes to sleep no problem on her own in her crate but obviously something is waking her up in the middle of the night. I don't think it is just that she has to potty because she clearly was capable of holding it for the entire night. One theory I have is that her sleep crate is now too small for her. She tends to fall asleep curled up in a tight ball but after a little while, she stretches out and lays on her back (so cute!!) and is pretty long. I'm wondering if her crate is now too small for her and that is what is waking her up? The crate fits her but it's a smaller, tighter fit than her daytime crate. My husband's theory is that she just likes sleeping in bed with us because it's warmer and more comfortable. We have tried to ignore her but it's very tough because she is so persistant. Last night after she came back in from going potty at 3:00 am we put her back in her crate and she banged and wacked the crate with her paws and whined and cried very loudly for almost 15 minutes. Eventually, ignoring her became impossible because i was afraid she was going to hurt herself!
Any thoughts or suggestions on what type of crate or sleep bed has worked in the past? We have a larger crate downstairs that she uses during the day. My husband wants us to put her to sleep down there but I think she'll be really freaked out to sleep alone. How long have people ignored a whining, frantic puppy in the middle of the night? I'm all for teaching her to go back to sleep on her own but 10 minutes of loud banging is a long time!

[Paula]

My dog is younger but we had the exact same issue 3 weeks ago. I had the crate sectioned off so that she wouldn't have accidents. It occured to me that she preferred to sleep streched out so I removed the partiton and it has been smooth sailing ever since. Now we are back to our regular routine which is just like yours only she goes to bed at 8pm, potty at 4:40am when daddy is getting ready for work and then in bed with me until we get up at 5:20am!

[Leslie and Halas]

I let Halas sleep in my bed now, but he still has nights once in awhile when he'll wake up a couple of times and wakes me up to go outside. So my situation is a little different than yours. But I've noticed that it happens on the nights that he isn't as tired as normal. Maybe we haven't played enough, or it was just a lazy night, or something like that. If we've played and trained a lot, and he's really tired, he sleeps through the night and barely wants to get up in the morning. I'M the one that has to get up in the middle of the night, and he won't even want to go out then if he's tired enough. So that's one possibility. It can be tough to potty train if the crate is too big, but it sounds like you're safe on the potty training, so a bigger crate probably would be fine. They do love to stretch out.

[Megan]

Brooks has always been a pretty good sleeper (thank goodness), but there are times when he goes in his crate and will wake up in the middle of the night whining like he has to use the potty. Most of the time, we'll ignore him and he'll go back to sleep, but I have found that this is times when he has been in his crate longer than normal during the day or he isn't getting his exercise. I have never thought about making the crate bigger..that's a good idea. I have always kept it pretty tight because I don't want him to pee in his crate (we had a few accidents in the past). Our issue is that we've tried to get him to sleep in the bed with us at night but he won't lay down, he'll start digging at the sheets or attack my face! haha..I guess in a sense its a good thing, but I really want to snuggle with him at night. Anyone else have trouble getting their pup to understand the whole "bed" concept?

[Becky]

It's funny because Lucy is the perfect cuddler when she is in bed with us. She sleeps well either in between us (with her head on one of our pillows) or at our feet. She doesn't move and will stay put for awhile. I don't really mind her sleeping with us but I want to get her in the habit of sleeping in her crate so it isn't a shock to her when we leave her with our parents overnight...

[Leslie and Halas]

I remember that it just took Halas a couple of nights to get used to it. I think I tried it on Friday or Saturday night only for a couple of weeks, and then built up to every night. Just so he would hopefully realize there might be some nights when he wouldn't get to sleep in the bed. The first time he was all over the place, and it took him forever to settle down. By the 2nd or 3rd time, he was getting it. I think you just have to turn off the lights, tell him to lay down, and try to ignore him, so that you don't end up encouraging the playing. It's like you have to teach them that the bed is for sleeping.

[Jackie]

I did the same thing with Beckett. It took him a few nights to figure it out, but now he's fine.He cuddles right up. ..no walking, etc. One good side effect is that he sleeps A LOT later! He was getting up at 6:30.. But after a few nights sleeping in bed with me, he sleeps until I get up at 7:30 on work days. He sleeps until 9:00 (or a few times even later) on weekends. He can sleep in bed with me forever if he sleeps that late...lol.

[Leslie and Halas]

Same with Halas. He definitely sleeps later in the bed than he did in his kennel. I think they just like being with their people. So if they wake up in the kennel, they'll whine and wake you up. If they wake up in bed, they just cuddle up to you a little more and go back to sleep.

[Megan]

Awww, I'm so jealous!! We'll have to give it a try on the weekends..he's just too wild right now. I don't know if his nose goes crazy in the bed because its smells like us or what, but he literally digs and digs at the sheets. We'll see..I really don't want him sleeping with us every night because he'll never go back in his crate, but an occasional snuggle would make my day!

[Leslie and Halas]

Halas was at least 6 months old when I even started trying this, so maybe it's just a little too early for Brooks.

[Megan]

I bet you are right - he just doesn't get it yet. I think it would be better if we focus on getting him housetrained and sleeping well in his crate before we even attempt the bed. :)

[Leslie and Halas]

That was my goal. Then they are solid on the going outside to pee thing and not peeing in their bed. That helps them know not to pee in your bed, which is nice.

[Megan]

Oh dear..I'm having the same issue now this week. Brooks has been doing EXCELLENT with his crate, sleeping through the night til about 6 a.m. It's all changed this week. He is repeatedly getting up at 2 or 3 am whining, barking, banging around in his crate. Last night, we finally got up at 4 (after two hours of barking) and let him outside. Didn't work..I put him back in his crate and the barking started up again. I was at my wits end so I just got up at 4 a.m. and took him out and let him roam around the living room while I tried to sleep on the couch. I'm honestly a little nervous that this is going to become a habit..especially since I gave in and took him out and let him do his own thing. Perhaps I need to exercise him more...he does have to be crated quite a bit during the day..so maybe he's just not tired? Wish me luck not falling asleep at work today. :) Thanks for any tips!