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!

[Leslie and Halas]

Wearing Halas out seems to be the key to getting him to sleep through the night. So maybe try more playing and obedience practice in the evenings.

[Megan]

Becky, have you had any luck correcting this??

[Becky]

Hi Megan -
Amazingly, we have had luck. We ended up sticking with her original (small-ish) crate (which is still big enough for her to stand, sit and turn around in) but sprucing up the inside by buying a fleece "puppy" blanket and putting some of our old t-shirts and socks. (Before she was sleeping on an old towel that probably wasn't very comfortable). The first night she woke up at about 3:30 (after going to sleep around 11:30) and started whining, banging the side of the crate and generally making a stink. We ignored her for 15 looong minutes. She eventually stopped making noise and fell back asleep. That was Monday night and since then she has slept perfectly from 11:30ish until 7:00ish every morning! I don't know if it was the new blanket or if she is smart enough to realize that we ignore her when she whines so it's not worth whining in the middle of the night. Either way, we are soooo glad. I still think she's outgrowing the crate but I want to try to wait until she is fully grown (she's not quite 6 months now) before buying a new one so hopefully she will last in this one for a little bit longer.
Goood luck with Brooks. Two hours of barking definitely seems like he was trying to tell you something so I think you did the right thing by letting him out. Try tiring him out today and see how it goes tonight. I hope he has a good night sleep!!! Keep me posted.

[Megan]

Yeah, I think I need to just tire him out. Its been hard because we are extremely busy right now and not getting home as early in the evenings as normal. He is spending more time in his crate. I am going to have to run him crazy tonight because we both need a good nights sleep! Its a bummer too because its SO cold here now...and def. NOT fun to be outside. We'll just have to run laps around the house =) We also play a lot of fetch..well, kinda..he runs after the ball and kinda brings it back! :) Gosh, I love that little guy..but dang..have a good one.

[Megan]

Ahhhh! We had round TWO last night!! I cannot figure out what is going on! My husband thinks we need to move his crate into our bedroom, what do you think? I took him for a walk last night and played fetch with him for about 25 minutes - I tried my best to get him all exercised and tired. Also, I think Brooks may have swallowed a good part of a small plastic bag this morning. He drug it out of our bathroom trash. It wasn't a lot..but def. some. He has been acting normal and has regular a regular bowl movement this AM. Yikes..do you think he will be okay? I know puppies get into everything..but it freaked me out!

[Becky]

Sorry to hear that exercising Brooks didn't work...you could try putting the crate in your bedroom. We have Lucy's crate in our bedroom and I don't think she would like being anywhere else in the house because she'd be afraid. Once she sleeps, she is pretty quiet and I think she likes hearing us sleep because she knows she is not alone. Keep me posted on how he does!!

as for the plastic bag, just watch him closely. Lucy has eaten lots of 'non food' items - mostly the stuffing from her toys- and we just watch her closely to make sure she is normal. It is scary when they eat something that isn't food! :(

[Sandy]

Toby sleeps in a crate in our room. We tried the crate in the kitchen the first two nights he was home, and he just cried and cried. Put it in our room, and bingo, a sleeping puppy. We have a blanket and one of my husband's old t-shirts in there. I really think they just want to be near us.

[Megan]

Yeah, I'm going to move him into our room tonight. I am crossing my fingers that'll do the trick! He's up at 4 a.m. every night now and is relentless with the barking and banging. I even tried the one night to take him potty and put him back in, but that made it worse. I honestly think he wants to be in the bed, but he is still too little and doesn't understand that we sleep there..not play! He's still too nippy and would probably take a bite off my ear in the middle of the night! :) I'll keep you guys posted and really appreciate your advice!
~Megan

[Megan]

Moving Brooks to our room has really helped. He has been quiet two nights in a row - a miracle! :) Crossing my fingers that this will do the trick...thanks for all your advice!

[Leslie and Halas]

So he's probably happy just being near you. Hope your good luck continues. Did he play in the snow we got yesterday?

[Megan]

Brooks LOVES the snow...he'll ring his bell just to go out and play in it! He is completely covered when he comes back in!