# Awake at 5am, tips for returning to crate



## SJM2202 (Jan 8, 2020)

Hi, I’m new to this forum and very happy to be a member as it looks like there’s a lot of helpful information here. We have a 15 week old Cockapoo who awakes at 4:30 or 5am needing the toilet. When we first had him at eight weeks I set an alarm to get him up a couple of times each night and he had no problem settling back to sleep then. A week ago he was sleeping through until 6:30 am and that was fine but 4:30/5 am feels like a regression. He then refuses to settle in his crate after a no-fuss toilet break on our balcony. He yells and howls to such an extent that we cannot ignore him as we live in an apartment building and the noise is intolerable. His crate is in our bedroom. He is happy to go back to sleep on the floor in our lounge for a good couple of hours after this and I usually end up napping in the sofa to catch up on my sleep. So, he’s happy to sleep longer once he has eliminated but just not in his crate. If I allow him to sleep on the bedroom floor after the toilet break at this stage I worry he will never sleep in his crate again, but spending two hours each early morning on the sofa is not sustainable in the long term either. 

Has anyone experienced the same that can offer some advice? He has two walks per day, mid morning and late afternoon and two short training and play sessions per day. He has his last meal at 5pm and is taken outside again at 9pm for a short walk to toilet, followed by a final wee opportunity on the balcony immediately prior to bedtime around 10:30. He is usually tired in the evening and we make sure we gently play with him from time to time to prevent him sleeping all evening from 6pm!


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## Julia001 (Oct 24, 2019)

We also have a 15 week old. Crates by bed. She went through this a couple of weeks ago. 5am waking. We stuck her back in after a loo break and after some moaning she eventually settled. However she is now waking again ready to go at 6.30 or a bit earlier when I don’t want her up until 7/7.30. . My latest idea is a carrot!! So she goes back in but with a carrot to chew. I am also upping her food from today in case it’s hunger. Let me know if you find anything that works!! 😀


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## SJM2202 (Jan 8, 2020)

*Thanks and update*

Hi Julia thanks for your reply and tips. Since posting this message we have made some progress and I have accepted that a full sleep won’t happen consistently at this young puppy stage! We’ve had one 5:30 am wake up in the last week and I was determined to get him back to his crate so I didn’t speak to him at all, left the lights off, took him out and as soon as he had finished I put him back in his bed in his crate and returned to bed myself and ignored the cries. After a minute or two he went back to sleep and since then he has slept through until between 6:30 and 7am which although still early, is pretty normal for a young pup. I’m hoping as he grows older he will sleep a little later!


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## srp2752 (Jan 28, 2020)

*Our puppy slept through the night early on*

We got our puppy at 2 months old, and the breeder told us he should be okay through the night. We didn't believe her, so the first few days we had him, we took him out a couple times through the night, around 3 am and 6 am or so. After a week we were pretty tired so we decided to try taking him out late at night, around midnight, and then early at 5:30 or 6 am. He did okay and since then he sleeps through the night. We crated him for the first couple of months we had him but once he was potty trained, we transitioned him to the kitchen, were we have a baby gate so that he is confined in one space where he can't destroy stuff if he wakes up and he is bored. My husband and I have different schedules, so the puppy hangs out with my husband until really late while I go to sleep, and then I wake up early and hung out with the puppy until my husband wakes up. He goes for 2 long walks during the day and I always have chews that I give him to keep him entertained when he is getting bored and starts misbehaving. We feed him using kongs, or the puzzle bowls. We also have a snuffle mat where we hide treats for him to find. That tires him out. You can try training him to chew on his kong while on the crate, so that he is entertained. Our puppy is 7 months old now, but still too young to let him sleep in our bedroom as he likes to chew on the wall or things he finds out around when he is unsupervised.


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