There must be a solution to this or nobody would ever have a dog!

[inexcessive]

Can any dog owners help me? My 7 month old puppy has started waking up at around 4am (2am yesterday, went back to sleep at 4am). He whines and barks. I have to go to him as we have neighbours and i can’t just let him bark it out. When i go down he just wants to play. I am literally weeping from sleep deprivation. Currently i don’t feel much love for him and that makes me feel terrible. What the hell do i do?! Can anyone just tell me this will get better?

Yes, that’s a possibility too, @Superherobirds. Mine has a small bedtime biscuit when he goes to bed at 11pm.

I had this with one of my girls - every night, sometimes multiple times a night. I tried everything but in the end the only thing that worked was leaving her to bark it out.

I was lucky in that it only took 2 nights - earned my son and husband ahead of time so they knew what my plan was, and did it over a school holiday so DS wasn't sleep deprived going to school.

It was a tough couple of nights but so worth it in the long run. Good luck!!

Ha I have a cat. I have had to change some plans today because I am so tired. I was up with him for a couple of hours. He coughed so I was worried. Then he wanted attention and pawed my face for an hour. I am always woken in the night by him. Never have a full night’s sleep. He’s 10 now! I’ve never had a dog but I think when you have any little dependent the sleeping through the night is over.

I know many people want their dogs to share their beds but that isn't for everyone.

Don't over walk your puppy, especially if he's a large breed as their bones etc aren't ready for that. Do use mental stimulation, 10 mins tires them more than an hours running about. Use lick mats or other toys to feed him. Play games especially suitable for his breed - my young spaniel loves hide n seek, finding bits of food under several paper cups I put out, she has to wait and watch before being told to 'find it'.

Does his crate have a heavy blanket over it? Otherwise, do what others have advised, you go down, walk him into the garden to toilet bring him back in once he's done that (or if he's wanting t play) then back in his crate, cover over and leave him. This may sound daft, but I leave radio 3 on for mine during the day if I'm going out. I suppose it could be any background noise...

What time is his last feed OP?

Yes as PP said 5 minutes for every month OP 2x per day is what I was advised but LOTS Of mental stimulation!

Vet check, crate train, put him in your room, make sure he doesn’t need the toilet. He’s probably just lonely and wanting attention. I think we caved and let our puppy sleep on our bed. I loved it!

Go to him, but be very boring: check he's alright, put him back in his bed, go away again.

^^this

Your dog doesn't need longer walks. As pp has said it's 5 mins per month of age twice per day. Longer will damage it's joints while they're growing. He needs to learn when to be calm and settle down. He training you by barking and getting you to do what he wants.

Some good advice to try about bringing dinner/bedtime back a bit, splitting walks up for more stimulation, etc. You could also try playing some games where he has to sniff things out - supposed to tire them out.
But you prob need to change routine more dramatically for a bit to break pattern - either “crying it out” or bring his crate up to your room. We chose the latter with our adult rescue and she sleeps right through whenever she’s in with us. But she snores and farts so we’ve gradually moved her out onto the landing and then into the spare room, which was easy enough now she’s settled and knows we’re just next door.

For the love of all things holy do NOT cave and let him in your bed! We caved completely with every single aspect of our spaniel because we felt guilty and he is the most unruly little bastard. Thousands spent on training and he literally couldn’t give a shit about anything 😂😂🙈🙈 either do the properly old school ignoring and it will stop after a few nights, or go and check, cuddle and tuck back in then leave.

Ahh this is the regression age 😁 puppies around this age can "forget" some of their training and revert back to much younger behavior such as waking more frequently, ignoring recall training etc. They do get over it but it can take a few weeks.

Dogs are pack animals and will never appreciate being downstairs from everyone else.
As a pp said, giver her a bed in the bedroom and I strongly suspect that will be the end of the problem.

There is no actual evidence re the 5 minutes of walking per month of life, it's entirely made up even though it is widely recommended. There is no evidence that walking harms puppies, other than a study of large breeds and stairs.

Yep, regression is definitely a thing. Both my lakelands went through a phase around 5 months where they appeared to forget everything they'd learned (apart from the naughty things lol) and it took around 3-4 weeks each time to get them re-educated. They both went through a real wilful phase in the run-up to their first birthday,
as well.

My first dog was always allowed in the bedroom. When I got the first puppy, he was crate trained and settled quite happily into his bedtime routine. When the first dog died, the "puppy" was allowed to choose where he slept which, unsurprisingly, was on my bed.

When we got the second puppy, she was a bit more of a challenge but after a couple of weeks, she settled. When she was about 4 months old, she got an upset stomach, so I moved her crate into my bedroom so that I'd hear if she was ill. She kept on and on rattling at the door of her crate so eventually l got her out and let her on the bed, with every intention of popping her back in her crate as soon as she was properly asleep.

I fell asleep before she did, and woke up in the morning with both dogs snuggled up on the bed, and she slept on the bed from then on.

Now she's an old lady, she sometimes prefers to sleep on the floor at the side of the bed. She's not so keen on jumping off the bed any more, and has to be lifted on.

Anyway, another thing that might help him settle is a short stroll, just round the block or something, last thing at night. I have a few friends and neighbours who swear by this, and there is something very pleasant and relaxing about a stroll through silent streets with a dog. (Well, maybe not if you live in some dodgy inner city...)

Im not saying you should do this but i had the same issue. Turns out he was lonely, popped him in my bed and he sleeps all night all cuddled up (i call him my hot water bottle now). Is he warm enough? does he have enough blankets? They are worse than babies imo x

The answer to most dog problems is more frequent and/or longer walks. Try this first.

I disagree. I thought his walks were too long as it is. I've always believed fivr minutes per month of age. Could he be overstimulated from too much exercise? How many calming activities do you do with him through the day?

My dogs started doing this recently. I've plugged in some pretty remedy and it's really made a difference. Sometimes just do a quick walk round the block before bed

Dogs are not meant to be alone, get him upstairs during the night, lots of exercise during the day a quick wee walk before bed as late as possible. He’s bored and lonely, if he’s in your room he’s no longer lonely. Pups are like babies this phase won’t last forever just do what you can to get through it.

Check he is warm and not hungry. But if it carries him on then just go downstairs and check on him, don’t play or talk to him. Then go back upstairs.

I've never had a dog or cat that didn't sleep with me . Dogs are pack animals and you are his family , of course he will be sad to be alone .
When I was growing up no one had crates , I know there are lots of justifications for them but I could never use one.
The post up thread about the poodle breaks my heart . Poodles don't sleep in garages . There are lap dogs , they want to be on your lap .
OP would you consider letting the pup come up to bed with everyone else ?
It would make such a difference to his life and we only get to have then for a short time in the grand scheme of things.

There isn't anything that makes a noise at that time is there? Boiler kicking in? Neighbour leaving for work? Just curious.....

As per PP, he either needs to be left (appreciate the neighbours situation though) or be very matter of fact if you go down, check on him, take him to the toilet, back to bed. No petting, no speaking, no affection.

He is doing this because he wants a reaction from you i.e. you coming downstairs to see him. He doesn't care if that reaction is to tell him off or to cuddle him.

I'll be honest, ours sleeps in our room now and he sleeps through the night perfectly (he's still asleep now), but we did manage to get him sleeping soundly downstairs first by just ignoring him.

We also gave him a hotwater bottle (with warm water) wrapped in one of our t shirts in his bed. That seemed to settle him.

@Doggodogington
“He’s barking because he knows you’ll come down. You should try ignoring him for a few days, leave him bark until he realises it won’t get him anywhere. It’s what worked with ours”

Nice. The old ‘Romanian orphanage’ tactic

OP - for future dog advice you could try The Doghouse in the Pets section of Mumsnet Talk, though you have got a good lot of feedback here this time, so perhaps it doesn't matter!

Was absolutely great until xmas and we went away and it all went to shit.

This is exactly the same experience as me. I can’t help though as we just gave in and put him in our bed. 😂