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?

my neighbour keeps a dog in a fenced off part of the back garden. He's pretty well trained and the owner always gets up and brings him in at 7am, no noise.
The problem is when he's away and someone else (young adult DC) are looking after dog, he is very often left to whine until they can get out of bed, annoying all and upsetting for the dog.

Whatever you choose to do, make sure it can be consistent.

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

good god NO! he's 7 months old - an hour is already too long to be walking a 7 month old

Bring him upstairs, he's a pack animal and needs company.

Let him sleep with you. Probably the only thing that will actually work.

Radio and a hot water bottle wrapped in an old jumper that smells of you?

What breed is the dog? Certain breeds can be very different. For example, my friend's husky went absolutely batshit when he was locked in the kitchen overnight. Only settled when they got a second dog. Huskies are pack animals so he was lonely. All fine now providing he gets a billion walks a day.

I would try to eliminate causes. Make sure the puppy isn't hungry or cold. Maybe have radio on low or a ticking clock in his bed. Another friend gave hers a cuddly toy and she was okay cuddling that. Maybe get a toy so if he is bored, he has something to do. Or try crate training.

Our cats were honestly like babies as kittens. Cried all night, wanted constant cuddles always hungry. We are getting a dog soon and not looking forward to the return.

Just let him go upstairs, when we got our pup we said no upstairs someone slept on sofa with him in lounge for three nights, then we gave up and let him sleep upstairs he has a memory foam mattress at the end of our bed on the floor he loves it sleeps through and doesn’t get out of his bed until the last person is out of bed.

Once he’s up however he is a different story, full of beans constantly!

Why not just put a dog bed in your room?

I can absolutely promise you it does get better! I had this with my girl and she’s now 16 months and a dream! I think you have a few options
1, bed in your room or crate. Mine sleeps in my room but mostly on the floor, snuggles up around 3am.
2, speak to your neighbours and apologise, let them know your doing some training so may be noise for a few nights (compensate with wine/beer/chocolate) and try and do it for when they are not working then let him bark. He’ll learn soon (unless he does need a wee etc then he won’t 😂) My girl used to wake me up 3/4 times a night for a wee when she didn’t actually need it. I started firmly telling her no and she’s go back to sleep
3, go downstairs and take him for a wee bit no reward, don’t talk to him, don’t stroke. No interaction so he knows it’s not a treat
4, go downstairs and firmly tell him no and keep repeating til he settles then go back to bed!

All tried, option 2 worked for me best! Good luck

Our pup was similar and I’m sorry to say but the day we let her sleep in our bed was the day she turned into the perfect dog... she sleeps at our feet and has done ever since 🤷🏻‍♀️

This is normal. Set your alarm for 1.30 and 3.30. Go down , totally ignore the dog and put him out in the garden for a wee. Get the dog back in, say bed and night, go back to bed. This could take about a week but should work.

He's lonely. My dog sleeps on the bed, at the bottom by our feet. Obvs it only works if it's a small dog.

I am sure someone will have mentioned it but have you considered a cage.... our dog goes in one with a bed and water bowl when we go out but she did use it of a night too.... when she is scared or lonely she thinks of it as her place of safety

Whatever do you mean @Single! Only works if it's a small dog???We have 2 large labradors and a little pug in our bed🤣

Stick to your guns, @inexcessive, if that is what's best for your household....YANBU, at all

Our rescue dog isn't great at settling on a night, we have had him for 7 years and he goes through phases of barking an hour or so after we put him to bed. I can faintly hear him, no neighbours on that side of the house and other neighbours say they can't hear him.

He barks for 20 minutes at most and then goes to sleep. We have tried everything, an oil filled radiator on low, radio, different beds, night light. Nothing has worked and I suppose he just doesn't want to be on his own. I refuse to let him sleep on our bed, he takes up so much space that I can't sleep properly.

Sorry I don't really have the answer but I do sympathise, I used to get very worked up about it. I think you are really going to have to persevere with giving as little attention as possible if you want your pup to get used to sleeping alone.

Oh poor you OP. Dogs are pack animals though and don’t like being on their own. My puppy has a bed in our bedroom so she can sleep near us and has her proper bed in the sitting room. She only makes a whine when she needs a wee. Also sometimes she was a bit cold so a cost fleece blanket sorted that out!
Good luck x

Believe me on this one! Pup needs to sleep near you for a while...still a baby and needing his dog parents near him/her. Anxiety makes them bark, whine etc. Once feeling safe and secure, s/he'll be fine.
Honestly!

I’d move them into the bedroom. I tried the downstairs but she didn’t like it and cried. I thought that she is only here for maybe 12 years and she deserved a bit of pampering.

Let him sleep in your bedroom but not on the bed, and you will have no further problems. We have 2 Samoyeds, they sleep on the bedroom floor. We always have rescue Samoyeds and I won't have them on the bed since the first one, because they are big and it's impossible to pull the duvet out from under them. They soon learn their place but being rescues tend to be insecure if they are not close by, although they do sometimes choose to go downstairs during the night.

Our dog sleeps in our room. We were weak (probably) but no complaints about noisy barking.

When I was about 20 and still lived at home, my old labrador passed away and my parents decided that we could have 2 labrador puppies (so they would keep each other company when we weren't home). They slept in the kitchen and it was fine as parents went to bed late and I got up very early, so only about 4 hours between. Parents went on holiday, and after 2 nights of very little sleep, I put them in my bed. They slept all night and stayed there until I left home. It got interesting after a couple of months as I probably didn't think through how big labradors were and that i only had a single bed 😂

Try a crate and put a blanket over it. Worked for us!

Ours sleeps in my room. My dh works away a lot and I use this time to go to bed early so Some nights we go up at 8pm and he sleeps til 7am. He's 2 now and grunts if we stay up late cos he wants bed 😳

Mine did this for weeks as a puppy until I finally caved and allowed him to come upstairs. I hated hearing him whine, it used to really upset me. From the minute he was allowed in the bedroom, perfect sleeper.
He’s now 8 and sleeps at the bottom of my bed every night (or when it’s cold in between my legs under the covers )

Bring him up to your bedroom, when we first got our dog I was all for the "rules" it didn't work like that in the end though and now he has the whole house except bedrooms if were out and wherever when were home he's much better behaved and relaxed with that situation good luck x