Help! 6 month old pup sleep regression!

[Strad101]

We’ve got a gorgeous 6 month old Bolognese pup (they’re little white fluffy lapdogs - bit like a Maltese). She’s lovely and getting on brilliantly. She’s crate trained at night and has been sleeping through the night since we got her at 12 weeks. Except that over the last couple of nights she’s taken a big step back - and tonight she’s been whining and crying for 4 hours (it’s now 3.30am) 😢 - I’ve been down to her once, she was very distressed and panting. I calmed her down, added some soft things like extra blankets, a teddy and a couple of little treats and sloped back to bed. She’s started straight up again and I’m nearing the end of my tether and have work in the morning and sleeping children…. Any advice or similar experiences to share?

You might want to see a veterinarian and be sure she is not in first heat.
Six months is a little young, but not impossible in small breeds, and it does make them whiny and restless.

Lots of dogs go through a secondary fear stage so it could be that she's decided she's unhappy on her own as a result.

The quick fix is to either sleep downstairs with her or move her crate upstairs so she can hear, see and smell you - that's normally enough to get them to settle.

But obviously that has implications long-term if you don't want the dog upstairs et. so I would only do that if you're happy to deal with the long-term consequences.

Thanks for the responses 😊. I did wonder whether it could be both of those things - hormonal or a secondary fear stage. We really don’t want her upstairs with us at night, and she’s been incredibly settled downstairs in her crate for 3+ months now, so it would feel like a big backwards step. Is there any hope for riding this out?

Personally I would reassure her rather than ignore - so make sure the environment isn't bothering her (too warm, too bright, too noisy etc) then if that's not helping, settle her downstairs with company and gradually withdraw again once she's happy.

We had similar at 11 months (larger breed). The first night it started the only way she would settle was wrapped around my neck (she is 12kg and this was mid August). Over the two weeks I managed to progress to getting her back into her crate all night with the door open, but couldn't close it or leave the room. In the end she came upstairs. Unless she desperately needs the loo she doesnt move from her bed until we get up so it is a much better option.

I was 100% against having her upstairs but quite frankly my sleep was more important.

However our dog also does have separation anxiety and our priority is training that, so making sure she is secure and happy at night helps. If her only separation issues were at night I'd be trying harder to get her comfortable away from us.

So gold star to this response! Came into her first heat yesterday - all a bit of a shock as she feels quite young for it, and wasn’t expecting so much blood! But I think this explains the fear/separation anxiety regression.
for info - we’ve moved her crate into a family area of the house and she’s settling well into it, we’re taking it in turns to sleep downstairs with her but slowly moving the crate further away from where we’re sleeping.