My 18 week old puppy, who was up until last week sleeping through the night pretty reliably, has started waking up in the night. She's in a covered crate downstairs. She's always gone to bed fine - happy enough to go to sleep in there at night.
She's been waking between 1am - 2am and crying. I've tried seeing if she'll settle by herself (not for long - 5/10 mins). I've tried letting her into the garden for a wee (she ALWAYS goes, but I know she can last the night because she was sleeping through before). I've tried reassuring her and settling her back to sleep but as soon as I creep away she starts to bark.
I'm so tired, that I've given up and slept on the sofa with her - she curls up and goes to sleep immediately. So I guess what she wants is to be close. But I also feel as though this has been a mistake and now she's getting used to it.
My question is what to do now. Things can't continue like this - I feel broken and really want to sort the issue before it becomes any more engrained.
I feel like my options are:
- Put the crate in my room (I'm nervous that if the same issue persists she'll end up in my bed which is a hard no)
- Let her free roam downstairs (the house is open plan so no option to shut her in a room. She had a pen but could jump over it so that wouldn't be much use here)
- Let her sleep in her bed upstairs either on the landing or in our room (again, I'm worried this will mean she's more likely to jump up on our bed)
Has anyone here experienced anything similar? I've tried to work out what's waking her up but can't figure it out. I wonder if her crate is a bit small (although I've measured it based on advice and she can stand, lie down and turn around in it) but I'm reluctant to buy a bigger one if it's just that she isn't happy sleeping in a crate full stop.
Please tell me what you'd try next? I feel really muddled about it all and don't know what to do for the best. Is this just a trial and error situation or will trying different things make it more confusing for her?
Thanks wise people :)