Hello everyone. We have an 18 week cocker called Molly who we have had from 10 weeks. She has been great so far, and we love having our first puppy. Appologies for the long post , but I was hoping for some advice or see if any one else has experienced this.
She sleeps downstairs in a crate with the door shut. Apart from the first week she was generally sleeping 7 hrs, which was fine. About 3 weeks ago, she started waking about an hour after going to bed, so my husband would take her out silently to toilet, and she would then sleep through.
About a week ago she started waking more frequently. The first time I did silently take her to toilet and she went straight back to bed, but she seems to settle better for my husband than me (fine as long as he is here!) One night I didn't go down and she literally cried for hours. When I finally did go down at 5.45 she had soiled her crate. This is unusual, she is clean normally. So some nights she will go through and others she is crying most of the night. We haven't gone down to her past 12.30, which is our cutoff. She has been clean in the morning.
Now I have ear plugs!!! But she is waking up the children. We always wait until she is quiet, before letting out of her crate. I work 2 days a week but we have a dog walker,and my husband often works from home. When she is left during the day, for short periods, she doesn't cry, or quickly settles.
If anyone has any advice or experience of this and what to do, I would be greatful. It's spoiling what has generally been a nice experience. Im not good with sleep deprivation. Many thanks