I know exactly how you feel as I went through the exact same thing with Jett (from 9 weeks until 7 months old).
It was really frustrating as I kept hearing that people with dogs/puppies were all saying their dogs sleep from 9pm until 9am without any problems
. Everything seemed perfect with everyone elses but mine was a right pain and I kept thinking what am I doing wrong?? In the end I stopped listening to these people as it was no help at all.
The steps I took were as follows, Jett was in crate downstairs and my room is upstairs. Not sure which ones helped the most but I will list them anyway:
Radio off - I started to keep the radio on as well, however I found that the noise disturbed him more and he did not settle. So I turned this off completely.
Clock - I put a clock that ticked next to his crate. The noise is meant to settle young ones.
Blankets - I put lots of balnkets in his crate so he can snuggle up.
Water - No water/food in the crate. His last feed would always be before 8pm
Shout out - When he howled or barked and I knew that he had already been to the toilet I would shout out something in a calm voice (I know its hard to stay calm). I think most of the time Jett was worried that I left him. So I felt that he just wanted to know I was there.
Size of crate - I think deep down this was my issue. I originally purchased a medium crate, by 6 months Jett was fairly big. The room was just not enough. I upgraded to an xl crate, which gave him room for a bed and an area to stretch out.
Newspaper - My advice is don't put newspapers down as that will encourage him to go inside. Don't use puppy pads in the crate either. My experience with Jett is that he hated going toilet in his crate and this would cause him to howl/bark and cry. In the end I never put anything in the crate that would encourage him.
Cover for crate - I make sure the crate in nice and dark and warm.
Toilet - I let him out for toilet at 9:45pm, bed at 10pm.
Jett is now 14 months old and seems very happy in his crate
. I think he was around 7/8 months old when he stopped the noises (barking etc). He is always in be by 10pm and he will always wake at start moving at 6.45am
(on the dot). I would love for him to sleep until 8am but I don't think it will ever happen, i'm just happy I have my sleep back.
So keep at it, he is still young and you have got this far. As he is still so young his bladder will be small, so you probably will need to take him out in the night (don't make it fun for him). But this won't last long, I have a feeling he will soon adjust.
Good luck