Advise please

[Malvern Michael]

We know it was not a good idea to have siblings, brother and sister but we have and yes it is hard work but we will get there.
We could do with some advice on the following, the boy (Magic) wakes us up somewhere between 4.30am and 5.30am each morning, they are both in separate crates and we let them out for their business then put them back to bed, Magic then kicks off with barking/howling etc until we get up.
We are both knackered and need to find a way to get them to sleep through to at least 6am or stop the barking after their business so we can get a little more sleep.
We have wondered if changing the times we feed them could help, perhaps a smaller last meal or feed them earlier, at the moment they are feed 3 times a day plus treats when training
Any advise welcome

[Pearly]

If your crates are not covered, I would do that - it creates a "cave like" environment which becomes their safe zone but also cuts out light and stops the early morning cocker chorus 

The other thing I can suggest is to teach a settle command - each time Magic starts to settle down and sleep, wherever he is use the chose word so he associates it with sleep time.  I used to do this with Pearl and give half a gravy bone at the same time so it quickly became a ritual.  Very useful in a pub when you want them to calm down!

Pearl was not an easy pup.  She slept from around midnight to 3am, to go out, then woke and wouldn't sleep again at 6.30 am - this until she was c7months old.  I got to watch a lot of early morning TV...........