Hi,
I have a nearly 6 month old show cocker spaniel. She has an amazing temperament and is very calm (For a puppy!) and very much part of the family.
However, I am struggling with her waking fairly early and immediately doing a wee and a poo in the house. This is generally between 5.15 and 5.45. She is fine in the day with only the very occasional accidental wee in the house (Once a week or less). I originally crate trained her and we put a puppy pad in her crate which she used. (This was probably a bad idea looking back on it)
At around 16 weeks she was sometimes completely dry in the morning but then we started going backwards and would find a wee and a poo in the crate daily. This has continued and I have tried getting up early to let her out but then she will whine and bark if I put her back in her crate and go back to bed. More than happy to go back to sleep in her bed if I lie on the sofa though!
We have now started not shutting the crate door so that she can go in a bed instead if she wants and have sectioned off an area downstairs for her to sleep in. She now does not soil in her crate but will go on a pad instead. I ran downstairs this morning as soon as I heard her moving at 5.45 but she had already done a wee and a poo and then whined for an hour between 6 and 7 when I went back to bed.
I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to do as if I get up early to try & get her out she won't go back to sleep and wakes the rest of the house with 2 small children. If I go into the lounge with her after letting her out she will happily go to sleep in her bed but then I am worried that I am training her to make noise to wake me up so that she has company.
She is now fed twice a day with the last meal between 4 and 5pm and I am taking away her water 2 hours before bed.
She does have a habit of going to sleep at about 8pm so I am trying to keep her awake later. She went to doggy daycare on Tuesday and was asleep at 6am the following morning when I came down and went straight out in the garden for a wee and a poo so I know it is possible if she is tired enough.
And advice would be very welcome
