Hello, I would start by checking with your vet to see if she is ready to go down to two meals a day, or at least move the third meal back a few hours so she has at least three hours between that third meal and bedtime. I would take her potty again after eating and playing, right before crating her. Continue ignoring any crying when you first put her into the crate. I suspect her schedule is causing part of the issue now that she is a bit older. She might be ready for a change there. Puppies bladders will sort of go to sleep while pup is asleep, and that allows them to hold their pee for longer, but by feeding and playing with pup after the last potty trip that bladder is being activated and pup is going to sleep with it already a bit full. The meal without a potty trip after likely will also make pup need to poop in the early morning. There is a delay in eating (which gets the digestive system moving and leads to the need to poop) and pooping – usually up to 45 minutes, but sometimes a couple of hours, so ideally, pup would have enough time between meals and bed for things to move through her system and things to be empty before bed. I would ask your vet if you can switch to feeding pup at 6-7pm (8 at the very latest). Removing all food and water by 8pm. Taking pup potty right before crating her at 10pm, ignoring crying when you crate her then. Make sure she isn’t sleeping for longer than an hour at a time in the evening before 10pm, so she won’t count that as night sleep and wake early. Make sure her crate is set up somewhere where early morning noises or lights won’t wake her up. After a couple of days to adjust to the new schedule, hopefully she will stop waking early, but at this age she may still need an early morning potty trip for another month certain days. When she wakes after at least 4-6 hours since her last potty trip, I suggest taking pup potty on leash when they wake. Keep the trip calm and boring – no play or treats, take pup potty on leash to keep her focused on going potty and not playing, then right back to the crate after they go. When you return them to the crate, you have two options. You can either ignore pup barking until 7am – which will probably mean an hour of barking for a few days until pup learns to just go back to sleep until 7am (or the time you want her to earn to sleep until), and she gradually begins to sleep longer and not need that 4am potty trip as their bladder capacity increases. With the schedule changes I mentioned above, her body should start to get into a routine where she is more tired then and her bladder less full. The other option is to stuff 1 or 2 kongs with puppy food and freeze the night before, and give pup that in the crate for a few weeks, until they are old enough to not need to 4am potty trip, then you will need to ignore or correct the crying later, once pup is older and can be expected to sleep through. To stuff a kong you can either place pup’s dry dog food loosely in it and cover 1/2 of the opening with a larger treat – so the dog food will dispense more slowly, or place pup’s food in a bowl, cover with water, let sit out until the food turns to mush, mix the mush with a little liver paste, treat paste, or peanut butte (avoid xylitol! – it’s extremely toxic to dogs and a common sweetener substitute), place a straw through the kong’s holes, loosely stuff the kong with the mush, place in a baggie, and free overnight. Remove the straw before giving pup and grab the kong from the freezer as needed – for a time-released treat. If she is still waking once she is 4.5-5 months old, you can use a correction to address any barking that continues after you have taken her potty and returned her to the crate. Typically a pet convincer, preceded by teaching the “Quiet” command during the day, telling pup “Quiet” when you return her to the crate, then using the pet convincer to blow a brief puff of unscented air at her side through the crate wires to interrupt barking each time she protests the crate. Make sure you are also waiting until its her regular breakfast time (the time you chose for her to eat breakfast) before feeding her each morning, even if she wakes early asking for it. If she is being fed early because she woke up early then her internal clock will actually wake her early due to hunger because that’s when her body expects to be fed. Work on working that time back later again gradually by holding her off a bit longer each morning if that’s happened, to reset that internal clock. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden
Nov. 23, 2022