I have three dogs, the youngest being a rescue spaniel who is 12 months old now - I have had her since she was 14 weeks; she had had three previous homes and a couple of weeks in rescue kennels.  She is brilliant, if a little exhausting, which is to be expected as she is clearly from working lines.   She was very off the wall when I got her - she would bark at anything and everything (hair drier, things being dropped, voices...) and would jump onto the table from a standstill and grab anything she could.  Anyway, she has come on brilliantly and I am really, really pleased with her and her progress and love her to bits.

My only issue now is night times/mornings.  She wakes up as soon as there is a glimmer of daylight; she would love to be up and out for the day.  If I leave her in my lounge overnight with my other two dogs she will start play fighting with them very early.  She also chewed massive holes in my last sofa and I have just got a new (second hand) sofa and really don't want it chewed.  I don't want to crate her again as her barking was more of an issue when crated.

If I leave her in the dining room on her own she barks at any noise she hears for the first couple of hours - worried barking rather than naughty barking, if that makes sense.  I just drop off to sleep and then get woken...  Although she still wakes early there isn't really anything she can damage in there but she barks early in the morning because she is awake and ready for the day's adventures!

Having written this down, it doesn't sound like much - but I am SO tired! Can anyone think of something I haven't tried?  Thanks!

Is it worth putting the cage in your bedroom and crating her overnight there ? It sounds like she is a little worried with the barking and being with you may take the worry away.

How I sympathise with you if you have one who likes to be 'up with the birds'.   My Basset is the same.  He's always done this and how-many years on, he's really no better.  Early days (both mine are crated in with me) I used to have to give him the benefit of the doubt and let him out (wrong because he's now learnt that if he shouts, I DO react ).   These days, if he persists and won't SHUT UP when told to, I simply have to get up, let him outside, and then back into the kitchen with a bed and the door shut.   As this is the other end of the bungalow, and we are detached so he can't annoy neighbours, I can normally get another hour or so in bed before we have to get up, by 7 am.    He's never learnt I'm afraid - I would suggest that you crate her in your room, if only to keep her from annoying your other dogs, or doing more damage!!

She .at not need the crate of she is in your room .one of mine didn't settle well in a crate even though she was trained from a young pup.once allowed to be in my room no crate all was well.