Keeva....21 week Bouvier Des flandres

Hi, my 21 week pup was sleeping 11-7am but has started waking earlier & earlier and crying and whining to get out her crate. Once up she does go peep but then wants to settle down on the rug and go back to sleep. Crying, barking & whining if put back into her crate. This behaviour is getting progressively worse each night. She doesn’t use her crate to sleep during the day but does have access to it if she wants.....

Is there any reason why she can't just be allowed to settle down on the rug and go back to sleep?

It means that one of us is then lying down on the couch beside her and not able to go back to bed. She would cry, whine if left alone and probably eat my furniture, she’s a chewer. Ideally we would like her to stay in her crate until we all get up.

What about having the crate in your room then, so you can be there to reassure her and settle her? You don't want the crate to be associated with bad things or you might struggle to get her to use it at all.

She’s 20kgs & the crate is too big to fit in our room; we do sleep across the hall so she can hear us and we do try calming words to try & settle her back down when she wakes.....

Hmmm.... I think what I would do would be to sleep in with her after her early-morning wee - if the sofa isn't comfy, find a foam mattress to put on the floor. Then, at least, she will feel calm and secure and as she matures and becomes more confident, she will accept sleeping by herself more and/or grow out of chewing so she can be left out of the crate.

Or I'd be considering whether there's a corner in your bedroom where she, even if not the crate, would fit, and either chew-proof the bedroom furniture or make a small pen by putting something across a gap (sorry if that's not clear - in holiday cottages I often consign my dog to sleeping up one side of the bed by putting a suitcase across the gap).

It's not forever - the more secure she feels now, the easier it'll be to adjust the sleeping arrangements later.

I don't know how folks manage to sleep without a dog next
Had to manage for a few months when in between dogs - and it was hard!
I would also sleep in with the monster. There aren't many things as enjoyable as early morning cuddles with a Bouvier puppy!