She is testing boundaries. I agree a nice bed inside and a blanket over the top.

Kept ours crated the first two years…forgot to crate her on night, she was fine and she’s been out ever since.

She still likes to be put to bed…she sleeps in a dog bed on a couch in my husband’s office. About one a month we hear her roaming in the middle of the night and she’ll go downstairs and sleep on a couch.

maybe try a noise machine or loud fan so your pup doesn't hear things go bump in the night. Have you tried confining to one cozy, quiet room with comfy bed (not crate)?

OP here: posting again. Our dog has been doing well outside crate as well for a few hours and then hears sounds and the. Starts barking. We have heard/seen deers on Ring, but not sure if this is habit. Sleeping in our kids room is helpful but I don’t see it as a feasible solution since DH would never allow her in our room. Please send some pearls of wisdom! What worked for you if your dog didn’t want the crate anymore?

When our lab was about 7 months old she barked every night around 3am and wanted to go outside. She wasn’t hungry or thirsty or need a potty break. It drove me crazy and exhausted and I finally took her to the vet. It turned out there were no medical reasons either. We started ignoring her barking at night. After 7 to 10 days she didn’t bark anymore, and now she sleeps from 9pm to 7am without any fuss.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have memory foam dog mattress in the crate. Our dog likes that.

Same.

OP here: Thanks! Please share which one?

I am a light sleeper, too, but we let our dog wander the house. He usually sleeps in our room, but sometimes wanders into the kids' room. He used to cry when we left him in his crate, so it's quieter letting him roam. We don't let him on the bed and he doesn't even try when we are sleeping - he does sneak on the bed after we get up, but that's okay.

Anonymous wrote:We have memory foam dog mattress in the crate. Our dog likes that.

Same.

Our dog's crate is upstairs near the bedrooms. He sleeps where he wants during the day, but at night he goes into his crate. We latch the door because if we don't, he will hurl his 80 lb self onto the middle of the bed at 3 am and crush both of us to death with his huge head and weapon-grade tail.

I've tried to get him comfy beds for the family room, but he just humps them and shreds them to pieces. He does much better on the floor/couch/beds during the day!

14 months is prime dog adolescence boundary testing age. Ignore it and it will pass. This is the age where you have to reinforce the boundaries and rules with them.

Our 14 month old dog is still in her crate. We have a camera on the crate so we check to see if there's an obvious reason if she barks. Our dog is still destructive so I can't see changing things up anytime soon.

We have memory foam dog mattress in the crate. Our dog likes that.

Anonymous wrote:She wants to be with her family. I would try letting her sleep in your room or one of the kids rooms. Our dogs have free rein and always have once housebroken. My lab starts off on the 9yo’s bed but at some point comes into our room and sleeps on a dog bed on the floor.

How do you avoid her getting on your bed at night? As I mentioned DH is a very light sleeper

She wants to be with her family. I would try letting her sleep in your room or one of the kids rooms. Our dogs have free rein and always have once housebroken. My lab starts off on the 9yo’s bed but at some point comes into our room and sleeps on a dog bed on the floor.

Ours has been since a puppy, mostly at night since the past few months and always did great in the crate from day 1. She is now about 14 months old, and has started barking (some nights) after being put in the crate at night. Her crate has always been on the main floor. I usually take her out to pee and then put her in crate with some treats last thing at night. I did give in and took her out in middle of the night, she slept for a while outside our bedroom door, but then started barking. We left her in the family room, she slept on the sofa and then started barking. After I put her back in the crate in the middle of night, she stopped. Please help me find a solution. Kids have offered to alternate having her in their rooms but I dont think its a good solution. She moves a lot at night, and i want them to have a restful sleep as well as for DH who is a light sleeper. Should we give her a comfy bed in the kitchen where she would also have access to her crate which si in the family room. We leave the door open during the day when we leave the house and she is always in the crate when we get back. Sorry for the long post, hoping to get some good advise and sleep here.