Sleeping Advice! PLEASE! Questions

Hi! I have a ten-month-old female GSP, and am hoping for some advice. Sierra is an absolutely amazing dog, but for one tiny-ish flaw... She absolutely refuses to sleep in. For the eight months we've had her, she has woken us up with whining every morning except for two mornings. Of course, initially this was a housetraining issue. But now it's definitely not-- she seems to have a pretty enormous bladder!

Sierra sleeps in a crate in our room. As soon as there is an inkling of light outside, she starts whining to be let out. If my partner and I make the mistake of whispering to each other, she goes ballistic knowing that we're up and she's still in her crate. It's the worst noise in the world.

I'm wondering if she's anxious to get up because she knows what happens first thing-- we hop on the bike and she runs alongside for the 1.5 miles to the dog park where she runs around for about an hour, then runs home and immediately has breakfast. So I guess she has a lot to look forward to.

But I would really love to be able to sleep past 6AM some days. Has anyone else had experience with this, or can anyone offer some help? I'm at my wit's end.

Have you tried covering the crate with a blanket/ sheet or something? Don’t know your daily schedule but if possible it might be worth having a more flexible one for taking her out.

Must admit I feed mine around the same time every day but walks vary.

Would it be possible to put Sierra's crate in a different room?

I would say this is your issue, put her crate either downstairs or outside your room, also cover it with a blanket so she does not stimulated by the light.

I always relate this to having babies sleeping in your room, the thought is that they wake you up early or through the night, the truth is that you are waking them, because its you who are making the noise and the baby/dog in this case can hear you ...put them in their own room where it is quiet and you will see the diffence,
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Thank you! Yes, she has a sheet over her crate. Her first trainer advised against blankets or towels because he said it could get too hot in there... I'm not sure. Some others have recommended putting her crate in another room; maybe that's the way to go...

Thanks, Jackie. I hadn't thought of the baby analogy. That's a good point. I think we'll definitely try moving her into a different room. Thank you for your help!

Yes-- I think that's what we'll have to do. Hopefully the adjustment period isn't too terrible; we live in an apartment with painfully thin walls and I don't want to upset the neighbors by letting her "cry it out" if it's a rocky transition...