my night owl Yorkie baby
 

We have had Missy for just 2 weeks now and she is just 12 weeks old.
For three out of 7 days a week, Missy is left alone for a full 7.5 hours from 8am to 3:30pm, while my fiance and I are at work. Sometimes, my fiance comes home around noon on those days and plays with her.
She has her own bedroom (which we have gated), where she stays in a puppy playpen. We connected the playpen to the crate to allow her to use the crate as her potty. In her playpen she has all of her toys, her doggie bed, water and also has music playing in her room. We feed her in the morning as well as leave food and fresh water while we are away at work during the day and then she is fed again when we get in about 4pm.
For the past 2 nights, she has been waking up at 4:30-5am and repeatedly whining.
When we go to her room (right across the hall from our bedroom) to see what's wrong, she just simply wants to play. So we play with her for 1/2 hour or so (which at 5am is not so easy) and sometimes she settles down but sometimes she simply stays awake and energetic until we leave again.
Only having her for 2 weeks, I am wondering if it's because she is left alone for so long for those days or is it because she is sleeping in the day so then that makes her ready to play at 4am?
Anyone have any similar issues? Any suggestions on what I can do to not have her be the night owl?

I'm home all day, & my girls sleep quite a bit during the day. They like to go to bed by 9pm, when daddy does. They are up at 6am. They do get up in the night, but they don't wake me. They use the doggy stairs to get out of bed. Yours sleeping in another room, & being left alone during the day, can't help but say she's probably lonely. Who knows, I thought I'd give it a bump up for someone that might have a better answer.

I've had Mattie for 2 1/2 weeks and he's 10 weeks old. I know that he wakes up at least once in the middle of the night to go potty. And then is up around 6:30 or 7:00. He's sleeps next to my side of the bed and is blocked off so that he can't get out. But sometimes he does wake up more and he seems to just be lonely. I'll put him up in bed with us for a few minutes. Give him some love and snuggles and then back to his own bed he goes. And he always goes right back to sleep. I don't know if this will be of any help but it seems to be working for us.

she might be a bit confused... it sounds like she has a room where she sleeps correct? and this is where she is when you can't be with her during the day.. perhaps she is confused that night time means sleep time.. and not play time.. like during the day... might you think about putting her in a crate to sleep? this way she knows that the crate means bed time... not play time. with all those toys around at night i can imagine that she figures it must be play time!!

I am not sure why you are using the crate for a potty place. The intent of the crate is to provide a snuggly, secure place for baby to sleep. Dogs naturally do not want to soil their den, so this is a big help with potty training. I have an ex-pen for Gracie, with a crate inside. Her pee pads are out in the ex-pen, along with her food and toys. The crate is only for quiet time and she now knows that. It might be that your baby is just not feeling secure yet. At that age, they fear abandonment. After all, they were just taken away from their mom and litter mates. I'm not so sure that she wants to play as much as she wants to be near you. It might not be too late to teach her to use the crate as a sleep place. Once she gets used to the crate, you might consider crating her in your bedroom so she is not lonely. Lots of exercise, games and attention during the hours you are home will help too.

Hoku is 11 weeks today and I put her in her crate on a bench next to my bed at night. She will wake up and whine when she has to go potty and when I take her to the kitchen where the pad is she occasionally thinks it's time to play but as soon as I put her back in the crate next to me she chews on her toy and then falls asleep. She hates being away from me and learned real quick that mommy doesn't play in the middle of the night - LOL!

When my boys were that young I crated them at night until they were big enough to sleep with me and trained enough to not potty in the bed. They would sleep through the night IF I put a blanket over their crate. It must have muffled the noise or made them feel more cozy, something bc they slept til 7am with the blanket over the crate. If I didnt put the blanket over the crate, they would whine for HOURS when I put them to bed in the crate! The crate was always in my room near me, near the bed.

When they got old enough they were allowed to sleep in the bed. I have no problems with them sleeping in the bed now, no accidents and they sleep through the night for the most part. Sometimes under the covers, sometimes under my pillow even :D but they do wake up in the morning full of energy! at around 6 or 7am, ready to tackle the world that day! But that is probably bc I get up for work mon - fri at 630am so on saturday & Sunday they naturally wake up at that time! I usually wake up to a puppy face 2mm from my face with bright eyes wide awake and staring at me! :lol tears