We've had our 15 month old Golden mix for over a year now. He's usually crated at night, and he's been sleeping well. He usually wakes up before us but doesn't make a peep till he sees us stirring - he's awesome that way.
We noticed that he tries to stretch while in the crate. As the crate is only 36 inches long and he's around 25 inches long he was not able to stretch to his heart's content. We bought a larger crate a few days ago and donated the old one to a shelter. Now at night though, he seems a little restless. Every night since he's been in the new crate, he gently barks at around 2am and wakes us up. Once we let him onto our bed, he curls up and sleeps peacefully.
Is it possible that the new crate is new big for him, that he liked the cosiness of the old one better? Or could this be a case of him 'breaking in' the new crate? We're trying to not encourage him to sleep on our bed as this could be a painful habit going forward.
Either way - are there any suggestions to help him (and us!) sleep at night?