Getting frustrated

Question
Hi All:
I purchased a Pom in March 2006 and since has been an issue of taking care of her.  I do not know how to dicipline her! She is scared of everything! She whines and whine and whines!
I have so many questions and read through a lot of the archives, but cannot seem to find the answer I need.  
The question is my 7 month old Pom, wakes up at 3/4:00 am wanting to go out, so I wake up and take her out, then after she is done outside I bring her back in and put her in her crate, but after about 5 minutes she starts whining and barking constantly that I end up getting annoyed and my husband gets annoyed.  So I get up and take her with her being in the crate and put her in the living room and I end up staying up with her for the rest of the day. I have trouble sleeping and for me to get up at 3/4:00 am everyday to a whining pup frustrates me.
Any ideas to get her to stop?

Answer
Don't get up with her when she wines that early.  You are setting her internal clock to need to go out at that time.  Have her sleep in a different room where you can't hear her (ear plugs work well) in her crate.  After a while she will sleep through the night and will be crate trained.  You may have a messy kennel for a little while but with patience she will over come it.  She is a teen and the whining after you bring her back in is her way of letting you know she doesn't want to be in there any more.  She needs to learn that is where she stays till you let her out in the morning.  It will take time but will happen.
If you need to scold her you can tap the top of the kennel when she whines and say "NO".  It will startle her at first but she will learn.
She may have a scared personality and need special treatment in training.  Be mindful of that.

These sites might be helpful-
http://www.inch.com/~dogs/cratetraining.html

http://www.bichon.org/crate.htm

http://www.dvah.com/crate.htm

http://www.puppychow.com/content/index.aspx?intCategoryID=18&intContentID=87

Best of luck.

-Trish