Sleepless Near Seattle

Hello reddit, my wife and I are first time puppy parents (grew up with dogs our whole lives but never had an active hand in training) and are approaching our wits end with bedtime as our Golden approaches 6 months.

Our night time routine has been fairly set since she was about 3 months but as of the last week or two every night has become a small battle of wills. We start trying to get a puppy down for bed usually between 6:45~7:30pm depending on when she finishes dinner (she's slept every night in her crate since we brought her home). She's still got some hesitancy about going in the crate so we start a little early so we can get her coaxed in, lots of positive reinforcement and treats. This is where the trouble begins.

Until around 2 weeks ago she'd trott in just fine, do a couple circles, maybe bark a little, and then settle in to sleep. She was waking up around 2:30am but then after a quick potty trip was back down until the day starts at 5:30am. Now when we are able to get her in (after much biting, running around like a fool, and treats) she'll bark nonstop for however long she's in for. We read in other threads to not make the crate a negative space so after 15~30 minutes of barking we try a reset (giving her water, taking her down to potty, letting her out of the crate but keeping her in the bedroom) and then the cycle starts again until she finally decides she's had enough being awake and will settle in for the night until 5:30 when it's time to get up. Some times this only takes an hour, the other night it took nearly 3 hours of this before she settled in for bed around 12:30am.

Since we've gotten her the bedtime mood has been the same: Fan pointed at the crate, puppy instrumental YouTube video on the TV at a medium volume, crate cover with just the front up, and a bedside lamp on its lowest setting to have a tiny bit of light in the room.

We're looking for whatever advice, reassurance, or support you have to offer. We can't keep on like this and are hoping someone's input can help us make a positive change. If needed I can post our full day routine in the comments.