# (Non-poodle) adult dog crate training suddenly gone



## Gemstorm (Nov 29, 2018)

Help! I need sleep. I'm crying I need sleep so much. I have a mutt of unknown age but about 8-11 or so (years). She's been crate trained for years. Went through bad patches and usually correlated to not feeling well (chronic IBD and a whopper of an anxiety problem she is on meds for) but never irrational ones -- she needed something.

Now Storm just will. Not. SLEEP. Banging on the crate. I get her out, take her for water, take her out to pee/poop, and back. Boring every time. She used to only bang when she needed something. The crate is a happy place. It has treats in it! It has soft fluffy things! If I fall asleep with her loose, she'll usually end up there on her own. It is a special Storm spot where there are always cookies and cuddly bed. I have done that well-- she loves it. 

But she does go through phases. And now she's in one that will not quit. She's been to the vet for a checkup luckily in the middle and we did a trial of gabapentin because I was frantic with exhaustion at the visit. That backfired massively and I halted the trial two days ago after under a week. It made things worse somehow using it. Half a Trazadone (or a full one on really bad days) does help but I can't use it every time and it's not even enough all the time. 

I have switched her blankets (she has two main beds in there and when I switch them it's always a chore getting her out of her new one <3) a few times. Nothing ia different. Y'all, i am so tired. And banging on the crate is deeply painful: I have noise-sensitive chronic pain (that's what my future spoo service dog is going to be helping with) and I live in an apartment, so it's agonizing and nerve-wracking. 

She finally just settled tonight, but I had to let her bang a few times after getting her about 4 or 5. And I'm laying perfectly still afraid to move and do stuff like get my water or read a book (light would have to go on plus pages rustling). 

I am so tired. I can't describe how tired I am. 

Please help. These phases are typically linked to her health, and IBD is both unpredictable and just there, but this seems to be more other things and I'm frantic.

Please keep in mind this is after midnight and I'm recovering from my COVID booster, so apologies for incoherence, confusion, general insanity. I know I'm doing things mostly okay (she really always was good about only banging when she needed something and settling happily with content mooing otherwise for the past years, barring a few bad patches of IBD flaring up making it hard to settle and a few other anxiety attacks when everything was too much, like the month of constant fireworks each night after construction all day) -- make sure every time to do the basics but boring, no extras, and then back -- and waiting a minute when I'm sure. 

I'm exhausted but also terrified she'll do this when my half-grown SDiT is home in a year. 

Help?

And please excuse if I get rid of this in the light of day. I was up a large portion of last night with a fever and had days of this before that.


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## Rose n Poos (Sep 22, 2017)

I'm sorry I can't help with advice but I am full of sympathy for you both. 

If I had to guess, it sounds like something new has come up, pain elsewhere or something cognitive maybe?


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Huge sympathy - one bad night has me in pieces, so I can't imagine how exhausted you are after a whole series of them. Could it be dementia, do you think? It often first manifests as night time unrest, I believe. You may find this site helpful for both diagnosis and, if it seems likely, helpful ideas for coping: Dog Dementia: Help and Support


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

Sounds like the crate is not always a happy place. Does she settle when out of the crate? Crate door open? Closed? Maybe she doesn't need the crate anymore.


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## Gemstorm (Nov 29, 2018)

Rose n Poos said:


> I'm sorry I can't help with advice but I am full of sympathy for you both.
> 
> If I had to guess, it sounds like something new has come up, pain elsewhere or something cognitive maybe?


She just got examined by our vet :/ I was worried she sometimes hunches her lower back, but very thorough checks and seemed fine. No new developments in her bit of arthritis. She was praised for her excellent muscle and perfect weight keeping any extra strain off. Everything looked good at her physical :/ and her poop is largely normal, not like what it usually is during an IBD flareup (I know, a bit too much info, but when your dog has bloody diarrhea on day 2, you end up very familiar with this aspect and getting to know different signs).



fjm said:


> Huge sympathy - one bad night has me in pieces, so I can't imagine how exhausted you are after a whole series of them. Could it be dementia, do you think? It often first manifests as night time unrest, I believe. You may find this site helpful for both diagnosis and, if it seems likely, helpful ideas for coping: Dog Dementia: Help and Support


Oh god, I hope we're not going down that path. I lost one with CCD in March, my amazing Jazzy, family pet who was really mine. Amazing toy poodle. So far, I don't see much of it, but her age-related changes are definitely hard for me to judge as normal or not. Storm is my first dog over 10 pounds; her aging is different. I'm used to small dogs, who grow up faster and live longer. 

I will keep an eye out and try not to miss anything this time. I don't see much else, but I'll keep it in mind. I really hope not. Since I just don't know how old she is, I have no idea if she's young for that kind of thing. 

Thabjs, y'all. I know that was a bit of a frantic ramble there. I was just so tired. One of the two nights she really slept in the past week, I was up with a fever and misery


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## For Want of Poodle (Feb 25, 2019)

Annie was particularly annoying and hard to settle when I was recovering from my last covid shot. She wasn't getting the exercise she was accustomed to.

Any chance you could get a plastic crate in a large size? Those are at least less ear splitting when they clang. Or put a foam pad under the crate to dull the sound?
I hope tonight is better. Sleep is precious.


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## Streetcar (Apr 13, 2014)

So sorry for your exhaustion; it all sounds overwhelming. You need a big afternoon nap,, it seems like 😴. I know she had a checkup, and did they draw blood for a full senior panel including thyroid? If not, consider taking her back Nature's.

If health is fully ruled out, there are pet calming treats that have things like l-theanine, chamomile, ginger, etc. If safe and it would not conflict with her Rx meds, maybe something like that in the evening? I have one from Pet Naturals of Vermont, and another senior formula for fireworks nights with melatonin from NaturVet.


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