Unsettled at night

[Cat]

Hi. 
 

A year or so ago I posted that my dog was very unsettled at night following the death of my other dog. 
 

unfortunately it is getting worse.  Now she bangs on the back door.  We let her out and she just bangs to go out again an hour later.    I think she just doesn’t want to be alone because if I go sleep out on the couch she just hops into bed and is fine. She has just worked out that banging on the door gets us up. 
 

She starts pacing from when we go to bed. 
 

we have tried leaving our bedroom door open but it doesn’t make a difference. I have tried crating her in our room and she just stresses…despite being perfectly ok with this for several years when we first got her. 
 

I’ve put out nightlights but that didn’t make any difference. 
 

any suggestions? The lack of sleep is making me loopy. 

[persephone]

How unsettling for everyone It may be time for her to have some appropriate medication to calm down her nervous system a bit . I don't have any names I can throw at you , but a VETERINARY BEHAVIOURIST would be your best choice of person  to seek out - as they would have experience of this sort of thing, and the veterinary knowledge of drugs to help. 
Hopefully someone here can help with a recommendation
Otherwise, can you put a kids' bed at the foot of yours , or similar?

[JRG]

I took in a mature boy to rehome who was very unsettled.

The Vet Behavourist recommended Zylkene which we found very good.  It is a naturally derived product which can be bought over the counter or on the net.

It took a while to get our boy back on track, but he came good and is now a perfectly adjusted  family pet

[Cat]

Thanks all.   I’ll check with the vets.  She’s already on a lot of medication for other things. 
 

I had set up a bed in the crate in our room but she wasn’t really interested. That seemed like the best otherwise might trip over her at night. 

[Papillon Kisses]

Hey Cat, sorry to hear your dog is getting worse. Best wishes for the vet - do check for pain and run a blood panel. You can find a veterinary behaviourist/behaviour vet here: https://www.anzcvs.org.au/chapters/veterinary+behaviour+chapter

 

[Cat]

Thanks for that.
she has cancer so she has regular blood tests and vet visits.  I will see what the vet thinks but I strongly suspect its more of a behavioural issue. 

[Deeds]

Could it be one of the medications that makes her unsettled.