We have a 5 year old patterdale terrier who is our world but he is slowly breaking us.
From the beginning we opted for crate training but he has never been a good sleeper. He is a lockdown dog so has separation anxiety but it’s amplified at night.
The past few months have been particularly bad with about a 30% sleep rate through the week. He used to sleep through the night in his crate but as time went on he would wake up at all hours and start rattling his crate and barking. Now he is at the stage he will not sleep in his crate at all and just goes into immediate crying and panting. All he wants to do is get in the bed which we do not want.
We have tried everything. Moving his crate into hall so he can see in our room, moving crate into our bedroom, sleeping on floor beside him. Spoke to the vet who trialled fluoxetine and then gabapentin (did not work). We have tried adaptil collars and diffusers, anxiety jackets, new beds, lights on etc.
Ultimately a dog barking and being distressed at bedtime is torture and a lose lose. We let him bark/ cry it out but he will do it for hours and we don’t sleep otherwise we have no choice but to let him in the bed to make him stop and he wins.
Currently trialling his crate in our room with aim of slowly moving it back into his room as he settles but he is crying every night for hours and panting in distress. It’s torture.
Has anyone experienced this ?