help!!

hi everyone. wondering if you could help me.
my staffie phoebe is getting very distressted at "bed time"
once i turn the tv and lights off to head to bed, she starts to shake, bearing in mind before the tv is switched off and the lights shes absoultely fine.
we then head to bed and she wont stop shaking and panting, obviously this is causing some stress to her, iv tried calming her down by bringing her in my bed, and shr still shakes, and wev also tried ignoring her but nothing seems to stop her.
its also making me upset that shes unhappy? which shr had no reason to be, with plenty to drink been fed and warm bed. she has never been like this, but in the morning she jumps on the bed and falls asleep and is fine? i was thinking the weather changing maybe?

all comments are appreciated. thank you, ami

so where does she actually sleep normally ??

has any thing scared her at night time if you've had to let her out?

she normally sleeps in her bed but sometimes we will allow het on out bed. nothibg i can thibk of has scared her, only the heavy rain i can think of?

If your phoebe was a child i would say she was scared of the dark, but can a dog BE scared of the dark !!! unless its in the form of association, ie something has spooked her during the night and she has now associated what ever spooked her with darkness.
I know this is gonna sound stupid, but it wont hurt just to try and thats leave the hall light on, or leave a night light on and see how she is then at night.

I was also going to sugest a low light & maybe try to change the bed time routine? It sounds like something has spooked her & the bed time routine is freaking her out.

You could also try some lavender essential oil. Rub a tiny amount on her chest, forehead and put a couple of drops on the edge of her bed.

A Thundershirt may also be useful.

U mention u sometimes allow her onto ur bed and she sleeps, staffys crave human contact !
My 2 staffys sleep on my bed. Yea I moan about the lack of room but I wouldn't have it any other way. They fall asleep, calm, safe, happy. (awesome water bottles!)

She may be getting mixed messages from you, sometimes she's in her bed, sometimes on yours. Give her firm boundaries. She either can or can't go
On ur bed.

If she's in her bed, leave a light on and radio, don't make a big deal or fuss her too much at bedtime.

She will be fine left to cry/shake. Petting her whilst in that state only reinforces that behaviour, might take a cpl of nights for her to settle properly but doable.

geat advice above , nothing more to add , our 2 both sleep with us only we are trying to educate Tommy into sleeping with my daughter so we don't lose too much bed space

Great advice already given. Your mention rain. My old boy used to be like that when it rained and nothing I did consoled him.

It does sound like something might have spooked her and she is associating it with night-time. I've noticed with Bella she will get scared by the strangest and simplest things. Great advice given above. Let us know how you get on

Is it possible to leave a small light on and maybe a radio on quietly. We always have music on for Rocky he has his own collection of classical music on the ipod.

Thanks so much All. Shall post tomorrow morning and tell you how we got on

kathytake2 wrote:Is it possible to leave a small light on and maybe a radio on quietly. We always have music on for Rocky he has his own collection of classical music on the ipod.

Both good suggestions

You could be sending mixed messages by sometimes allowing her on the bed and sometimes not, you can't explain to a dog why she can't sleep on the bed tonight.

She will be fine left to cry/shake. Petting her whilst in that state only reinforces that behaviour, might take a cpl of nights for her to settle properly but doable.

It depends on how you handle this, handled right it doesn't reinforce the behaviour, done wrong it does. If she was a 2 or 3 year old child doing this would you ingnore it? Distracting the dog is better, quietly stroking while watching the tv won't reinforce the behaviour but will help the dog. A lot depends on the reason as well but usually we can't work that out.

I never ignore my dogs, if they are demanding attention they get it, but on my terms. If I am busy they get their need for attention acknowledged by a quick tickly behind the ears, a smile and kind word then I get on with what I am doing. The dog has been given attention and it hasn't interupted what I am doing. Often rescue dogs demand a lot of attention when they arrive, they soon learn to adjust to this as long as when I am not busy I give them more attention.