vaca

Good evening. We're looking for some advice for our year old terrier mix dog. Our dog sleeps in a crate in the laundry room and has been doing so for over four months now. At first he was, of course, pretty noisy and stressed out. Over time, he began to quiet down, eventually going in easily and sleeping silently.

In the last three weeks, he has begun to bark at night, claw at his kennel, and generally become upset unless we are with him. We have racked our brains and can find no significant changes in behavior or process with him. We've tried extra play,letting him rest before bed, varied treats, etc, to no avail. He is so upset in the kennel that he not only barks for upwards of two hours, but he actually harms him little paws.

His vet has placed him on daily Clomicalm for separation anxiety and it has made him more focused and less stressed during the day...but nights continue to be difficult. For "bad nights," our vet also prescribed alprazolam.

We need to have our dog be healthy at night and are out of suggestions. We do not overly fawn over him before bed in an attempt to break the strong anxiety bond, per recommendations. One item of note, he is NOT afraid of his crate...he will go in and eat treats from it at will. He is not perfect during the day, but SIGNIFICANTLY better.

Any ideas?

Tyler