Odd behaviour observed

[kes]

Hello, I am new here and wondered if anyone could throw light on this odd behaviour in my dog. She is usually very good at night, sleeps downstairs, never attempts to come upstairs to our bedroom. She is 5, going on 6 years old.

Last night at bedtime, she was very agitated, we had gone to bed and my husband was putting some stuff in his satnav - it was beeping quite loudly. Our dog started barking downstairs (almost unheard of at night) and we wondered whether the beeping was alarming her. However when we settle down to sleep she carried on barking, and then came upstairs! She has NEVER done this before. We took her back down, let her out in case that was the problem, but she just didnt settle & kept coming back upstairs.

Then shut her in her crate in dining room but barking carried on. Eventually my husband went downstairs and slept on the sofa - he said she was still agitated, and didn't settle until 2am. We were thinking of adopting watchful waiting, rather than take her to the vet straight away - as she doesn't seem troubled this morning. I googled (as you do) unusual behaviour in dogs, and them ignoring their training (ie not to come upstairs) and the thing that came up was brain tumour! Any thoughts please?

 

[Bert14]

Does she press her head against the wall or other objects? I think you are probably right to observe and see if the behaviour is repeated. I will ask my daughter who is a vet nurse and animal behaviourist her views and get back to you.

 

[kes]

Thank you, Bert, that is kind.

 

[Bert14]

Has your dog repeated the unusual behaviour again? My daughter says to observe for a few days to see if this behaviour is repeated. Check dog over for any minor injuries to see if the dog is in pain. Check for any unusual swellings, check the feet for grass seeds, ears for mites and look for ticks,anything that could cause an irritation.

If the behaviour continues reinforce the original training . It may help to leave a radio on at a very low volume in case it is anxiety Keep to.your usual bedtime routine it could have been a noise outside that unsettled your dog.

Please post if the behaviour has continued and dog is still unsettled at night..

 

[kes]

Thank you Bert, for your advice, appreciated. The good news is that after that first time our dog went back to her usual routine with no unusual behaviour after that night at all. I suspect that it may have been some unusual noise that caused this strange behaviour, or even my husband making the satnav beep upstairs. Lets hope that's all it was, or maybe some animal outside. Once again, many thanks for your help.