Boogerbear

Just found out my dog is very allergic to dust mites via an allergy panel. He’s been itchy and uncomfortable to various degrees for a year. Currently very badly. He is on: cytopoint, apoquel, Royal Canin ultamino food, an anti-fungal, an anti-biotic he is improving steadily now that I know to deep clean my place and have set up a filter along with the medication. the point is: he’s been raising his hackles a lot at night. He naps a lot during the day inbetween walks and playtime and his hackles do not raise unless it’s around post dinner time and post final walk. So starting around 8pm. Wakes up to get water? Hackles. Last night he woke up just to adjust his body position (so not even enough to open his eyes) and his hackles went way up. This may be unrelated to hackles but we were dealing with an ear infection last week and I was wiping out his ears during this period (post 8pm) and his hackles were up. And he growled at me which is unusual. So I can’t guarantee but the hackles could also mean he is emotionally upset? I don’t know why then he would raise his hackles when just rolling over in bed. long backstory: but could hackles be associated with something physiological. Something neural. Or with skin itchiness? Has anyone ever had this almost idiopathic hackles?

My boy also has sleep startle. One of several of his issues we have been managing. I’ve managed it by just having him sleep in a crate and not allow him to fall asleep during the day on the couch or other furniture. I’d love to have him be okay for snuggling in bed but he’s a very independent dog anyhow so not exactly the snuggling type.

He became a red itchy mess over the course of a month (though he’s always since I’ve had him been itchy) and then he got the anti fungal which actually seems to be doing him some good? I hope it helps him because it’s sort of the last treatment the vet has for us.

Called the vet today (he had gone yesterday just a few hours prior). Since he was given an oral antifungal the vet is hoping that will help his ears too. Something is really running through his system right now as he’s suddenly exploded into a red itchy mess. I’m sure being extremely itchy would make anyone grumpy. So I’m guessing that’s why he’s been not happy at night. I’m not sure why it’s one time of day. Maybe he’s getting tired? I feel like I’m the only person I know who’s ever had their dog growl at them. I talked to friends who own dogs and they’re all shocked and say “well my dog would never growl at me even if they were in pain”.

Long context: dog has a lot of health issues. Related to allergies, causing yeast infections, causing ear infections. Currently he is in the midst of a bad yeast infection we are attempting to treat. Came home from the vet. Where he got blood work and a shot. He willingly goes to the vet. Has never showed aggression. For two weeks he’s been waking up out of bed particularly at night with his hackles up. I don’t know why he doesn’t seem to be directed at me they’re just up. I don’t ever touch or bother him while he’s in bed as he has sleep startle. I’m now wondering if he just has some issues with being in bed at night. I noticed his ear was bothering him a lot post vet. Lots of discharge. I called him out of bed to take a look. Grabbed some gauze and attempted to mop up some clear and brow discharge. The vet may have cleaned his ear out at the visit which caused the liquid. His hackles were up. While cleaning his ear out he growled. So I stopped and he went back to bed to sleep. (he usually welcomes me itching his ears because they are usually bothering him, he’ll lean into my hand and sigh) I’m not sure what to make of this but it of course is concerning to me as I don’t like my dog growling at me. I’m not sure if it’s that I called him out of bed at night to mess with his ear or if his ear was hurting/bothering him so he told me to stop. Or if it has to do with being so stressed out at the vet. I’m not even sure if anything could/should be done beyond not attempting to mess with his ears after interrupting his sleep at night?

Adore my dog. His major issue is sleep startle. Learned about it the hard way by getting screamed/lunged/nipped at one night when I went to roll over in bed. I’m not sure what happened in his life before me or if that even matters but he tends to have a lot of what I would describe as night terrors as well as general fear of the dark. So overall not a good combo for sleeping in my bed or bedroom. He currently sleeps in a closed crate in the living room for his and my safety. I may, post covid, have to take a road trip/cross country move with him. Which will likely be hard as he gets very carsick. But beyond that I realized that hotel stays may be tricky. I really would not trust him to stay off the bed while I am sleeping. Even though he knows the off command. New furniture in a new place. Couldn’t trust him. crate maybe? He is a reluctant user of crates and it took two months for him to stop screaming at night when in the crate. I fear if I brought his crate and put him in it in a hotel room he would scream bloody murder as he would likely be stressed and nervous. I feel there’s no good option.

That is something I can try. He tends to get upset if he’s separated from me by a baby gate or door so I’m not sure if he would just stare at me and whine all night. Tried a crate at night in my bedroom and he cried pitifully until I moved the crate back out into the main room. Something about being able to see but not get to me

How did you end up teaching your dog to not jump on the bed when you’re sleeping in it? I haven’t tried doing commands related to furniture as he just currently is not allowed in the bedroom and uses his dog bed during the day.

Yea after the first incident he’s no longer even allowed in my bedroom. And thankfully prefers sleeping on his dog bed at least in the main room. He could sleep in a dog bed on the floor of my bedroom if I could trust him to not climb into bed at some point during the night. Not sure how I could accomplish this and trust him 100%.

Yea I may try that. He wasn’t well potty trained (or really at all) when I got him so I’m a little worried about that overnight. My other concern is I may never get him used to a crate but he may have to be in a crate sometimes in his life (boarding, vets office). So I’m not sure if nixing the crate would make having to do it later harder. I could try the baby gate. He’s a real Velcro dog so I’m not sure how long he’ll last before he’s pitifully whining at me outside the gate asking to be let in. (He hardly lets me go to the bathroom alone without whining!)

I’ve had my 3yr old rescue almost a year now. He’s the light of my life, loves dogs and loves people. His only major issue is sleep startle. After about a month of adopting him I started letting him on the bed at night. Which worked well until it didn’t. One night I went to roll over half awake and he bolted up with what I would describe as a snarl/scream. In the moment it sounded like murderous rage but I realized later it was a scream of terror. Like “I must fight this threat I’m terrified but If I don’t I will die” sort of noise. He didn’t bite I don’t think it all happened super quick but he did lunge and hit my head. It was a really scary experience and I had no idea what had happened or why. I had considered even giving him back to the rescue at that point I was so distraught. Thankfully our in home trainer assured me my dog wasn’t possessed he was startled and just reacting out of fear. he is generally very wary of the dark. If a neighbor pops out onto their porch late at night he’ll run and bark at them. The same neighbor he begs for affection from during the day. currently he sleeps in a crate but no matter what I’ve done he really hates the crate. I’ve resorted to bribing him and even that doesn’t work sometimes. I’m not sure what a good sleeping arrangement for him would be. I’m not sure I could trust him not to get on the bed at night. Or what would happen if I needed to use the bathroom at night. I’m not sure if roaming free in the main room would work or if he would whine at my door. I was originally planning to bring him camping a lot but didn’t really plan for sleep startle. I’m curious I guess if there’s a cure or just something I have to work around for the rest of his life.