Need Help With Night Behavior Of Blue

[Zoolady]

We have four greys. At night, Ben (surviving osteo almost 11 years old) always sleeps on the floor in our room. Blue comes in too so we have two beds. The girls usually sleep in the computer room on beds. All four come to our room when my daughter and family are in town.

 

Blue had space issues when we first got him of getting snarky if another animal got near him, especially when sleeping or during the day. Over time, that seemed to diminish.

 

After a while, at night, he started to growl a tiny bit and then snap a time or two. The growling got louder on progressive nights so we tried putting him out of the bedroom with the girls and he cried at the door until we caved and let him in which I know isn't good but we needed to sleep. We tried him in another room by himself and that was even worse.

 

He then switched to waiting until we were asleep and then get on the bed. When we would move to roll he would growl and do two loud snaps, clicking his teeth. We always make him get off the bed.

 

This week it has been something more. He will now bark and bite at the air, clicking teeth. Night before last he was on the bed and was standing on the corner, growled, barked, snapped twice and got off the bed by himself. This behavior repeated three or four times that night.

 

It doesn't matter now if he is on our bed or the floor. The behavior is the same, growl, bark, click teeth.

 

Last night he did it again only is getting louder with the growls, barks a couple times and then the air biting. He's doing it without any provocation at all either from Ben or us. It's almost like he's not mentally there....sleepwalking.

 

We just don't know what to make of it or what's going on in his head. We thought maybe nightmares but it's so consistent and nightly.

 

We did muzzle him this week for safety sake.

 

Any ideas? I keep thinking it's a behavior problem but then wonder if he needs doggie sleeping pills so he can rest and refresh too.

 

Oh, I forget to mention he is fine now and doesn't do this during the day or when the grandchildren are here. He is fine with them and being five and seven, they know the rules too.

[JJNg]

Is he looking at anything in particular when this behavior happens?

[Zoolady]

It's really dark at night but from what I can see sometimes when he is on the bed it looks like his head is towards the door, not down. I can't see him when he's on the floor and doing it.

[JAJ2010]

How is his vision? Hearing? Any pain in his joints now that it's getting cooler? I would probably crate or xpen him in the bedroom and see if that makes him happier.

[Zoolady]

I think physically he's fine. He's five or six years old but behaves more like a puppy with toys and running in the back yard.

 

We live in south Florida so weather probably isn't a factor. However, besides the regular air conditioning we do run a window unit to keep the bedroom cooler than the whole house.

 

I like the idea of confining him. We do have a crate but a small bedroom, king bed, two dressers and a bookcase so will have to measure. If we can get it in the bedroom, would you recommend putting a black sheet over it to make it his "cave"?

[JJNg]

Can you tell if he's moving toward anything when he snaps? How quickly does he progress through the growl, bark, snap sequence? Does he respond to you if you talk to him when he first starts growling?

 

My mixed breed Corey does something similar, and I've never been able to find a logical explanation. Sometimes the behavior is triggered by one of the other dogs lying down or shifting near him. Sometimes he does it with absolutely no provocation, but the behavior is almost always directed toward one of the other animals (the other dogs or the cats) - even if the animal he's looking at is asleep or facing away from him and not moving.

 

Corey will suddenly start growling. After a few seconds, this progresses to baring his teeth, and then jumping up and snapping toward the other animal. But he never makes contact, and I've pretty much accepted this as just something he does. The other animals ignore him and don't act like they feel threatened by this behavior. If I talk to him quietly and calmly when he first starts growling, I can distract him and keep him from snapping.

 

I've talked to an animal communicator about this, and she says he's reacting to spirits, not to the other animals. I know many people don't believe in this, but it's the best explanation I've gotten so far, and my observations of his behavior have fit with the more detailed explanation she gave.

[Zoolady]

It progresses fairly quickly from one to another. Last night we separated the beds as far as possible for the boys and Blue seemed be quieter. We also made him get off the bed as soon as he was discovered.

 

When he does do it, it's in one spot and he doesn't move.

 

Will try speaking quietly to him. Good idea.

 

It also could be spirits. We get "visitors" once in a while and have for years. You can see human shaped shadows down the hall floating/crossing from room to room and on very rare occasions, feel a hand on your shoulder or cheek being touched and no body is there.

[Guest benfrench]

Do you have a nightlight? He may be seeing things that are not there, or maybe things that are but really not in the case of the spirits. We have a couple nightlights throughout our house and a fairly bright clock in the bedroom.