Crying at Night

[Skeate]

My husband and I are about to lose our minds. We are so sleep deprived. We got our basenji about a year ago as a puppy. Dacia is a little over 1 year old now. At night, she sleeps in a crate next to our other dog, a 4 year old mix breed. Starting two weeks ago, she'll wake up at 5:30 or 6:00 in the morning shrieking. She won't stop. We've let her go for almost an hour thinking that if we let her outside or acknowledge her we'll reinforce the behavior. My husband and I have started to argue because we can't figure out how to make it stop. I don't want to let her sleep in bed with us; my husband has sleep apnea and I don't want to disrupt him more than necessary. We can't think of anything that has changed other than we bought some 2x4s to finish our basement and have them stacked up near her kennel. Any suggestion?? She's starting to instigate our other dog into howling with her. We tried to separate them and while our mix breed, Roxy, stopped howling, Dacia howls more because she doesn't like to be away from her. HELLPPP!!!

[Quercus]

First off, you might have her checked by the vet for a urinary tract infection, or something similar. She might be telling you that she really REALLY needs to go out.

Secondly, once you rule out that there is any serious reason why she might have developed this behavior..I would move both crates to a far away part of the house. It is wierd that she developed this at a year old. Usually you see this in puppies as they are getting used to the change from litter to new home.

Thirdly, if nothing else fixes it, I would let both dogs sleep in bed ;) You could do a compromise. When she wakes up, before she starts screaming...take her out of her crate, and either take her outside for a potty, or just let the dogs in bed for that last hour or two of the morning! That has got to be less disruptive than screaming for an hour, no?

[Skeate]

Thanks for the advice. I'll get her into the vet and give your suggestions a try.