Heidi has been acting really strange late at night during the past week. Between around 1AM and 5AM, she starts getting really nervous. She'll jump up on the bed like she wants to go out. Then, I'll take her out and she'll just walk around (sometimes peeing and pooping, but not always).

Last night was the worst though. At 3AM, she woke us up by jumping on the bed. We normally don't let her on the bed, but we did tonight because we thought maybe we'd get some sleep if she was up there with us. She couldn't relax though and kept staring at us, acting like she was listening for something, and then she sniffed both of our faces and jumped off the bed.

From that point on, she's been really restless, roaming the house, whining, staring. My husband has to get up for work in the morning, so I went in the other room so he could get some sleep (she normally follows me everywhere).

But she is still nervous, wandering around the house, and I found her in the bathroom twice just staring at the toilet! And she rarely goes into the bathroom because she is nervous walking on the linoleum. Three and a half hours later (at 6:30 AM), she's still pacing, whining, staring at me and hitting me with her nose.

She has had a couple of episodes like this in the past. Both times, it lasted a couple of days and then stopped. This time, it's worse and what's weird is that she seems her normal self during the daytime but in the late hours, she turns into a nervous wreck!

At first I was wondering if something was wrong with her physically, but it seems more like something is scaring her.

Anyone have any ideas what could be wrong with her and any suggestions to get her to calm down and let us get some sleep? This is getting to be a real pain!

Have you read this one:
http://germanshepherdhome.net/forum/ubbt..._in_#Post197155

Lots in that thread!

I just had a person I work with look at cholodin for herself. I have not seen anyone use it on a dog long-term as far as I know.

I'm going to quote Val & Chris from a different thread (hope they don't mind). I was just reading that one and came to this one and thought the thing they say about night time would be helpful to you.





Quotes are from; http://germanshepherdhome.net/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/197842/First_failed_recall

Maybe she is actually hearing something that you are not. I'm wondering if a safe place at night time, like a crate, might be helpful?

Is your house haunted? I have never been one to believe in ghosts myself but maybe there is a presence in the house?

Thanks for the replies! I've got some serious reading to do!

I've been wondering about the "haunted house" aspect too, although we've had her for four years and this is the first time she's had these nighttime issues. She doesn't seem to be scared of going outside at all, although she's very alert when we go out there because we do have raccoons and possums passing through sometimes. In fact, the second time I took her out at 2AM (on leash so she doesn't start barking and disturb the neighbors), she grabbed her cuz in her mouth to take it outside with her. If she was really, really scared or sick, it doesn't seem like she would have done that.

We were wondering if she was hearing something too. Last month, one of our smoke detectors went off (dead battery) and she was shaking like crazy and trying to hide. She was fine after we took out the battery and took her for a walk. She is a VERY sensitive girl!

It's very confusing. And it doesn't happen every night. The night before last, she laid down on her pad and slept the entire night there.

And now, she seems to be fine. She's outside acting normal, and when she's inside, she's not pacing around and doing all of that other stuff.

do you have a peeper outside? a few months ago we had a guy and his girlfriend who would walk the neighborhood looking for unlocked doors or open windows.even if the folks were hom esleeping, they would break in (well, technically they never broke in) and grab whatever they could and leave. t hey ddid this for 4 months before they got caught. they didnt come everysingle night, however, every night several homes were robbed. there was at least two times when we actaully heard the doorknob turn. by then we started locking the door and closing the windows. of course, if we had had the dogs then they would have only tried once.

also we have wild turkeys in the nieghborhood and sometimes they land on the roof at night. creepy sounding. the dogs often go crazy then. and last but not least. maybe you have mice? skunks are pretty active now, maybe one passses by outside ??? we also have giant barn owls that must live somewhere close by. they start and end thier hunts in our trees. late at night they will call and screech to each other and again the dogs are always then restless...

Or another possibilty, mice or other critters in the attic?

No peepers that I'm aware of! And I'm pretty sure Heidi would bark ferociously at them if they (or any critters) dared to get too close to the house!

But I just checked and there were a couple of small earthquakes in Northern California in the early morning hours last night. And one of them was said to be pretty shallow (I don't know if that means you'd feel it more). I have a feeling that might have been what it was. Next time she does this, I'm going to pay better attention to the time so I can get a better idea. I actually kind of hope that this is what it is because it's better than the alternatives!

Could it be that Heidi was responding to the seismic activity? GSDs are so sensitive, and they feel responsible for the safety of their human flock. I could well believe that the tremors were sensed by her and that she was aware and letting you know. The restlessness, whining, staring-- kinda might make sense, know? Good call! I hope that is all that it was. Good girl, Heidi!

I hope it does turn out that Heidi's behavior changes are due to earthquakes. I hear some animals are very sensitive to them.

You may want to drop off a urine sample and have it checked for a uti. Skye's weird behaviors escalated when she had an infection.

It is worth trying - Skye's test was only $8.00 and clearing it did help for awhile, although her symptoms, while less severe are back.

Hugs to Heidi - she is very young, so my vote is for her hearing or sensing something her humans are missing!