Hi, I need some advice on transitioning my dog from sleeping in her crate to having the freedom to roam at night. She’s a 4-year-old Sheltie/Aussie/Pit mix and extremely well crate trained. We want to get another dog soon and ideally let both sleep with us or on a dog bed in our room.
The first night we let her sleep outside her crate, she did okay; she was maybe a little restless but overall she was fine. She still has access to her crate at night, but she hasn’t gone in there at all on her own. Tonight, she woke me up around 2AM and has been crying and pacing for about two and a half hours now. She’s obviously stressed and I think maybe being a bit hyper-vigilant since we were sleeping, but I’m not sure how to go about making her more comfortable. I put her back in her crate, hoping it would let her relax, but she is still struggling a bit.
We could potentially give her half a trazodone while she’s adjusting, but I’m not wild about that as she becomes super lethargic and I don’t want to give it to her routinely for a significant period of time.
Any suggestions on how to make this transition smoother for her?