[Ty the shepherd guy]

Okay , so for the past 3 night when I go to lay down for bed , my Shepherd within the first 15 minutes of me laying down , she jumps up on me bed , goes to the window , and starts panting and shaking. Its not a normal pant either , its much more accelerated than usual. I cant figure out anything for the life of me. She has been to the vet and is healthy as can be. She doesnt have to go to the bathroom because I let her out and she jus sits there and looks at me. So when I push her off the bed because I cant sleep with the heavy breathing and shaking , she whines and starts to nudge me with her nose. Her nose is very moist and her ears seem warm to the touch , well , warmer than normal. She is not hot as it is about 60 degrees inside the house and mid 40's to mid 30's outside. She never has done anything like this before. I lit a fire in the fireplace for the first time 3 nights ago and I wonder if that is having some sort of effect on her? Weird thing is she sleeps right next to it while it is going and I put it out a good hour or 2 before I go to sleep. I have tried massaging her to calm her down , and I have also taken a night and tried to ignore her and let her deal with her problem and go through the process. Neither one seemed to work. Tonight I will be sleeping in the Living room on the couch next to where the fire is to see if it makes a difference. If anybody has any ideas , PLEASE let me know. I have only gotten about 4 hours of sleep the last 2 nights. She sleeps all afternoon while I go to work. Thank you for any answers tips advice ANYTHING.

 

[Ty the shepherd guy]

Just thought I would add on that she is about 4 and a half years old and Spayed and up to date on all shots.

 

[Ty the shepherd guy]

Carbon monoxide is fine...Its a wood burning fireplace , havent had the gas heater on , and the water heater is in the garage. Plus the 3 other dogs dont seemed to be bothered by it at all.

The next step is probably to crate her as said by Elaine. She hasnt been in a crate in probably 2 years. She used to sleep in it all the time and then she just all together stopped.

There is all types of things, bears, mountain lions, deer, coyotees, wolves and mean Owls too. We see deer all the time , they eat the fruit off the tree in the front yard so I dont think its the deer. Her abdomen doesnt feel tight.

-Quick Question LisaT... How long did your girl used to have the heavy breathing and shaking when she did smell an animal outside? Was it just like 45 min or would it go on all night? Thanks in Advance

 

[Ty the shepherd guy]

Do you have a carbon monoxide detector? I'm pretty sure that flames will still put off carbon monoxide regardless if there is gas or not. There's no way to tell for sure unless you have an alarm.

Very good point , I will have to look into this.

Also , I dont think its the ash because we have some fireplace screens on the fireplace and they are closed, but I will def watch her next time we have a fire going.

Just wanted to also say thanks to everyone , I definitely appreciate all the help and ideas.

 

[Ty the shepherd guy]

Ok , Thanks LisaT. I guess the only real difference in our cases is that my girl goes outside and just sits at the gate. I dont know if its animals or what , but i wont have a fire going all week so we will see if any changes occur. Glad to know that she settled and doesnt stress the mountain lions so much anymore.

 

[Ty the shepherd guy]

Okay , so last night she fell asleep before me , and I snuck in my room and laid down without creating any noises or anything. THEN 2:15 rolled around and i feel hot breath and a wet nose on my arm. So , I tried about everything I know. I crated her. 2 rooms away she was still loud , whining , and clawing at the crate door. So then I Started working her , just putting her through some basic obedience , sit down stay come etc. to see if i could change her state of mind. She did well but panted through the whole thing and nothing happened. SO then I had someone else lay down with her on the couch , I slept but they didnt due to her panting , and then she came back in my room after about an hour of them holding her in the living room on a leash.

So , I am going to change her off of her food and see if she is not liking the chicken based food that she is on as suggested by BowWowMeow. Thank you for the story. I am willing to try ANYTHING. Good to see you had a good attitude about it joking about the mothership.lol. The symptoms sound EXACTLY alike so I am praying the food swap will work. THank you again for the help and suggestions. Ill update tomorrow. Trying a few added things with the food swap.