sleep anxiety

Question
I have a 9 yr old rescued staffi cross Ben, I've had him since he was about 9 months old, everywhere I go he does, he sleeps with me every night. A couple of weeks ago he woke me up by sitting on my head, he was panting and digging on the bed. I think a neighbours smoke alarm was bleeping which I know he's very scared of. He has now become scared of sleeping upstairs. The past 2 nights have been the worse, if he does go upstairs all he does is run between the bedrooms jumping on the beds, digging the duvets or the bedroom floors. Last night when he finally settled he slept downstairs in 1 of the dog beds alone(he's never done this before), then finally came upstairs about 5.15 and got into my bed. I think he now associates bedtime with the smoke alarm. How can I help him overcome this.

Thanks

Joanne and Ben

Answer
Hi there. Well first of all, it is actually very very good for the dog to be alone at times, so if he sleeps alone downstairs, think of it as a good thing. If in fact, that is what happened to the dog, then it is going to take some time but he will come around., You can also desensitize the dog by duplicating that same sound alot so he gets used to it, but i dont really recommend that here. Let the dog have some time. good luck
Nancy