scared/shaking 10 yrd olf dog, 2am last 10 nights

Question
QUESTION: I have a male Australian Sheperd that is almost 10 years old.  In the last 6 months he started locking himself in the bathroom when no one is home.  We can be gone for only 20 minutes, and usually find him in the bathroom.  He sleeps in my bedroom with my boyfriend and I everynight. But for the last 10 consecutive nights he has started freaking out between 2 and 3am.  He starts growling, and whining and pacing the room.  He knocks things over, clearly on purpose and tries to get on the bed with us. For the last 10 nights we've gotten up and told him to be quiet and tried to calm him down or get out of our room so we can sleep.  We've woken up to him downstairs in the bathroom with the door closed that last 10 mornings.  Last night, at my mothers suggestions, we just let him sleep on the bed with us, hoping this is what he wanted and would calm him down.  But he shook and shivered for over an hour, pacing the bed and looking nervously over the side of the bed as if there were something all around the bed on the floor that was scaring him.  He calmed down for about an hour between 3 and 4am and we were able to sleep, but then at 4am he started getting closer and closer to us and trying to climb near our heads on the bed. We tried to push him towards our feet, but he tensed himself up and wouldn't let us move him and he started shaking again.  
Tonight we are going to try putting him in the bathroom before we go to bed with a blanket and his food and water in there too. We think he must feel safe in the bathroom, and we need sleep!!! Otherwise during the day and when we first go to bed he's completely normal. He's a very clingy dog and loves human contact and will follow you everywhere around the house... but I'm worried about him.  He seems to be putting himself in smaller areas lately I suppose, like right now, he's in same room, but under the dinning room table.

ANSWER: Dogs are naturally den animals, so going into a smaller space can be very comforting for them if they feel afraid or threatened, or just want to be alone. That is why crates work so very well for them once they get used to them.

Shaking is a sign of pain or stress (fear), and in this case it sounds like a fear reaction to something he hears or "sees". But it certainly never hurts to have the dog checked over by the vet to be certain that something physical isn't going on with him that is causing these recent behaviors, such as an ear infection or pain issues somewhere.

So assuming there are no health issues and the dog hasn't suddenly gone senile, the only likely answer then has to be that he is hearing a noise that he doesn't like that seems to occur about the same time every night or he is "seeing" something like comes visiting the same time every night. I put 'seeing' in parentheses because I am a very spiritual person and I believe that dogs, and often small children, can see things that we usually cannot. It is said that some of our loved ones, no longer with us in the flesh, often come and visit us at the same time every night. Now whether your dog is seeing something like that (but why would he be afraid of a loved one?) or he is seeing a ghost (yes, I believe they also exist), only a true psychic or animal communicator could say.

In the meantime, since he seems to favor the bathroom, that sounds like a good place to put him. Just make him as comfortable as possible and see if he improves or worsens with time. If he doesn't have an ear infection that is causing pain and/or buzzing noises in his ears, then I vote for ghosts<G> Got any other unusual things going on in your house, such as things being moved or electrical appliances going on and off by themselves?  :)

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QUESTION: Nothing unusual is going on in the house. It's an older room that makes noises from time to time like any house. But no strange noises or shadows or things moving or appliances moving or working funny or anything like that. It's just our dog that's being abnormal.
We are housing sitting however. My dog is used to living with my parents, and brother and I. My boyfriend and I are house sitting for 6 months and the dog is mine, so I wanted him with me.  He seemed to adjust to the house just fine.  The first time he entered the house he walked around with his head low and very cautious, but he was fine within a half our.  We've been here over a month and a half now, and the starnge behavior started on Valentine's Day. So we've been here quite a while without him acting strange.  Could the new house and my parents and brother not being present make my dog start acting like this?
He's freaking me out, and I wanted an answer that had nothing to do with spirits or ghosts, because I haven't been able to sleep because of that. He's making me paranoid and I don't want to be scared now.
The other thing is that he has always been afraid of loud appliances like the vacuum. I've only ever seen him freak out and shake like this when the vacuum is on. He doesn't like hair dyers either. He's always slept in my room with me, all his life, and I've always had a fan on to help me sleep (to block out other noises) and he usually stays away from the fan.  But now (in the last 10 nights) the fan is what he stands in front of or lays in front of and knocks over each night. He gets up right next to it now.
But you're right, I definitely think that he is stressed and afraid.
I'm trying to think positive and don't want to think that anything is "visiting" us at night. The homeowner's baby was born in that room too about 7 months ago. So I'm trying to look at it as a happy room. (they chose to have the baby at home)

ANSWER: Sorry if I am spooking you more; that was not my intention.

A couple things of note... since he was fine after his initial walk-around the house after you moved in, I don't think it has anything to do with being away from your parents' house and your family. If that was going to bother him, it would have happened right away, not a month later. One option would be to return him to your folks' house for a few days and see if he returns to normal. If he doesn't, then it is something physical (or mental) with him. If he returns to normal, then it is something with the house or the area that he hears, sees, or smells.

The fact that he is sound-sensitive makes me think he is hearing something somewhere in the neighborhood/area that is setting him off, but the fact that he and your fan have suddenly become "friends" is *extremely* unusual. Dogs just do not change (fear) behavior like that without retraining. As I think about that, I believe I would retire that fan and buy a new one. Perhaps it is omitting odors or noises that his more keen senses are picking up and that is what he is reacting to. If dogs can smell cancer cells, they can certainly smell out a fan that is dying. Fans don't cost that much in order to have a little piece of mind in that department. (We have one running constantly in our bedroom, too.)

So those are more of my thoughts. If you ever figure out what is going on, I would love to hear about it. I have personally observed and heard of dogs exhibiting some unique behaviors over the years, some of them even life-saving... things that the "noveau experts" deny dogs being capable of since they are supposed to be incapable of being pack animals and having wolf-like behaviors. Who knows? Perhaps yours is doing something like that.

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QUESTION: Last night I brought my dog to my parents house to spend the night. Sunday night into Monday morning was the worst yet.  He shook and was scared and had to be basically on top of my boyfriend and i from 1:30am to 6:00am this time. I skipped school yesterday because I have been so sleep deprived. Anyways, we'll see what my parents of brother have to say about his behavior last night, he would have slept in either of their rooms. I actually slept through most of the night and managed not to get too creeped out thankfully.  I woke up a few times and looked around the room, but all was well and nothing strange or unusual went on. I want to bring my dog back here in a few days. If he is fine at my parents house at night, but not here and continues this behavior, what should I do? SHould I leave him with my parents for the duration? I don't want to do that, but I need to sleep at night. I can feel myself getting sick from the lack of sleep. Blah. My mom did research on older dogs acting like him yesterday and she thinks it's signs of him becoming senile. But we're no dog experts. Thanks!

Answer
As I said earlier, this could well be a sign of senility, but senility sort of creeps up on a dog; it doesn't just start all at once. In your case, you can actually put a date onto yours, and that would be very unusual. You still should have him checked out by a veterinarian, but you should have more information after you find out what happened last night with your parents.

If the dog is fine at your parents but the behavior returns when he comes back to your place, you should leave him at your folks. All this stress cannot be good for him either; stress predisposes one to health issues.