Panic attack/recent change in behaviour

Question
QUESTION: My Jack Russell bitch Sparky (she is 6 years old) has recently changed her bedtime behavior. When my partner and I go to bed, she jumps and whines at the foot of the stairs. If we go downstairs again she is panting uncontrollably and seems to be trying to escape the house. If we leave her alone she will knock things off the windowsills or the table, or anywhere else! Scruffy my male Jack Russell has no problems and will stay in his bed. Sparky has also taken to soiling all over the floor - I mean everywhere as if she walks around doing it, and leaves puddles too even though she might have been let out 5 minutes before. This behavior has started in the last 4 weeks or so and the only way to stop it seems to be to allow her upstairs with us. However if my partner falls asleep on the sofa, and comes to bed alone in the middle of the night there are no problems! We even tried coming to bed in half hour intervals but the behaviour still happened. Please help!!

ANSWER: Alena, that is very strange behavior. Let me ask you this; how long has your partner been living with you? Have you always made her sleep downstairs, or is that a recent change? Have you noticed any other strange behaviors from Sparky, at other times, for example - such as when you leave the house? What if you were to crate her or put her in a small x-pen at night? What about if you left the TV on downstairs, and had it set to automatically turn off 20-30 minutes after you had gone to bed? What if you changed your bedtime to earlier or later? Perhaps it's more time-related, since you say she does not behave this way if your partner comes to bed much later.

Her behavior is very similar to separation anxiety behavior, but it's strange that she's only doing it at bedtime. If she were older, I might even venture to say it was the onset of dementia, but she is not an old dog.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for your reply. To clarify my partner Paul chose Sparky as his dog and has lived here all the time. Except for when she was a small puppy she has always slept downstairs. I think when left alone she either sleeps or plays with Scruffy running around the garden, as they have 24/7 access to outside. We do leave the radio on when we go out, but not when we go to bed. Most of the time we go to bed separately as I work shifts, this only happens when we go together. Could it be jealousy?

Answer
Hmmmmm. This is perplexing!

What if you let her come upstairs with you when you first go up, but have Paul take her back downstairs when you are ready to go to sleep for the night? I really have no good reason for this suggestion, other than just to let her see that you are just going to bed and there's no reason for her to become anxious. It may work and it may not.

Maybe try leaving the TV or radio on for a few minutes and see if that does any good.

Other than that, I really have no idea what else to suggest. You might want to have a trainer/behaviorist come and work with her