upset about his crate all of a sudden

Question
Hi!
I have a seven year-old dog (half Lhasa, half Maltese) who has been more or less happy to sleep in his crate since he got used to it as a baby. Recently, though, he has begun to object to it. He tries to walk out of it when I put him in for the night, and then he cries and sometimes even howls. At first I tried to ignore him, but ignoring him made no impact and might have even begun to turn his new pattern into a habit. Now I try to tell him 'no bark!' in a low voice; sometimes, when I'm really upset about it, I squirt him with water. I've tried leaving a nightlight on, and a radio, but he didn't like it. I hate that this has happened, and I don't know what to do. Is he suddenly upset about his crate? Is the summer weather affecting his comfort level? Is he too tired to go to sleep quietly by the time the sun goes down?
He's had some back problems, earlier in his life, so I'm very concerned that he gets good rest at night. I'd appreciate any advice! I've got to figure this out, for both our sakes :)
Thank you so much for your help.
Amy

Answer
Hi Amy,

Thanks for sending your question to me at AllExperts!  

When there are behaviour changes that appear suddenly in dogs, I always ask people to have a complete vet check-up done for their dog include CBC, thyroid, neurological, and whatever else the vet recommends given your concerns and the onset of sudden behaviour changes in your dog.  

Given your dog's age (considered now the senior years), your dog may have gone through some changes that have elicited the reluctance on his part to go into the crate.  These may even include sight and hearing changes, elimination changes, insecurity due to changes so that your dog would rather be closer to you rather than in the crate, etc.

All the suggestions I'm making below are still recommending a vet check-up first!

If your dog is sleeping in the crate in another room, try moving the crate to just outside the door of your room with your door open, or inside your room and see if doing so helps.  Having you near at night may help him.

Squirting your dog with water will not help, especially if it hasn't already.  It's not something I recommend doing.  If the reluctance to go into the crate is due to your dog's discomfort due to a medical issue, the squirting with water may not help, but could make matters worse.  Saying 'no bark' won't help either for the same reasons, and possibly other reasons as well too complicated to go into here.

As for weather affecting his comfort level, if he has had back problems this could be so - again, I would check with a vet that specializes in this area (back problems in dogs); or, it could be that your dog's back problems are getting worse in general.  I'm sure your dog would like to get a good night's rest too!

Get that vet check-up for him, and then go from there.

Best of luck, please report back in a few weeks!
Madeline at AllExperts, www.ny-njDogTrainer.com