Dalmatian with Sleeping Problems

Question
I have a 6 year old dalmatian who has previously had no sleeping problems yet the last few weeks she never wants to go to bed. She runs away and hides when she knows it's bed time and she even starts eating things during the night in her bedroom. This included a washing machine and she once lent out the old cat flap and ate a cactus which left her ill for a few days. It's starting to worry me as she seems very distressed at night yet she's fine during the day! Hope you can help! Thanks very much!

Answer
Review any changes in her environment that could have disturbed her.  If you see no obvious problems, have the vet examine her.  If that doesn't turn up anything carefully rethink what could have changed in her life or yours.  Usually for such a change in behavior, it needs to have an external cause at that age.  

You may want to crate her to avoid the night time chewing.  The dog may be
happier in its den than loose in the house.  It relaxes, it feels safe in its
den.  It rests, the body slows down reducing the need for water and relieving
its self.  Dogs that have been crated all along do very well.  Many of them
will rest in their crates even when the door is open.  I think the plastic
ones give the dog more of a safe, enclosed den feeling.  Metal ones can be put
in a corner or covered with something the dog can't pull in and chew.  Select
a crate just big enough for the full grown dog to stretch out in.

Leave it some toys.  Perhaps a Kong filled with peanut butter.  Don't leave
anything in the crate the dog might chew up.  It will do fine without even any
bedding.  You will come home to a safe dog and a house you can enjoy.

A dog that has not been crated since it was little, may take some work.
Start out just putting its toys and treats in the crate.  Praise it for going
in.  Feed it in the crate.  This is also an easy way to maintain order at
feeding time for more than one dog.

The "shut the puppy in a safe room" is a fallacy.  Very few houses even have a
safe room.  How many of us have a room with a hard surfaced floor and nothing
else?  Most rooms have electrical cords to chew if nothing else.  In addition
to destroying anything a bored puppy finds to chew, it may choke or have
intestinal  blockage from the pieces.  I had a friend that left her dog in a
"safe" room.  It ate a hole in the floor covering.  The safe rooms fail to
give the dog the comfort of the enclosed space their instinct requires.  Nor
do they restrict activity extending the time the dog can go without relieving
itself.