Cocker Spaniel who screams-cries

Question
We have a 10 year old, female cocker spaniel who has started screaming / crying.  It sounds like she is in terrible pain, being abused (which she is NOT!) or has been caught in a trap or something.  It is the worst sound.  She started doing it from time to time during the night - almost like a nightmare - about 6 years ago.  But not often and only for a few minutes.  Then about a year ago, she started doing it many times a day - when she's outside and wants in (you could have just let her out and she'll do it after being at the door for only a minute#, when you leave the house, when you put her in a room separate from others #in our room if we have company over who are afraid of dogs but she has water, toys, bones, her bed in the room with her).  It seems it is whenever she isn't getting her way.

The sound is so awful, the neighbours have asked us if our young daughter is hurting our dog - which of course, she's not.  

It is frequent.  It is loud.  It is annoying because you have to run from wherever you are, from whatever you're doing to get her - so the neighbours don't think she's being hurt.

The only thing that changed a year ago in our house was our son was born.  So we have 2 children and a very warm, loving house.

Not sure what to do.  We think her hearing could be going and her eyes - we are going to take her to the vet but not sure if it is more a behaviour issue.

We need some expert help!
Thanks.

Answer
Whenever a dog's behavior suddenly changes, the first thing I recommend is a visit to the vet to rule out any physical cause, such as changes in vision or hearing, etc.  Whenever a dog seems to be doing a behavior that the owner says is being done "when she isn't getting her way" I like to reframe that - usually dogs simply do behaviors that work.  So, if every time she screams you try to comfort her, or you scold her, or you let her in, or you give her a toy or a bone, you may accidentally be "reinforcing" her for having screamed, because it gets her what she was after.  If a dog is screaming when isolated, it could be from separation anxiety, or boredom, so you really need to get a handle on the "why" because the solution will be dependent upon it.  If your vet can't find anything wrong with your dog physically, try finding a good positive trainer (clicker trainers are often good at changing behavior) and try to work with the trainer to modify the barking.