behaviors in bearded dragon

Question
My bearded dragon is about a year old. the past two weeks he has been tying to climb the walls of his aquarium incessently and seems very agitated. He will not be calm while being held as he was previously. the only changes we have made are 1) getting rid of his waterfall because I couldn't keep it clean anymore and 2) we got a new dog. the dog does not bother the dragon, but could the presence of a new animal cause this? he gets plenty of crickets, superworms, and veges. How can we get him calm again?

Answer
Hi Sean,
Yep...a new animal could do that. Did his actions start when the new dog arrived?
Also any changes..  As to the waterfall, do you mean he was using it as his bathroom? If yes, that's a beardies natural thing to poop in water. If that is the case, try adding a smaller, shallow pan of water to his cage. Waterfalls can add a bit too much humidity to the air for a beardie  also.
How big is your tank? If its smaller than a 60 gallon tank, he may be telling you that he needs more room now that he is getting bigger/older.
With your beardies age, especially a male, he is maturing (sexually) and with that comes a change in attitude many times. Even though he thinks he is old enough to breed(captive should not be bred until 2 yrs of age, if at all) and their natural instinct kicks in..Is his beard turning black while in his agitated mood? The black beard can be acting tough..."its my home, get away you invader"(dog).
You may have to just ride out the storm until he settles down be it an age thing or the changes(dog, waterfall).  If his "home" size is the problem, they you are the one that needs to fix that.
Allow him free roam time, but don't do it when ever he "demands" it or you will create yet another problem..lol.