her barking is driving me mad!! help!

for the last 2 weeks ripley has been promoted...from her crate in the kitchen she is now allowed free run of the kitchen when im out or in bed.

She was always very clean in her crate and also very quiet and just generally behaved.
Thats why i promoted her.

Well im beginning to think she should be demoted back to the crate.
She now messes in there (she wees or poos even if im only out for half an hour and she has had a walk beforehand)

she also barks and barks all night on and off for 1 or 2 hr 'blocks'

the first night she was loose she was crying and whinging..i think she was a little bewildered to not be shut in the security she sees as her crate.
i continued to ignore her and now the crying has turned into barking and messing.

My thinking is that she was slightly stressed to be left 'open' in a big kitchen and messing and barking were symptoms of this even though she can see sadie through the baby gate.
however, when i pop out during the day or am even in the house and just doing housework then they are usually shut in the kitchen together and she doesnt bark, but still messes

but then when im tidying the kitchen or whatever then sometimes i shut them both in the conservatory...she has never messed in there and just totally chills out...not an option to leave her in there at night though.

I have never reacted to her barking or messing, i simply ignore her and clean it up and dont go down at all during the night(she is definatly not crying to be let out in the garden)

Im thinking i should shut her back in the crate at night and when im out as maybe i removed her 'security' too soon?

I have to do something as its keeping me awake most the night and i think im gonna lose the plot!!

it does sound as though she's very unsettled, in which case going back to the crate could be a good idea.

Has it got anything at all to do with her 'adventure' (or perhaps we should say misadventure) do you think - was she like this before that and if so has it got even worse since then?

I agree I think the crate makes her feel more secure

My BC is now 4+ and still hs an indoor kennel that she can use as and when she wants. It is a great place for her to relax and be away from the hustle adn bustle of the household but still be in touch (it is under the kitchen table).

Of the opinion the crate is a good idea, don't look at as a demotion just where she feels safer and calmer and you might keep your sanity

Yes I think I would be going back to the crate too. She sounds a bit worried out of it!

Emrad makes a really good point. Don't think of the crate/cage/indoor kennel as a demotion or goimg backwards. Think of it in the very positive light that you are giving your dog their own place that they can go to when they want.

it started before her accident.

she has gotten slightly worse since her accident and is in general a bit more stressy in everyday life...im still having to carry her until we get onto the towpath for walk as it heads towards the road where she was hit.

I think the whole thing of her being lost on her own has made her more clingy and therefore worse when left..though she was still noisy before all that happened!

she has her crate up and open...just chooses not to use it and wont move from the baby gate.

Are you keeping her separated from your other dog overnight and when you go out then? Only coz you say, she won't move from the baby gate and the fact that you also said that she can see Sadie through the baby gate? If that's the case, then put them together wherever you leave them, and if it's not, then I'd try the crate again and see if she's quiet and if so, then she obviously likes that security it gives her.

You never know, and I don't know how dogs think, BUT, she could be thinking that if she's "loose" in the house, the same thing could happen to her again, i.e. she gets hurt (as in what happened the other day), whereas if she's surrounded by metal, she kind of feels nothing can happen to her with that all around her? Try it, I'm sure that could be it.

i think im gonna put her back in the crate.

currently the two are seperate when im not there as there have been a few minor scraps between them so leaving them together when im not there is not an option.