[summergirl]

Hello folks,
We have a 17 week old female rottie. Something strange started happening at bedtime. She sleeps in a crate in our room at night. She has been very good at night and would usually whine and sqirm around if she had to go out. However, for about a week now when we put her in her cage at night she begins to pant heavily and seems to be very "anxious". It seems she has alot of energy all of the sudden and wants to play at 2 3 4 am. We are trying to gradually put her to bed by playing with her in the bedroom and not closing her cage door letting her roam freely in our bedroom (while we're there). It seems now that she is panting heavily when we get to our bedroom. We have a larger crate in the basement which we use when we leave for the day and she appears to be calm in the basement cage. I try to take her for long walk after dinner. We also recently change her food from IAMS to Innova. I should also mention that she seems alot thirstier at night. To describe it better you know how your dog looks when its in the car with the panting and such, thats how it is at bedtime.