[Lovetodream88]

Ok I have a problem and have done everything I can think of and just need some help. This might be long. I keep my ceiling fan in my room on all the time so my room stays kinda chilly because its the only way I can sleep, well ever sense Callie had her LP surgery November 2011 she sleeps in a soft sided crate zipped up and a blanket over most of the front mesh stuff so the fan is not blowing in on her (this thing is better then my bed I have a great mattress in there with a fleece blanket and its so plush) and she also sleeps in a fleece night gown. She is sleeping in the crate because she will not always use her stairs and I don't want her hurting her other knee which will need surgery at some point and the bed I have sense we moved is higher. Before that she would sleep in a soft sided dog house that I would cover most of the opening with a blanket. Well we moved in October and the first two nights she would bark once or twice and then settle in and go to sleep in her crate with no problem. Now its not so. She was never a barker except one woof to wake me up in the morning to say hey gotta potty well now we live next to people who have a cat and she barks at him but that was pretty much it. Well she can unzip her crate very fast and very easily and she started to unzip her crate every night right when I would put her to bed and get in my bed and although she knows "no" it would not stop her and she would get out of her crate so I would jump up and put her back and tell her no. That was not working she kept getting out so I put a carabiner (not sure how to spell it) on both zippers to keep it closed so she could not get out and when she would try to open it I would tell her no and she would stop and then wait and try again a few times and did this maybe three times sometimes four and then came the barking several times one bark wait a few seconds another bark and does that a few times maybe 4 or 5 even though I firmly but calmly tell her no. Now when I send her to bed before I zip her in she will go in and lay down and pant like crazy and I know shes not hot because the nights shes has been doing this it has been kinda more on the cold side then chilly. I am worried she now hates her crate and that it is giving her anxiety. She is a good dog and is simply in a crate because I don't want her to hurt herself/knees on my bed. She is potty trained and has been for years and never chews on anything but her stuff so it really it just about keeping her from hurting herself. I just don't know what to do. I feel like keeping her in the crate is so important for keeping her from hurting herself but if its giving her anxiety isn't it hurting her too. Any help would be greatly appreciated.