Night barking. Getting desperate.

Milly has just turned 9 years. A lovely cavalier, if somewhat anxious. She has always happily slept downstairs in the kitchen/living room, either on the sofa or in her bed. She's never been crated. She has never been much of a barker, but suddenly about 6 weeks ago she started barking at night. At first I went down and either put her out or settled her her and it lasted about 1-2 hours and she'd start up again. I have tried everything, from visiting her, to ignoring her. I have bought a heat pad, in case she's cold. I've wrapped a Thunder jacket around her. I've tried Dap infusers. I've left lights on, I've put lights off. I've been giving her extra walks to tire her, extra food, in case she's hungry.
I've been to the Vet, who says she's fit and healthy, slim with no heart murmur and no signs of SM. Her only problem is she's quite, but not completely, deaf, so no point leaving a radio on.
I am desperately tired due to broken nights, so reluctantly I have put her bed out into the Utility room, which, although perfectly secure, is colder and not cosy. She has a jacket on and a heat pad and fleecy blanket. I can't hear her barking there. On the first two mornings she was sound asleep in her bed, so I felt she must have eventually settled. The past two mornings however, I found she had wee'd on her bed, which she has never done previously.
When I go away, she stays with a lovely lady who has a cavalier too. She says Milly never barks there and seems very happy.
We agreed she is probably lonely and I think wetting her bed is a sign of stress. I know you may think I'm heartless, but I just cannot let her upstairs to sleep with us, although I know that is what she wants. I know she would probably sleep better there, but we certainly wouldn't.
I'm so sad that she is distressed, to the extent I am seriously considering rehoming her to someone who has another gentle cavalier, as I think she would be much happier there. Sadly my holiday lady, says she can't have her full time.
Can anyone suggest anything that I might have missed?

Our almost 8 years old Sophie became deaf a couple years ago. She slept wherever she liked at night. Several months after she became deaf, she started barking at real or imagined things during the night. We had to bring her old crate into our bedroom and put her in it, at night. She loves her crate and her nice bedding inside it, anyway, and that cured the night barking.

The only episode we've had with her barking during the night, since crating her at night, was the one time we had a helium-filled balloon in the bedroom. During the night, she began barking like mad. I took her out, thinking she needed a potty break. The next morning, we figured out she woke up, saw the balloon in the dark, and thought it was an intruder or something. :lol:

Try finding a crate you can borrow, and set it in your bedroom where she can see you (for comfort), and see if that cures it. If it does, you'll be buying your own crate and it will be worth it!

Thanks for this advice Waldor. I didn't think you could crate an older dog, if they'd never been crated, but it sounds like it would be worth a try. I seriously doubt my other half would agree to her being in our room, but I can discuss it.
I won't ask why you had a helium balloon in your bedroom, but it did make me laugh!!

I think this is connected with her deafness. Loss of hearing is a huge handicap for dogs and my own almost totally deaf Cavalier seemed to find it harder to interpret what was going on, so would bark at shadows in the room, or reflections in the window. And the deafness really isolated him, so I made a point of touching him as much as possible so that he stayed connected. I had a younger Cavalier as well but they were friendly but not devoted (Aled was a puppy farm rescue who relied heavily on the older Oliver for confidence, but deaf Oliver was very independent), so canine company might not necessarily help Milly. Cavaliers are people dogs, and helping them cope with the problems of growing old is part of our responsibility for them. A crate with a blanket over it might help her feel more secure and shut out disturbing shadows.

Kate and Ruby

henny - Sophie was crated at night as a puppy, and for potty-training. Still, with an older dog, it is worth the bother to try to introduce the crate. Sophie has a comfy bed in there and during winter, I drape something over it except the side that faces us (and also has the door) to keep her cozy and draft-free. Dogs like a den, and this creates that environment.

When they are puppies, we always give our dogs a small treat and lots of praise, as soon as they go into the crate. They learn it is a good place!

The balloon - it was part of a birthday gift from our then 2 year-old granddaughter, to her granddad.

Loss of hearing is a huge handicap for dogs .....

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I agree! Sophie now experiences her world with her eyes and her nose. This is quite annoying when we're on our one-mile daily walk because she wants to sniff everything, and take her time doing it. I don't have an hour for a mile-walk (1.6km) while she sniffs every blade of grass for ten minutes, so I end up coaxing her along until she gets the idea that we are walking.