Thank you all for your kind words and support.  Will definitely look into a muscle relaxer.  We have been alternating hot and cold therapies when we are just hanging out around the house. The area that is bothering her is on the right side of her head behind the ear.  Just touching it with a finger will elicit a response.  We mostly keep it to gentle circles for 5-10 seconds.  

At around midnight the carprofen shot had worn off.  We started hearing little yelps off and on. I went and laid on the floor next to her bed to offer comfort.  I noticed that she would yip whenever she shifted and adjusted her position in her bed which was about every 20-30 minutes or so.  At around 3 am we had another episode of yelping and howling.  We immediately gave her a carprofen and a gabapentin.  For the next two hours she couldn't get settled for more than 20 minutes.  At this point neither of us have gotten any real sleep.  She also would not get back in bed and chose to lay on the floor.  Her bed is a newer 5" thick orthopedic foam bed.  

At 5 am she finally fell asleep in her bed.  She has been snoozing for an hour and a half now uninterrupted. Im gettin ready for work with the flashlight on my phone to not wake her up.  It's going to be a long day today.  

This whole thing really just breaks my heart.  We feel absolutely helpless and its hard not to go to dark places.  We are frustrated with this happening so close to the rehab appointment, but a week is still a long time to wait.

I will certainly keep you posted on our progress.  Thank you for listening.  

Curtis & Georgia  

Just a little update.  We were not able to get her rehab appointment any earlier, but we do have an appointment with the neurology department at 9:15 today.  The more we experience these issues the more we understand them.  The howling is at its worst when she has just gotten up from sleeping/napping for a long time.  It is also triggered when she is jolted from that sleep for whatever reason.  I dropped my phone on the floor yesterday and it woke her and got her going.  Once she gets moving though, she goes about her usual business albeit with an obvious crick in her neck.  

We asked the vet to increase the pain medicine, but he hesitated to do so right before the neuro visit.  He was afraid it might mask some symptoms for the neurologist.  

We are getting used to the little yips here and there.  For the past couple days when she yips we would immediately show her attention and I think she is catching on to that behavior from us.  Before we went to bed last night we decided to let the 2 second yips go and only go out when she howls.  Last night was our first full night of sleep.  As hard as it is to hear those yips, she falls back asleep almost immediately.  

Thank you for the information on the dog chiropractor.  Who even knew that was a thing. I will be certainly looking into that.  I will keep you posted after the neuro visit.  

Curtis & Georgia 

I am happy to report that everyone in the house slept well last night.  There were no yips and no howling.  She was sedated and calm and seems to be tolerating the medication well, though she did have a little bit of a hangover stagger this morning.  We have a small 6' x 6' square setup in the backyard for her to potty in.  She is allowed out of the crate for supervised cuddling so we snuggled last night for about an hour before bed.  She is not happy about being crated, but we have to take this seriously.  For the most part she is ok as long as someone is in the room with her while she is awake.  I guess it's a good thing this happened during winter as she won't be missing much outside.  

The muscle relaxer they put her on is Diazepam.

Again, I can't thank you all enough for showing an interest and providing your insight.  I'll keep you guys posted as the weeks go.  

Curtis & Georgia 

In case you were interested here is the official write up from the hospital.