Kill the Dog

I know that every dog owner goes through dark nights of the soul. Tonight is mine. Emily was perfectly charming until bedtime, when I put her in her crate, sat in the kitchen for a while, companionably, until she had settled down, then went off to my own bed. At which point she began to bark and whine. She has been barking and whining non-stop since then (four hours and 25 minutes, by my count). I finally let her out of the crate to inspect it and see if there was something wrong with her or the crate; both fine.

Now that I'm sitting here with the computer on my lap, and have repulsed her attempts to come sit on the chair and cuddle with me, she has returned voluntarily to the crate and is sleeping. If I close the door and return to my own bed, will she start the barking all over again? I am so tired my hair hurts. My options are: reward bad behavior by staying here, or lying down on the couch (where she will want to join me), or going back to bed and listening to her bark for another two hours, until the alarm goes off. In no case do I get to actually sleep in my own bed.

She will be a fine dog. Just not tonight.