Fido ain't sleeping

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Really, our dog has become nocturnal. *sigh*

Every evening he goes politely in his little bed, pretends to sleep
and about 30 minutes after I have fallen asleep, he starts whining
and roaming around the house. He goes up and down the stairs,
walks around the living room, goes back into the bedroom and down
the stairs again.

It goes like this almost all night long. Around 4:00 or 5:00 am he finally settles down and sleeps.

He's fine otherwise! He eats, walks, plays, and sleeps a lot during the
daytime - no kidding, I wish I could do the same - but keeps everyone
awake during the night.

He's around 12 years now (don't know for sure as he's a rescue),
could it be that he's just a tad confused about day/night times?
Is it old age?

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I didn't experience this with Pacco, so no clue, this by way of BUMP.

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My boy wanders the house at night when he's taking prednisone. Could be a stress thing.

Sounds more like the men in my father's line (and so probably me, too), though. Just not going to sleep and bumping around the house when everybody else is asleep. I saw my grandpa do it, and he drank himself throughout the day into a buzz that could let him lay still at night, if not acually sleep. And in my dad and my uncle and me, too, bothered by late night thoughts.

Could be your old boy is just having a change in attitude. You might want to keep an eye on other signs of stress or sickness, like increased shedding or changes in appetite (hungrier than ever, or sometimes he leaves food in the bowl). These can be signs of disease, sometimes.

A lot of dogs just get senile, though, just like some people get senile. And just like my dad's family gets senile after their sleeping habits change. Give him my love,

patiodog

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And if you notice that he's peeing and/or drinking more than usual. This is a big first clue that there might be something to look for.

(And sometimes even if there's something to look for it's something very treatable, like Cushing's disease or acute cholangiohepatitis...)

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Thanks osso. Yeah, he's healthy otherwise, eats regularly, no problems
walking, he plays with us and is quite agile, but he just won't sleep at
night.

This started about 2 weeks ago.

A friend of mine told me that she had the same problem with her
old dog and she gave him a few drops of children's Benadryl, and
he slept through the night. But I am not so sure that I would want
to do that.

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Benadryl -- 50 mg, two tablets -- is a good sedative for a lot of dogs. No side effects. We give it to our allergy dog when she flares up, and an added benefit is that the usually hyperactive dog (she's a high-strung aussia-shepherd cross) is relaxed and sleepy when everybody else is relaxed and sleepy. This is the sedative dose for any dog over 40 pounds or so.

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Oh, didn't see patiodog's reply.

Well, he's eating as usual and not drinking more either.
He is not on any medication. No shedding either (he's a Lhaso mix)

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patiodog wrote:

Benadryl -- 50 mg, two tablets -- is a good sedative for a lot of dogs. No side effects. We give it to our allergy dog when she flares up, and an added benefit is that the usually hyperactive dog (she's a high-strung aussia-shepherd cross) is relaxed and sleepy when everybody else is relaxed and sleepy. This is the sedative dose for any dog over 40 pounds or so.

Really? Hm, I have children's Benadryl here for my daughter, perhaps
I should try it.

Yes, since he's a rescue, that dog always has been high strong and
under stress. For that reason, we try to keep his life as simple as possible
with a repetitive schedule, so there is nothing out of the ordinary for
him to stress out to.

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Ah, so probably only one benadryl for him, if you end up going that route.

Just keep an eye on him, for any other changes that may be going on. Any little stuff, like sleeping in a different place (closer to the heat, further from the heat) and whatnot. Enjoy his changing personality. They go straight from children to old men and women. Usually they're both at the same time.

(Sorry, our boy's growing old very fast with his cancer at the moment. And he's a good little old man, can't scrap with the young dogs like he used to, but he savvier than they are because he's plenty of dogs like them...)

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CalamityJane wrote:

patiodog wrote:
Benadryl -- 50 mg, two tablets -- is a good sedative for a lot of dogs. No side effects. We give it to our allergy dog when she flares up, and an added benefit is that the usually hyperactive dog (she's a high-strung aussia-shepherd cross) is relaxed and sleepy when everybody else is relaxed and sleepy. This is the sedative dose for any dog over 40 pounds or so.

Really? Hm, I have children's Benadryl here for my daughter, perhaps
I should try it.

Yes, since he's a rescue, that dog always has been high strong and
under stress. For that reason, we try to keep his life as simple as possible
with a repetitive schedule, so there is nothing out of the ordinary for
him to stress out to.

Does he ever get a chance to really exercise -- play with other dogs and the like? It's been huge for our guy to be able to go to the park and just be doggish for a while. He sleeps a lot better after those trips. Good quality-of-life kind of stuff for him.

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Oh, I am sorry to hear about your boy's cancer. It never gets easier,
doesn't it? No matter how many dogs you have, it still is heartbreaking
to see them get old and sick. I've been there previously too....

Yeah, ours seems to be in between child and old man - he still plays
with his toys and is frisky. I just hope, he stays that way for a loooooong,
long time.

Good luck with yours, patio, and thank you for your advice!

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patiodog wrote:

Does he ever get a chance to really exercise -- play with other dogs and the like? It's been huge for our guy to be able to go to the park and just be doggish for a while. He sleeps a lot better after those trips. Good quality-of-life kind of stuff for him.

Yes, we go about 4 times a day out with him and he gets a good workout.
These type of dogs don't walk that far though, if we've gone too far
with him, he just sits down and expects to be carried back - not so easy
with a 25 pounder.

As for other dogs, he's not into them at all, strangely enough. Our next
door neighbor dog gets a quick sniff and that's it.

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Thanks. He's our first, he's the reason I do anything with animals at all -- really, like, the main reason, the turning point in my life, and he's been faithful and loyal in spite of all our bumbling through -- so I've been pretty sensitive to every little change (but always a step slow, I'm afraid). And he's already had 4 times as much extra time than other dogs who start out like him (so far as they can tell at this point) are execpted to get. So I'm grateful for every day I get to throw the frisbee for him.

Try 25 mg of the benadryl for one night, see if it helps him sleep. He probably does want to go to sleep like normal, you know. (But maybe not every single night. Sometimes even a sweet, neutered old dog needs to howl at the moon when it's there in the kitchen window. The world's different then, you know. It can be whatever it can't be during the day.)

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Ah, p'dawg, what can I say. Be there. But you already are.

Also, go ahead and cry. Probably not good with pet owners or when you're in surgery, but otherwise, it's ok.

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patiodog wrote:

Thanks. He's our first, he's the reason I do anything with animals at all -- really, like, the main reason, the turning point in my life, and he's been faithful and loyal in spite of all our bumbling through -- so I've been pretty sensitive to every little change (but always a step slow, I'm afraid). And he's already had 4 times as much extra time than other dogs who start out like him (so far as they can tell at this point) are execpted to get. So I'm grateful for every day I get to throw the frisbee for him.

I've been there too. My last dog was the very first of my own, became
practically my shadow. Wherever I was, the dog was, and I was lucky
enough to have her for over 15 years. Gosh that was extremely hard
to let go....

Quote:

Try 25 mg of the benadryl for one night, see if it helps him sleep. He probably does want to go to sleep like normal, you know. (But maybe not every single night. Sometimes even a sweet, neutered old dog needs to howl at the moon when it's there in the kitchen window. The world's different then, you know. It can be whatever it can't be during the day.)

Yeah, no matter how small, they are little machos at times. I'll try the
benadryl. Thanks!

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I'm surrounded by it, every day, osso. Which puts it in perspective. And probably makes it a little easier, too, having that perspective. Cheers to you and yours.

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Cheers, CJ. (The benadryl works for people, too, by the way -- it's what they use in Unisom.) G'night, li'l Lhaso.

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Cheers patiodog, and this one (hopefully) will have a good night!

http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/4748/maxbn4.jpg

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Ok, then. Actually, that's interesting, the sympathy and pushback on it. I can see the whole pet passing as a huge part of a veterinary practice. ¥ou do regard your own dog with connection - you may end up the observer and the very sad one, yet inured to the sometime desolation people feel, which can be shell thin, or the opposite.

I suppose someone will write a book, or has, has, has.

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I've a deeper connection with my dog than any other person. Just the way I'm wired.

Trouble is, I form that connection easily. I try to do well by them, but there's a lot to do, and a lot of them to do it for.

My boy's tottered on up to bed now, which means I will, as well, Night all.

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Fido ain't sleeping

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