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Old Dog won't Sleep at Night

My 18 year old cockapoo won't sleep at night.  He sleeps during the day when we are not home and during the night he is restless.  He is up every hour seeking activity and pees on the floor when he doesn't find any.  This is making his us crazy as his activity is keeping us awake.  Having him sleep in another room or outside is not an option as he has extreme seperation anxiety.  We've tried many options to make him not be so restless including taking him for walks at night to tire him out, giving him natural pet medications to relax him,  giving him up to 50mg of Benedryl (he's only 14lbs) and as far as having the vet prescribe a low dose of acepromazine to help sedate him at night and NOTHING works.  He countinues to be up at night pacing the house.  Please help, I'm beginning to lose my sanity due to lack of sleep.  
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Avatar universal
If an older dog suddenly has erratic behavior and/or personality changes with no known medical cause,  they are liking exhibiting dementia. My 15 yr old Jack spends every night digging in the carpet with only short breaks to stare at me while panting. Nothing I do will settle her. She has Sundowners. This disorder is exactly the same thing many with Alzheimer's exhibit in nursing homes across the world.  Whether person or dog, at sundown they will start becoming restless. Pacing, severe anxiety, fretfulness and confusion will be their nighttime companion until the brain shuts down later in the disease. No food or walks or anything else but drugging them up will end the behavior. With seniors, they're given ambien. With dogs I don't know. But once a dog gets to this stage and is disrupting your life by giving you no sleep, peeing on the floor etc from advanced age, I feel it's a cruelty to force their little bodies to keep going. Remember, they are tormented at night. They pace and pant out of fear and anxiety. Give your dog the dignity and kindness it deserves. It's the selfless thing to do.
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And yes, I am putting my dog down.
Avatar universal
Sounds like you are away during the day?  Do you or have you considered asking or hiring someone to come visit/play/walk/feed once or twice a day during the hours you are away?  The point being that maybe if the day were more interesting/less sleepy then the nights might be quieter.
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1916673 tn?1420233270
Hi. What does your Chi do during the day? How many times do you take him out and for how long each time? Have you tried any remedies (ACE, kongs, passifiers, medications, herbal remedies, etc). Be honest now ... nocturnal issues are common and there is a process of elimination to go through to sort any physical and/or behavioural problems out.

Tony
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Avatar universal
Hi there,

I have a 9 years old Chihuahua & I have the same issue as you. He refuses to sleep at night.. Very awake around 1am to 6am, Face the toilet door / wall & bark non-stop. I have consulted 2 vets: 1 gave L-deprenyl for 2 weeks. 1 said is an aging processing.

I am going to seek for 3rd opinion this weekend. My dog is driving me crazy. My house mate is so pissed as well.
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1916673 tn?1420233270
Another important matter that needs addressing for some breeds and some dogs is exercise. Dogs that are home-alone for large parts of the day will tend to sleep for most of it, and any lack of exercise when owners return home from work will add to the problem of nocturnal insomnia. While this isn't always the cause of the problem ... it can be in many circumstances, even with an older dog. Obviously, it's useful (if possible) to take notes of the times a dog is waking and what they do when they waken, as this can lead to patterns of behaviour that point to a cause. Neighbours coming home or getting up from/for work shifts, for example, or a health concern that increases the need to urinate/empty bowels, etc.
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Avatar universal
We have a 15-yr-old Samoyed mix who started pacing at night about a year ago, keeping us awake.  We finally hit on a solution, working with our vet.  It's a prescription sedative:  Ace Promazine (10 mg for our 55 lb dog). It works like a dream, literally.  She falls asleep about 30 minutes after  taking the pill, sleeps for about 8 hours, and wakes in the morning alert and perky.  You may not like the idea of a prescription drug, but it's the only solution we could find and it's actually very humane -- for her as well as for us.
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1 Comments
I;m glad the Ace works for you.  We tried it and it had the opposite effect.  Have tried every prescription and natural remedies that we have come across with no luck.  Our vet is at a loss also...he has consulted with other vets too.  
Avatar universal
Thank you for replying.  I totally agree and would also like some valid advice from someone who actually reads and understands the issue.
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Avatar universal
Just reading these at 3:07 AM since being awake for two nights with our 13 year-old Chow rescue that we adopted when he was 10 years old.  He has good nights mostly and then wham we have a few where he paces, pants and wants in and out all night long.   It is funny that I was wondering about food causing the problem just today. We have two rescues and they normally eat chicken but I got a good deal on a beef roast that they have eaten for a few nights now.  And lo and behold Lillyfingers mentioned beef as a cause in her dog to be awake at night.  So it's definitely going to be chicken for doggy dinner tomorrow.
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1 Comments
It's also worth changing feeding times and amounts, particularly if you tend to feed later in the day. Smaller amounts fed at intervals is better than one large meal and feeding before 6pm may help give the food time to pass through the stomach and upper digestive tract.
Avatar universal
Omg, this is us! My 13 year old Chihuahua used to sleep through the night and all of a sudden, this year he he started getting up 3, 4, 5 times a night. Putting him in another room isn't an option because he'd cry and bark all night and we're in a small condo. He paces ALL NIGHT LONG. It's driving me insane and I'm a huge dog lover but have been having terrible thoughts about rehoming him, and even putting him down (I won't do these things; I'm just saying they are my thoughts when in desperate to sleep a full night). I don't know what else I can do. He's been tested for UTI and he's fine. He also has no hormone abnormalities. Has anyone found a solution? What can I do? I'm losing my mind. Oh, it's 3:54 am as I write this. Our 7th time being awake tonight. Please please help.
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Avatar universal
the difference is the dosage
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15633739 tn?1441882917
Hi Moksele, i left a message below for you and Pam but could only add one name in the note but i wanted you to see it too as i hope my experience with experimenting with my old dogs food could help you with your old friend too.
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15633739 tn?1441882917
Hi Pam, I thought i would let you know what we are doing with our old Jack Russell Mr Grub who is almost 18 and I am lucky enough to be his full time carer! but even we need sleep! Ok so this is what i have noticed during the journey of looking after him in his old years. If I deviate of this plan he acts like he is in pain, pants, runs into things, wakes up every few hours etc....  I feed him boiled lovely leg chicken (without skin so not too fatty and NO bones) with a little bit of sweet potato mashed up in a mortar and pestle. I feed him every 4 hours (sounds like a newborn hey!) and in the mornings when i am tired and want to go back to sleep i will feed him one gluten free biscuit (human food) and he will go back off to sleep. The Vet reckons that Grubby has a some kidney issues as he drinks a lot (and hence needs to pee a lot...sigh!)  I have organised two spaces that are flat one in the house and one out (small and safe) and he basically lives between the two of them. He will sleep around 4 to 6 hours but i find it is mostly 5 hours. He hates to wee or poo in the house so i have to take him into his little flat garden for this. If I feed him any red meat at all he will have an overload of ammonia and without fail he will act like he has dementia and our house hold become sleep deprived and anxious wondering what is wrong with him. So I try not to deviate off the food plan and am rewarded with a calm drug free dog.....and this is definitely worth the effort.
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Avatar universal
Hello there, I can totally sympathise with you as my 11 year old Dalmatian has most of the same problems.  She was diagnosed with a heart murmur at age 3 and there were no problems until April this year when she started panting constantly.  The vet x rayed her and she was diagnosed with water on the lungs,  pneumonia and her heart was extremely enlarged.  She was given heart meds, water tablets and tramadol and she hasn't slept at night for 69 days!! We are just so, so tired of this. I, too wonder if she is suffering from some sort of dementia. She paces all night, digs up the carpet-like she's burying a bone, wants out into the garden and once out there immediately wants back in. She's leaking urine all over the place and when she drinks water-she pukes it all back out.
If there is someone who can help, please, please help us.
Thanks, Pam
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Avatar universal
It helps to read about other people experiencing this issue with their old dog. We love our 16 year old Dalmatian Pointer mix dearly and are desperately sleep deprived. She is almost deaf and almost blind and has some dementia. She cries and wakes us every night at 12 am to pee, at 2 am to pee, at 4 am to play, at 4:30 for no apparent reason, when we take her outside nothing happens. She just walks around, back and fourth in the yard. At 6 am she wants to fo for a walk....If we put her back in her bed too soon she will just cry again right away.....of course she can sleep all day, we have to go to work.  
She goes on a 90 minute walk each morning and I tried taking her on another longer walk at 10pm and again at 2 am. That helps her to fall asleep more easily but she still wakes us up on schedule about 2 hours later.
I tried sleeping in her pen with her and her sleeping in bed with me but that doesn't help her at all.
I tried lavender and camomile, calming essential oils, in her pen but it didn't really make difference.
She sleeps well during the day.
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Avatar universal
Hello!!
That's what I think is going on with my Bichon. She is 13.

I'm so glad to have seen your post.

She is making my parents crazy.

I'm willing to have them try anything.

Thank you!!

Julie
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Avatar universal
My 15+ year old chihuahua mix, bless her aging soul, has started being VERY restless at night--up and down, up and down. The first time was two nights ago and I was hoping it was just a phase (the moon, the alignment of the planets, something!) but last night the same thing. I give her tramadol for eye pain (this isn't new) and also Benadryl. Both used to help her sleep. Not now. I'm going to try her crate tonight. And yes, she has the backyard to pace in all day long, and we take short walks--she can't walk as far as before unless I had 4 hours to spare. I started thinking it was another stage of her dementia and it sure sounds like it from what I've read here. Thanks for all the posts!
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Avatar universal
I have a 17 year old female maltese. she is blind and deaf my problem is she wont sleep through the nite my vet told me to give her melatonin 5mg that hasn't worked . what is the difference between melatonin mg and mcg?
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Avatar universal
My 16 year old dog is hard of hearing, blind, can no longer walk and is currently being fed by hand as he can do very little for himself now. He also wakes a lot in the night and is very unsettled between 9pm -1am. We have been sleep deprived for 2 years having to find out whether he needs toilet/food/water or just made comfortable. I bathed and blow dried him last night before our bed time at 9pm and for the 1st time in ages he slept until 1am and only had 2 toilet wakes during the night. I may try doing the same again tonight to see if this settles him, so I wondered if this may work for your cockapoo?
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Avatar universal
I would recommend everyone have their dogs tested for Cushing's Disease.  This is something that can cause 'accident's in the house and other behaviours in older dogs.  For those of you who have vets who seem uncooperative, SEEK OUT ANOTHER VET.  Do not try to play 'doctor' yourself.  If the new vet is just as unhelpful, find another until you find the one that truly cares.

Also, many, many older dogs suffer from arthritis, and laying on the floor is a way to get pain relief.  Again, do not give your dog things you think would help.  Medications are specifically formulated for humans or animals.  Don't resort to things from your own medicine cabinet.  You may be doing more harm than good.
Helpful - 0
6745866 tn?1399751438
I just took my 12 year old to the vet and he couldn't find any health reasons why my dog would be doing the same as most of your dogs stated above ^(Not sleeping from 2-7Am).
Charlie (my dog)doesn't seem too interesting in fun activities.. You probably think I'm full of it, but it's true. He likes walks just so he can pee on everything, so that's no problem. He doesn't play with other dogs(Like no desire too at all, even when he was little. But he did like to hang with the Pitbulls)
I could buy the funnest awesomest toy in the world and after 5 minutes of throwing it and chasing it, he's done.... He wants to chew the eyes or ears off then that's it ...
He naps during the day and I'm sure if he had it his way he'd sleep the whole day away. (I've posted a sort of more detailed question on my page thing . If you have time to answer it. I would be so greatful)
I've been farting around with his food . Went from Pedegree, Iams which is what he has now(He really likes the meaty pieces..Easier to chew) Senior balance food, Blue buffalo, and Acana. This has been in the last year not just recently.
He also gets canned  dog food sometimes(not regularly).
I asked my vet about anything and though he did mention dimentia He said he will not give me anything. and to bring him back in a couple of weeks if it consists..
Well I'm pretty sure something is wrong it's been 6-8 months now. and my dog wont sleep.
I believe  that has made his heart  murmer worse. I don't know what to do and what (meds) he can be on now that he has early stages of heart failure.
Now I do realize that this blurb makes no sense.  I just had to write something and this comment thread is the longest and most helpful I have found as of yet. I'm lost ...If my vet doesn't know what to say to me , I don't know how I can help my dog.
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Avatar universal
My 12 year old Kerry was having same issues and I discovered he was having issues with pancreas from too much fat in diet.   Put him on low fat diet and within a week he calmed down and is sleeping through the night.  Pacreas was in pain and the more fat he ate, the more pain he was dealing with which caused him to pace attempting to get me to figure it out.  Now we all sleep peacefully.   Find dog food with 10% fat or less.
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Avatar universal
I have a 15 year old Staffy who hasn't really had any medical conditions in her life, except the odd minor skin issue.  She sleeps in her bed in our bedroom and has always been difficult to wake in a morning, largely due to being quite deaf.  She could sleep for 12 hours without moving.  About two weeks ago she woke up suddenly at about 2 o'clock in the morning and woke me up trying to climb on our bed, as soon as she was on, she wanted to get off, then straight back on and this went on all night.  I can see from some of the above posts above that others have experienced the same, except my dog is trembling and wants to lie practically on top of me panting directly in to my face making it impossible to sleep.  We have a fan blowing all night with the windows open, i've felt her inner ears and her body temperature is normal but she pants non stop. I know trembling would usually be a sign that she is in pain, however as soon as we get up for work, all this behaviour stops immediately.  She is still begging for food, is still very keen to go on her walks and can't wait to get to my mothers where she spends the days playing with her 3 yr old jack russell, chasing balls etc.  Absolutely no panting or trembling.  She is totally fine at home until she wakes up in the middle of the night and round we go again.  She isn't showing any signs of dementia described above, no confusion or strange behaviour at all at any other time of the day.  We've had over 15 dogs over the course of my life, all have made 14 minimum and we have experienced most old age issues but this is completely new to us.  Our vet has prescribed medication to aid her breathing, combat any infections, ease any pain but nothing has changed.  I'd appreciate any insight at all.  Thank you.
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Avatar universal
I have a 19 year old chow/malmute/husky/samoyed mixed female that Is blind, deaf, decrepit, incontinant, and poops in the house.  I have found solutions for all of the above problems.  That isn't what drives me nuts.  She just won't settle down at night.  She gets me or my husband up nearly every hour of the night.  It starts around 11 at night and stops around 7 in the morning.  We put her out in a fenced yard in the daytime so she can cool down since the house is too hot for her and get some walking in (she paces in circles if she can get up).  
  Why is she awake at night and asleep in the day?  Seems totally backward and goes against all good common sense.
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Avatar universal
Yesterday i had to put our 15.5 yr old cockapoo down.   He had severe cognitive disorder with non stop pacing and confusion.  He was deaf for a few years now and was wetting on the floor.  we put a diaper wrap on him which worked wonderfully.   That controlled the urine until he began to poop - whenever it came upon him around the house.  His life ended with severe diareah (yellow mustard). Therefore , i believe he had liver failure possibly mistaken for cognitive disorder.  His urine smelled skunk like with a brown tint.  the Standard (Bloodwork at the vet did not show any disorder...  ) So in addition to the cognitive disorder i wish had paid  attention to changing his diet to counter  the possible liver disorder.  He was in awesome physical shape, yet his mental state was bazaar along with very black eyes.   When ammonia toxins peak in the dogs body the behavior is similar to the cognitive disorder.   So it's worth  monitoring both conditions....as certain foods should have been avoided with any liver disorder.
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