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Older Black Lab won't sleep at night!
My 9 year old Black Lab, Scooter, has not slept at night a few times in his life, but it's always been a full moon. I am home with him all day and we spend a bit of time out back (3/4th's acre) just exploring or he'll play with the puppy. He is fine during the day. If his hips seem to be bothering him, I give him Tramadol but that's not very often. He used to sleep at the foot of our stairs by the front door but getting back UP the stairs was a real chore some days so we put up a swinging safety gate a few months back. He doesn't seem confused or depressed. He doesn't seem in pain. When I get up with him, he's quite happy. He's never shown fear of the weather, fireworks, etc. and our county neighborhood is very quiet most nights.
In the last 8 nights, 3 of those nights he has not slept ONE MINUTE unless I come and sleep on the love seat in our t.v. room with him on the floor next to me.
We have wood floors and I hear him, starting at around 11:00 p.m., pacing from one end of the house to the other (small house). After about an hour he will start making a real guttural sound at my door. I have a swinging gate up and he has never been allowed to sleep in our room since he was a tiny puppy. After about an hour of that and pacing, he does little 'yips'. I've tried putting up a baby gate and keeping him at the other end of the house (next to our son's bedroom) He has the t.v. room, long hallway, laundry room, etc. but he'll stand at the gate and BARK for hours.
I finally give up around 2:30 and come and lay down on the little sofa. Immediately he'll lie down and go to sleep. If I get up and go to bed, we start all over again. If I put him on the deck, he barks and we're in a neighborhood / county with a noise ordinance so that can't be allowed.
He's not hungry. I make sure he's gone to the bathroom before we go to bed at night. He has an orthopedic bed and the love seat to sleep on. The cat sleeps out with him part of the night before coming in to bed with us. I've left lights on, t.v. on, fan on, fan off, rooms dark.
The new puppy is still sleeping in the large box in our room because she's not fully housebroken but he can't see the box from the door and she doesn't make a sound no matter what noises he makes. We've had her almost 5 months.
Any ideas on what might be going on? Hubby gets up at 6:00 - 6:30 and that's whey the puppy wakes and wants to go out. If it's 6:30, I will leave them outside for a little while as long as they don't bark but last night by adding little bits of time all together, I got MAYBE 4 hours of sleep. MAYBE. Part of that was 6:30 -8. I'm just exhausted!
HEALTH INFO: He was getting laser treatments and supposedly Adequan shots for his arthritis/ hip dysplasia. He seemed in some extra pain one week so the vet gave him a long lasting steroid, Metacam and his generic Adequan all at once. Next week he had thrown up again and doc ran blood tests. His one liver enzyme was 1270 when high is 127. His Amylase was elevated so doc said maybe I was feeding him bad food or he was eating garbage and had pancreatitis. I spoke with the Vet at Novartis who said NEVER give a dog Metacam, steroids and Adequan at the same time. They said to wait 4 - 6 months and re test the liver. Meanwhile, I stopped all those treatments and he's not throw up or acted sick again. He's on a 5 star food and we've worked on getting his weight down 16 lbs in the last 2 years. Other than stiff hips and this new 'not sleeping' routine, he seems like himself. Always happy, not confused, remembers our routine, commands, people, etc. No signs of dementia. The windows are open and we do live in the county so a possum or raccoon will sometimes wander our backyard BUT Scooter cannot see out the back windows and the back door is closed. We have motion sensor lights and I've checked when he starts this to see if any of the lights are on, just in case he's actually heard something or someone. Nope.
His anal glands are emptied regularly. Ears are kept clean. No fleas or ticks. Get's his heartworm meds monthly his whole life, etc.
Scooter weighs 106 lbs and was on Benadryl for allergies years ago when he got an ear infection. I don't remember the dosage per pound but the dose doc ordered made him sleepy all day so we only gave it to him at night.
In the last 8 nights, 3 of those nights he has not slept ONE MINUTE unless I come and sleep on the love seat in our t.v. room with him on the floor next to me.
We have wood floors and I hear him, starting at around 11:00 p.m., pacing from one end of the house to the other (small house). After about an hour he will start making a real guttural sound at my door. I have a swinging gate up and he has never been allowed to sleep in our room since he was a tiny puppy. After about an hour of that and pacing, he does little 'yips'. I've tried putting up a baby gate and keeping him at the other end of the house (next to our son's bedroom) He has the t.v. room, long hallway, laundry room, etc. but he'll stand at the gate and BARK for hours.
I finally give up around 2:30 and come and lay down on the little sofa. Immediately he'll lie down and go to sleep. If I get up and go to bed, we start all over again. If I put him on the deck, he barks and we're in a neighborhood / county with a noise ordinance so that can't be allowed.
He's not hungry. I make sure he's gone to the bathroom before we go to bed at night. He has an orthopedic bed and the love seat to sleep on. The cat sleeps out with him part of the night before coming in to bed with us. I've left lights on, t.v. on, fan on, fan off, rooms dark.
The new puppy is still sleeping in the large box in our room because she's not fully housebroken but he can't see the box from the door and she doesn't make a sound no matter what noises he makes. We've had her almost 5 months.
Any ideas on what might be going on? Hubby gets up at 6:00 - 6:30 and that's whey the puppy wakes and wants to go out. If it's 6:30, I will leave them outside for a little while as long as they don't bark but last night by adding little bits of time all together, I got MAYBE 4 hours of sleep. MAYBE. Part of that was 6:30 -8. I'm just exhausted!
HEALTH INFO: He was getting laser treatments and supposedly Adequan shots for his arthritis/ hip dysplasia. He seemed in some extra pain one week so the vet gave him a long lasting steroid, Metacam and his generic Adequan all at once. Next week he had thrown up again and doc ran blood tests. His one liver enzyme was 1270 when high is 127. His Amylase was elevated so doc said maybe I was feeding him bad food or he was eating garbage and had pancreatitis. I spoke with the Vet at Novartis who said NEVER give a dog Metacam, steroids and Adequan at the same time. They said to wait 4 - 6 months and re test the liver. Meanwhile, I stopped all those treatments and he's not throw up or acted sick again. He's on a 5 star food and we've worked on getting his weight down 16 lbs in the last 2 years. Other than stiff hips and this new 'not sleeping' routine, he seems like himself. Always happy, not confused, remembers our routine, commands, people, etc. No signs of dementia. The windows are open and we do live in the county so a possum or raccoon will sometimes wander our backyard BUT Scooter cannot see out the back windows and the back door is closed. We have motion sensor lights and I've checked when he starts this to see if any of the lights are on, just in case he's actually heard something or someone. Nope.
His anal glands are emptied regularly. Ears are kept clean. No fleas or ticks. Get's his heartworm meds monthly his whole life, etc.
Scooter weighs 106 lbs and was on Benadryl for allergies years ago when he got an ear infection. I don't remember the dosage per pound but the dose doc ordered made him sleepy all day so we only gave it to him at night.
I moved his orthopedic bed to in front of our door so he can see us. He faces the other way, but he's not been up another night. HOWEVER.... a neighbor told me her outside dogs are barking all night long and they've heard quite a hiss. We're thinking possum!
sound like your older dog is having a problem with change most dogs do not like change when there is another dog involved. I just got a puppy not to long ago and my older dog acts like he never gets any attention. I bet if you where to put both dogs in the same room as night things will clam down.
as for the Benadryl it is 25milagrams per 50 pounds
as for the Benadryl it is 25milagrams per 50 pounds
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