Bedtime panic attacks
Normally, he'll climb up into his bed spot next and settle in, but for the last week it's been taking longer and longer to settle. The last two nights he's been panting furiously and running around on the bed, off the bed, on the bed, off the bed, etc. (Which means on me off me on me off me...ouch). Both nights one of us has taken him back to the TV room and slept on the couch. He settled the first time after about fifteen minutes, but last night there was still another hour of panting and pacing. He was just at the vet for unrelated tests yesterday, and I haven't heard the results yet, so I'll mention this to him when he calls, but does anyone here have any thoughts or advice? He's had anxiety problems in the past, and they often ebb and flow. Right now it's quite humid out (as well as cold) so I think his back may be a little more sore at the moment, but I'm not sure we can write this off as simply being from that. Any suggestions? He does have sedatives that we sometimes use for thunderstorms, but in the last year or two he's only flipped out once or twice (used to be for every single storm) so he seems to be getting better with that. I'd hate to sedate him, but if he just needs a few peaceful nights to break the pattern, I'm not completely against it. There have only been two really bad nights, but the barking, pacing, and general freak-out-iness have been going on (and escalating) for three weeks or so. |
|
|
| Does he not want to be with Hudson, and hes not happy being closed in? |
| my first reactio was he might be overheated - one of mine hates to be warm at night. since that's not the case the other thing that comes to mind is he might be in pain. the only times I have had one pace and pant at night they were ill. I hope your vet can help. |
| With us going into the colder months, has your environment altered at all, is heating coming on or going off at similar time to his pacing? Maybe he can here a rattley pipe somewhere.
Maybe some wild life outside is mooching about? |
| This sounds a lot like what we refer to in my family as "Sheepdog Olympics."
Our first sheepdog, Duchess, used to do this almost nightly. My mother was always terrified she'd hurt herself flying up and down the stairs. We think she liked the production of putting the whole family to bed, sort of a conclusion to the day. She worked her way from my room to my sister's and then my parents, where she would test the boundaries of how far she could leap and still make the bed. Once I got Linus earlier this year, I convinced my family that Duchess wasn't weird (for the last 15 years, we'd thought she was insane). We've decided that while he's asleep, she teaches him from Sheepdog Heaven how to drive his family crazy. This is one of several personality quirks he's appropriated from her repertoire. Linus has mini-fits of Sheepdog Olympics and has decided that bedtime is the ideal time to play the game, especially since the weather has cooled at night. He goes from being perfectly calm and lazy to downright possessed when I tell him it's bedtime. He flies around the house, up the stairs, down, empties a trash can (or two), runs around the house shaking his head back and forth with a toy in his mouth, threatens serious punishment by using the bed as a springboard, then collapses with a grin on his face. It's quite the achievement. I think it's his way of emptying his energy tank before it's time to call it a day. He's 14 months old. I figure I've got at least five more years of this. |
| How old is Portage?
Kristine |
| And is he neutered? (sorry, forgot to ask)
KB |
| He will be 11 in February. Right now it's eight thirty at night and he's sleeping happily by my feet as we watch tv. In ninety minutes I anticipate a dog I cannot even recognize.
In fact, Hudson's barking at him hysterically and he's barely raised an eyebrow. But soon enough all bets will be off. |
| If it isn't pain (which is possible) or some kind of offshoot from his anxieties, consider the possiblity that it may be (geriatric) cognitive dysfunction (CD). It's sort of like ahlzheimer's for dogs, and though it is progressive, they have had some success slowing the progress with drugs. Something about increasing dopamine levels.
Disrupted sleeping patterns, pacing at night and vocalizing are three of the symptoms, though it's odd he can sleep OK in a different room, so maybe I'm way off base. Neutered males are at increased risk for reasons they don't quite understand yet. Just a thought. Kristine |
Dogs get Sundowner's???  |
Chauncey wrote: Dogs get Sundowner's???
OK, I had to look that one up, but, yes, it does sound remarkably similar in some ways, doesn't it? KB |
| It sure does......Kathy |
| Ok this is a really really silly idea and ignore me if you want, but my first reaction was can he see something you cant see? has someone recently passed away that you love and they are just coming back to check all is well and he is sensing them? See told you it was daft! |
KTB wrote: Ok this is a really really silly idea and ignore me if you want, but my first reaction was can he see something you cant see? has someone recently passed away that you love and they are just coming back to check all is well and he is sensing them? See told you it was daft!
So the solution would be an exorcism? Or is that just for people/critters, not houses? Do they need to call Ghost Busters?  
I used to housesit for some friends and their poodle would suddenly and inexplicably - very intermittently - bark at a certain corner. The gentleman's brother suggested she was seeing a ghost. I'm thinking she detected a critter we could not. Dogs senses are, overall, just so much better than ours that I suppose if one believed in the supernatural it would make sense to suggest that dogs could potentially sense what we could not. However, as dogs age, their senses, like ours, deteriorate. So one would need to wonder why Hudson appears unaffected and the dog less likely to sense anything out of the ordinary would be so severly affected. Unless, you know, Hudson is on good terms with the ghost but Portage takes issue
Given that the behavior described is not uncommon, especially in senior dogs, there's probably a more earthly explanation. In additon to CD, there is something called Complex Partial Seizures or Psychomotor seizures which *might* explain his behavior. In an older dog with no history of epilepsy, I think you'd expect to see some evidence of organ failure or neoplasia or at least something concretely organic, evidence of which might very well be reflected in his bloodwork etc. In fact, Psychomotor seizures are typically secondary to some other disorder. However, I don't think you'd see such a reliably pattern of it around bedtime so I think that, too, falls into the less likely pile, along with, you know, seeing ghosts
Kristine |
| My mom used to use Bach Flower remedies on our old dog for storms. Otherwise he would destroy the livingroom or try to sit under you like that would make him safe. I was really amazed that they worked for him.
Another thing you could try is doing calming activities during other parts of the day such as singing a tune in which he falls asleep or brushing (in a relaxing way) but not on the grooming table. Then after you establish for a while add it to his bedtime routine. Oh also keep this activity in the area that he will sleep at night. For people with sleep disorders it is recommended to keep your sleeping space for sleeping only. If you are tired go there to sleep, so if he is getting tired in the livingroom for example and he sleeps in the bedroom send him to the bedroom if you see he is sleepy. Also changes to this space can create a sleep problem for a dog did you add anything to this space? He could be scare of? Or have you changed your laundry detergent? If he is sleeping in your bedroom and can smell the change and is not approving. Scents we might like, others including animals might not like. I don't know if this helps but I don't like animals or children being scared, I sooo remember not liking my door closed at night when I was a kid. |
| Well, it looks like we might have found a solution. Portage has now had four consecutive just fine nights. I guess it's too soon to tell for sure, but it sure looks like some success.
Because of his enlarged liver (nodular hyperplasia...we monitor it, and things are going fine, but it's just getting quite big...) we had split his daily food into three meals. Since we both work he was eating first thing in the morning (one and a half cups) and then another meal at dinner time (also one and a half). We had a third meal (the remaining cup) just before bed. I didn't like feeding him just before bed, but there's only so many hours in a day. We've been doing this for about two years. Part of his nighttime freak out included sitting in an odd position and panting furiously. I assumed it was just pain from his spine (recently diagnosed), and we had upped his pain meds. So, I was looking to try some changes, just to see what would happen. It appears that the late meal (which he tolerated just fine for a very long time) was now the culprit. We put him back on two meals a day (two cups each or he starts losing weight instantly...I should be so lucky...) And we took his pain meds right back to where they used to be. It scared me to do both. I worry that two cups at a time might be a bit much as his liver limits the amount his tummy can expand. And the thought of reducing pain meds on a dog who was showing potentially painful behaviour seemed counterintuitive. But, we wanted to try a more baseline state of being and then tweak from there. The first night he barked twice, and then settled right in on the bed. The second night he paced for about a minute around three in the morning. He's been doing really well since. He's sleeping right through the night. I'm thinking maybe his tummy's not digesting as quickly as it used to....and the late night meal was causing too much stress on his system. He wasn't pooping that late at night and maybe it was just too much to hold in. I don't know. Right now I can't sleep (it's after midnight) and I left him with four paws in the air, snoring up a storm on the bed with my hubby and Smudge (AKA Hudson/evil puppy/arrggghhh, etc...) I'm sure his head will be on my pillow shortly (if it isn't already). Thanks for all the great advice. Hopefully the new and improved nocturnal habits of the Portagedog are here to stay. If not, I'll keep on trying. Now, I must admit, although I don't believe in ghosts (like Mulder I WANT to believe, but unlike Mulder I just can't), I did think that was the most interesting comment. And, the lady who cleans our house insists she regularly sees one here. I just remind her to open the windows when she uses cleaning products! The ghost angle would have been cool... Thanks again... Tracie and snoozing Portage. |
| Glad to hear you have found the solution.
Long may it continue. |
| great news paws crossed |
Didn't find exactly what you're looking for? Search again here:
Custom Search
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|