forums: The older dog

whining at night?

3 posts, 3 voices

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Participants in this thread:	Grace apacapacas GoldenDogTwo
Grace 46 posts	A friend says her senior dog has started wandering around the house at night, whining. She’ll go out of her room to check on the dog, and he seems perfectly fine. Is he anxious? Is he in pain? My friend’s not only worried about him, she’s also really sleepy. The whining wakes her up.
apacapacas 7 posts	Have your friend take her senior dog to the vet, and ask the vet for the 6 panel thyroid test. Some vets are reluctant to do the whole panel because it is expensive, but it’s really the only way to rule out all thryroid problems. Many senior dogs are subject to them, and the only way to find out is the test. If the dog registers “high normal”, ask for the thyroid medication anyway. Your friend should see a difference in the dog’s behavior within 2 weeks if thyroid problems were causing it. Another thing to check is whether the dog is getting enough exercise and playtime. Senior dogs sometimes can’t play fetch, but they can take 30-60 minute walks a couple of times a day to relieve their restlessness and boredom. They sometimes like chew toys, like a raw cow femur bone (from the butcher), or a kong toy stuffed with peanut butter.
GoldenDogTwo 2 posts	definitely check on the thyroid. my 13+ Golden started something similar, whining, pacing, turned out to be canine cognitive disorder, or alzheimer’s in dogs. If we calmly speak to him and tell him it’s ok, lay down, he usually settles. we also put those cooltouch night lights in every room, so he doesn’t wake to a darkened house (and as a bonus, noone trips over him in the dark). he has these waking periods where he’s unaware of where he is or who we are. after he falls asleep and reawakens, he seems to know what’s what again. so definitely check into the thyroid, but also read up on canine cognitive disorder and compare his symptoms to what’s listed in the many articles on the web.
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