Semi-senile older dog barking incessantly at night?

[dragonfly]

Calling all dog experts! I could really use some help with my older pup.

He's got a number of health issues which have snowballed since August.

Long story short - he's been in physical therapy since Feb 2018 for arthritis and a chronic limp. This past March, his therapist had to shut down due to government order, but they're part of a university hospital and never opened back up. We moved to a different facility.

We can't go into the building with him. We bring him up to the door and they take him in - covid precautions. In August, they called to say he was under a lot of stress and we should take him to the ER. We did and he was kept overnight. The night following his release, he had 2 seizures which he'd never had before.

He had a couple more episodes of seizures and tremors but he went on anti-seizure medication and has been seizure free for almost 3 months. Due to a need to manage his anxiety, he has not been able to return to physical therapy.

In early October one day he became unable to walk at all. He had been able to get up and walk around the house a bit. This lasted for 2 months. Finally around this time last month, thank God, he began to be able to walk with assistance. We're working on building his muscle mass back up. He started going to acupuncture twice a week in November and it helps him. He showed significant improvement throughout December but is now having a hard time again.

However, he goes through periods where he is restless at night and he will bark and howl and cry literally all night long. It's impossible to tell if he's in pain or where is discomfort might be. His acupuncturist is also certified in advanced pain management for dogs and she does not believe he is in chronic acute pain, she thinks his pain is well managed.

We walk him, feed him, give him his drink, reposition him, nothing helps him to sleep. The vet recommended 5mg of melatonin as a natural remedy but he began having tremors after we took it.

He does have a Thunder Shirt but sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. He has a DAP diffuser and an Assisi loop but they don't seem to provide much relief.

Any ideas what we could possibly do to help him sleep comfortably and allow us to get some rest as well? He sleeps fine during the day. However, he is very difficult to rouse and keep awake so that he can sleep at night and he's so old he should try and sleep when he's tired. He's a rescue but could be as old as 15, possibly as young as 13, we don't know.

Thanks in advance.

[SunPony]

Hmm, I've heard of older dogs getting like this at night, and can think of a couple possibilities:

I've read that pain is more noticable at night for dogs.  As in, they feel it worse at night, due to decreased stimulation of the senses (more of the mind is available to focus on the pain).  So his pain may be managed at a level that is enough for daytime, but not at night.  Maybe from his previous issues, maybe something else underlying that no one is aware of yet.  Maybe some pain med with dinner could help?  Could discuss with your vet.

If he is getting senile he may become disoriented at night, or having doggy anxiety attacks.  But since you are trying various ways of interacting with him during these episodes I'm not sure how likely an explanation this is... Maybe he's getting disoriented and then even the interactions aren't enough to snap him out of it.  There are things you can try for cognitive decline in dogs, could be worth discussing with your vet.

There's a book on dog aging that I found useful for my own dog, called "Good Old Dog".  It is written by various vets and has sections on dementia, arthritis, etc, including at least one case study that sounds rather similar to your situation. 

Best wishes for your boy!!

[lovesbabysquirmy]

I remember him when he was a puppy! 

*hugs and support*

[glitterball]

Hmmm tricky.

I remember seeing an elderly guy, locally, who had an old dog (golden labrador). This dog had lost the strength to walk and the guy had fashioned a stroller-type thing for the dog to lie on while the guy "walked" him into town to do his shopping and chat with friends.

The dog was given fresh air, an opportunity to sniff all those important, stimulating neighbourhood scents and kept thus occupied in the day.

Would this kind of set-up suit your dog? Getting him outdoors for sensual enrichment during the day may perhaps help him settle down to sleep at night better?

[Pokeyonekenobie]

I'm not an expert but I had a few thoughts.

Does leaving the light on in the room he sleeps in help?  If he's having issues with his night vision, it could be that he's reacting to something he thinks he sees or hears in the dark.  If he sleeps okay during the day maybe a light will help him think it's daytime and get his sleep cycles back on course.

Could it be that he gets lonely at night?  I don't know where your dog sleeps but my mom's dog is so attached to my parents that he'll sleep on his dog bed in their room if they're home. If they've left him with me, he'll sleep on the floor next to his dog bed but won't use the bed because they're not home and it's not in the room he's used to it being in.  He's not as old as your dog but his breed (malamute) is very much a social breed and if the pack is "gone," he gets stressed out.  He considers me part of the pack so he's okay staying with me but after his initial excitement of seeing me, he gets mopey when my parents aren't around.