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I love the night life, I love to pace all night and drive my mom crazy

3K views 25 replies 8 participants last post by  Rain 
#1 ·
That's Shadow's new hobby.

For the past two nights, he's officially sleeping from around 6 AM to 6 PM, I wake him up around 11:30 AM to give him his medicine and feed him then he goes back to sleep, around 6 PM he wakes up for an hour or two (dinner and treat time), then he goes back to sleep till around 11 PM. After that he's basically up pacing, laying down, pacing, laying down, a couple times wanting to go out and use the bathroom. ALL NIGHT LONG. It looks like he's going to try and do the same today.

Yesterday I tried playing with him but he no longer plays so that went over like a lead balloon, I kept him outside for longer then usual when I took him for a walk we didn't walk far I just kept him out while I chatted with my neighbors. It was not enough to break the cycle.

Would forcing him to stay awake today be bad for him? I need to do something before the lack of sleep takes hold and I give in to the urge to put him outside for the night. The lack of sleep has me feeling punch drunk.
 
#2 ·
I don't see why it would be bad. When Mollie was just a pup, she had to be shipped on an airliner to get to us, so the breeder played with her and kept her up all night long the night before to make sure she was tired out. She was fine with 24 hours awake...not that I'm any authority...
 
#3 ·
It's his age that has me worried, he's 17 1/2. If he was younger I wouldn't worry, but I don't know how much it'd stress him out and even my vet goes out of his way to not stress him.


*Looks at her sleeping dog and visions of shaking him dance merrily though her head*

Did I mention lack of sleep turns me into an evil little person?
 
#5 ·
I'm debating just not letting him go back to sleep when he wakes up for his dinner. I don't think that would be overly stressful, or at least not as stressful as waking him up throughout the day would be.

I love him. Still having him in my life is more then worth the sleep nights, but sooner or later I'm going to need a decent nights sleep and I'd prefer it to be sooner lOL.
 
#6 ·
yeah thats a good idea.
I am going to take Tori for a stroll today see if that helps it just I worry as her back legs get all weak at times but if we just stick to the garden area maybe it will help her sleep tonight.
It's 4.30 am here & she is now sound asleep again but thats me up now, lol...
 
#7 ·
Maybe you can call your vet and see if they'd give you something to sedate him at night for just a night or two to see if that turns his schedule around?
 
#9 ·
I may end up having to if keeping him awake in the evening doesn't work. Before he'd have bad nights, but not like this. This is more like a true reversal of day and night. He sleeps all day and doesn't even wake up to go potty, then starting around 11pm he's awake like it's day. Paces a bit, will go out and sniff around the yard, wants to go out a few times to potty. It wouldn't be so bad if I could nap, but I've never been able to sleep during the day no matter how exhausted I am.
 
#8 ·
LOL, don't ya just want to shake her!

Between Shadow's arthritis and age I can't take him for long walks we used to go on. We go on one really short walk a day, all it seems to help with is getting him to settle down in the evening, I wish it helped him sleep at night.
 
#10 ·
yep, lol.....
I think she out of sort as we are packing up here & she can sense the move I think. Worst bit is we are still a a few wks off actually moving. She is very routine bound, came to me as a very fearful aggressive dog with terrible health issues many yrs back now.
 
#11 ·
I think I seriously underestimated how much constant pestering, shaking, and patting, it's going to take to keep Shadow awake. I resorted to scattering some of his favorite treats and having him find them but that's only bought me 10 minutes and I have 2 hours 45 minutes minimum to go.

Wish me luck, I'm gonna need it!
 
#19 · (Edited)
I didn't want to post, since my experience with 14 year old Jazzy wasn't a positive one (let's just say when the pacing and staying up started, so too did the seizures :()

Please let's know how it's going Rain.
 
#20 ·
Sorry I haven't updated!

He's been doing a better at night, at least the pacing is down to a couple of times a night instead of every hour LOL.

Last night he stayed up on his own before bed so he slept better at night then he had all week. His main problem now is "losing" his bed. It's like he wakes up just enough to want to sleep in it but then can't find it. I'm still not sure if it's some form of dementia, he'll also get lost in the yard, or if he's just not waking up enough.

I don't think it's pain or discomfort that was keeping him up, I think it was just that he had his days and nights mixed up, but I may be wrong. It's so hard to know what's what with him nowadays.
 
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#24 ·
Yeah I figure it's the CCD doing it. I've researched it but just cannot afford the medicine for it, especially since I'm having to pay for the arthritis medicine.

A friend that had dog with CCD said that coconut oil helped him, and another friend that works in a nursing home said she's seen some patients that had mild dementia helped by it, so I'm trying it on Shadow. I just started giving him some Friday and I'm not giving him the full amount yet since everything I've read says start slow to avoid stomach upset. I'll let y'all know if it helps him at all once I have him on the full dose.
 
#26 ·
Thank you.

I'll call my vet tomorrow and let you know what's decided.

For a couple months I thought he was doing better, and I thought I wouldn't have to give him yet another medicine/supplement, but the past couple of weeks have been different. He still has his good days and bad days, but he bad days seem to be increasing in number. Like just 30 min ago I carried him outside, put him down at the bottom of the steps, like I always do, watched him pee then promptly start wandering in circles because he had gotten "lost", yet yesterday he was fine didn't get lost, even made his way to the gate wanting to go on a walk.

I tend to try and use as little medicine as possible, but do know the benefit and that it can be necessary to improve quality of life.
 
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