My senior dog paces and barks all night. How can I help her?

Question

Our 18 year old Jack Russell Terrier is experiencing insomnia. She has lost most of her hearing and vision. She is pretty frail, but can still get outside to go to the bathroom and can eat and drink. Our vet says this is common with older dogs and she is otherwise healthy. It is driving us crazy and we are losing sleep. She gets up around 3am, paces and paces, then whines or barks incessantly. She does this for about 3-4 nights in a row. Help! Pet's info: Dog | Jack Russell Terrier | Female | spayed | 7 years and 5 months old | 12 lbs

Lauren Jones VMD · Accepted Answer

This can be extremely frustrating and exhausting for all of you! These behavioral changes do occur commonly in older dogs as a result of canine cognitive dysfunction, which is essentially dementia. Daphney is displaying the most common signs of pacing aimlessly at night with random barking. Some dogs also stand in a corner and seem to be lost. While there are no medications or management options that work in all cases, consider discussing selegiline, melatonin, antioxidants and acupuncture with your vet. I hope this helps and that you can get caught up on sleep!

My senior dog paces and barks all night. How can I help her?

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