<![CDATA[ScamperingPaws.com]]> Commentics Carol McElheney My 12 yo Bouvier Ninja is on Anapry (segelegine)l. It seems to help him somewhat. He also takes gabapentin and Apoquel for allergies and arthritis. He sleeps about 80% of the time and he does vocalize a bit some evenings. He had disc surgery on his neck 2 years ago and is compromized when it comes to getting up from a down position and hates being pressured by our other dogs when he has problems getting up and walking so I keep them separated as much as I can.

]]> Tue, 11 Nov 2025 16:13:20 -0800 item_288 Another Pet Caregiver This is what I am seeing too. My dog paces all night long. Sometimes he loses control of his bladder then slips in his urine and falls down. He needs help to get up. I spend all night listening to him and helping him cleaning him and getting him as comfy as I can.

]]> Mon, 10 Nov 2025 00:44:20 -0800 item_286 Annie Hi! This could be a sign of diabetes! My minipin was doing the same and sure enough she was diabetic.

]]> Fri, 27 Sep 2024 07:07:30 -0700 item_282 Carol McElheney I have a 10yo male Bouvier des Flandres who underwent spinal surgery in July 24. It has been a long hard recovery but now he is walking without assistance and seems to be pain free. Now, he sleeps most of the day and starts vocalizing around 8:00 pm. My veterinarian (not the neurologist/surgeon) prescribed gabapentin and amantidine which keeps him quiet for about 4 hours, whereupon he wakes up and starts vocalizing and wakes me up by poking me. This is getting really hard for me; losing all this sleep.

]]> Thu, 26 Sep 2024 08:10:04 -0700 item_281 Myriam What kind of CBD oil do you give him question? I give My Dog a hemp. Treat with herbs for sleep and melatonin and he still gets up and paces and he defecates in the house but I would not put him down for that. I just pick it up and flush it.

]]> Tue, 02 Jan 2024 06:47:29 -0800 item_270 C Michael :sad : I now realize what my sweet girl was going through the past few years of her life. I just had her euthanized last week and it's been awful. I miss her so much and am focusing on mistakes I made and what I "could have" done. She was a large Akita of 14 years, 11 months. It became so difficult to care for her that I finally made the decision to help her to the Rainbow Bridge.

I was exhausted. I had not had a restful night's sleep in what seems like 6 months. I tried everything I could think of to get her settled before bedtime, but the moment I'd leave she'd be awake for most of the night, banging around and struggling, keeping me awake and ultimately checking on her, then she'd sleep all day, save for eating and drinking some water. She had neuropathy and was falling down, and it had progressed to the point she couldn't stand and eat anymore, and I had to lift and carry her often. It took its toll on both of us.

]]> Mon, 21 Feb 2022 21:28:05 -0800 item_263 Mary B These comments make me feel not alone. My Marley is a very senior dog with sundowners. This week it has gotten worse. She starts crying around 4 p.m and I give her trazadone prescribed by the vet. I give her another one before bed. It helps a little but mostly what works is me sitting right next to her. She doesn't want me out of her sight. I wake up every time she wanders, which is a couple times, for a couple hours every night. She doesn't whine while she walks. I let her out at least twice overnight, she sometimes just wanders around the yard while I stand, half asleep and call her back. I'm exhausted but she's my best friend and has given a lifetime of love and support and I'm doing the same for her.

]]> Wed, 01 Dec 2021 16:07:16 -0800 item_254 ScamperingPaws Hi Janis, your veterinarian can do some testing in order to diagnose why your dog is drinking so much. There are lots of medical conditions that can cause an increase in drinking (eg. diabetes, kidney disease, Cushings, others too) - only your vet will be able to tell you. Good luck, hope your dog feels better soon.

]]> Mon, 05 Jul 2021 12:30:10 -0700 item_242 Janis Cole Walker My 12 1/2 year old basset wants water all the time. He will drink a 2.5 gallon of water all day. He gets me up 4 times a night for water and i let him out. Why is he requiring so much water?

]]> Mon, 05 Jul 2021 07:37:51 -0700 item_241 Cori Wixson My 15-year-old dog has had dementia and sundowner's symptoms for a couple of years now. He would get very anxious at night and pace around the room for hours. I tried so many things until I finally found what helps him sleep at night....I give him Alprazolam (Xanax) prescribed by the vet a couple of hours before bed time and then I give him melatonin about 30 minutes to an hour before bedtime. I started at low doses and have gradually increased the dose as he builds up a tolerance. It calms him down so he can sleep and I can sleep too!! I also put fish oil in his food to help with the dementia and his skin and joints.

]]> Thu, 11 Jun 2020 10:58:51 -0700 item_200 Susan N I am in the same situation with my 16 year old Rottie/Lab mix. It’s maddening. I’m exhausted and broke from trying to help him. I hate that I sometimes get frustrated and almost angry at such a loving creature who has loved me unconditionally for so many years. I try to remember how much he has given me, but it’s hard to do at 5am when the morning news is coming on not a wink of sleep has been had. I’ve even considered looking for an animal communicator to see what is going on in head and find out how I can fix it (yeah, I’m that desperate).

I’m grateful to have found this website and to know I’m not alone.

]]> Sun, 19 Apr 2020 20:11:18 -0700 item_194 Carole Humphrey My 15+ border collie has sundowners syndrome. He also has severe hip problems and is quite tippy. We have a k-9 cart for him which works okay but we are in the midst of winter with lots of ice and snow. The cart just doesn't do well. We were given Trazadone and it made him so anxious and disoriented that I stopped it. We use CB oil and that helps some nights. I also use 3 mg of melatonin. I see that h could have 3 more as he weighs about 40 pounds. He starts yipping in the evening and it can go on for hours. I now sleep on the couch near his bed so he knows someone is there. I'm relieved to hear that so many people are dealing with this. It truly is exhausting, but I love my boy and will do whatever as long as he seems to want to be with us. It's a horrid disease, but it's probably horrible for the poor dogs too. Thanks for sharing your stories. It helps.

]]> Sun, 23 Feb 2020 21:14:17 -0800 item_188 Claire Robinson My neighbor has a 17 year old dog who is blind, pees all over the house, has a huge grapefruit size benign lump on her back and seems so sad. They refuse to put her to a quiet,beautiful little rest-passing. My 15 year old dog has heart murmur,enlarging heart and the dreaded trachea collapse with coughing. I’m spending thousands on her. Trying to get her to eat and take her pills is very hard at times. I have to stuff them down. She won’t stay in bed-sitting up awake in her bed in living room, I’m checking on her all night. I’m finding myself getting very angry at her, frustrated,sad and very tired. I have to work to pay her vet bills. I really want to put her to sleep,now,but I feel it’s selfish and mean of me. She has all the meds and I’m at the vets every week. I never,ever want another pet after she goes-it’s too much stress for me. Being alone,I deal with her by myself. I really don’t know what to do?

]]> Fri, 14 Feb 2020 07:58:08 -0800 item_186 Lizzy Kreuzer My dog has sundowners, we use CBD oil and she sleeps all night, only waking if we wake. There are side effects and thats the increased appetite, which can be annoying. There is no need to put a dog down with sundowners until they start defecating in the house, seizures etc or totally loses it. Be patient.

]]> Wed, 04 Sep 2019 20:12:42 -0700 item_149 Peggy Our 14 year old dachsund has become very aggressive in the evenings. If you try to get herto go outside or dosomething she doesnt want to, or you pet her wrong or accidently touch her on her back endshe start goes after us. Trying to bite and showing teeth, snapping and snarling,lunging. 95% of the time its my husband she goes after, during the daytime she loves him. She also has cushings disease. Any thoughts or ideas?? She has been thoroughly checked over and the only thing the vet offers is they wouldn't blame us if we put her to sleep.

We just love her so much!

]]> Wed, 17 Jul 2019 13:23:18 -0700 item_140 Elizabeth Z I recently accepted to dog-sit my family's 13 year old beagle mix who exhibits most these symptoms. Today was day two of eight. The melatonin method seemed to make things worse, as she went to sleep (after pacing the house for five hours) but woke up less than one minute later to continue pacing. I finally, by stroke of intuition, led her back to bed and put gentle pressure on her shouldrrs to make her lay down. I kept my hand on her, applying gentle pressure, stroking with my thumb. She started to calm and finally shut her eyes. She's been in bed now for 10 minutes which I consider a huge victory. Just had to take the time to comfort her. I'm sure she was exhausted from pacing all day but didn't realize it. Poor girl. Good luck to all pet parents out there. I have a new perspective. These babies are just confused and helpless and in need of normality and comfort.

]]> Sun, 19 May 2019 19:26:24 -0700 item_125 Joyce L Brown I wanted to let you know how much this information has helped me understand my 15 yr. old Pom especially concerning Sundowning Syndrome. Thank you so much.

]]> Mon, 29 Apr 2019 06:47:45 -0700 item_121 Toni CBD/FECO is working wonders for my 13+ year old Chihuahua. He still paces, nips & bites but now I know what it is & when it starts each after noon & I just follow him around until he's calmed & eventually sleeps through the night.

]]> Wed, 10 Apr 2019 18:12:33 -0700 item_118 St.Pierre We have a 13 year old lab with the same issue. We were instructed to give him one sammy pill (sam-e) 1 trazodone and purina or science diet for older dogs.

We have cut down to 1/2 a trazodone at night. Would like to change it to melatonin. Don't like the way he is on trazodone. It has lightened up. Went from 5-10 minutes a night to about 3-4.

]]> Sat, 29 Dec 2018 20:03:59 -0800 item_104 Cyndi Bullock My 15 yr old chi boy has started crying out at night randomly, he sleeps most of the day, and i know one day ill have to help him to the bridge, i had a 19 yr old chi who barked from sundown to sunup for a year before he left its heartbreaking,im starting cbd with him to help..

]]> Fri, 28 Dec 2018 18:15:38 -0800 item_101 Marty Moser I suspected my 12 yr old chocolate lab had sundowners when she started barking at what seems like imaginary things in front of her. She then gets up and gets a little crazy, walking around and seeming a little aggressive. I think I will try the Melatonin. She does have pain meds that I also could give her as I'm not sure if she's in pain, but barely can do the steps anymore. I won't give the two together, no worries! Thanks for the great info and verification that I'm not crazy!

]]> Mon, 17 Dec 2018 16:59:21 -0800 item_100 Sue We have a 12 year old Chinapoo exhibiting all of the signs of doggy dementia. It started abruptly at the end of family vaca where he had been around our new grandsons who were 4 and 3 months old. We’ve had help from the vet in that he prescribed Trazadone and a sleep medicine. They helped for a bit, but not lately. If he was only pacing at night we could deal with that. But he scratches at the bedroom door and it’s all you hear. We can’t keep him on the bed. He jumps down and goes right back to scratching the door. We have to keep the door shut because we have another dog who is handicapped and could fall down the steps if he gets out. The crate didn’t work. He went nuts in there. He’s even having a tough morning right now and can’t settle. We were awake most of last night and the night before. We do have a light on in the room. I’m going to try the Thundershirt and hope for the best. Does any one else have any ideas?

]]> Sun, 16 Dec 2018 05:27:05 -0800 item_99 Kim Warzak This was very helpful. Our German Shepherd will soon be 13 yrs old and knowing he can take melatonin was a relief! He seems anxious and definitely needs something for comfort.

He has been pacing and staring. He does take a pain meds but was was becoming more restless.

]]> Thu, 08 Nov 2018 18:04:26 -0800 item_91 Katina JOHNSON Very informative... I noticed this in my ageing dog... pacing, panting, staring and kept wanting to go outside and couldn’t settle....I have done all the things and they do work, but I eventually tried putting a fan near his bed... it seemed to calm him almost instantly.... it may work for others. Good Luck x

]]> Wed, 07 Nov 2018 09:05:48 -0800 item_90 Doris Kennedy do you have the salt light on only at night? sounds like a plan to me. My dog just started this a couple months ago, just now figuring out what it is.

]]> Thu, 01 Nov 2018 15:20:36 -0700 item_87 Alison Thank you for validation and information about anxiety, sleep issues and subdowners in dogs. Our 13 year old cattle dog mix suffers from many of these symptoms, probably stemming from her bad legs and pain. Her vision and hearing have lessened as well. We have a massage therapist work on her weekly to help the pain and this seems to help during the day. It is terrible exhausting, especially when she paces at night and just walks around the backyard instead of doing her business. Thank you for the reminder that

She is still is the same dog. Some of us will exhibit these symptoms so paying it forward is a good idea! We will ty the lighting to see if it works for her. We did resort to clapping our hands to get her to get up and go out. This works beautifully!

Keep up he great advice and keep sharing ideas so people like us experiencing these tying times have somewhere to turn. Salt lamp idea is interesting too.....

]]> Wed, 31 Oct 2018 17:26:45 -0700 item_86 fabienne I know how frustrating this all is, but not the poor dog's fault. Please dont lose your temper as they dont understand why nor will it help - good luck - I understand as my doggie is 16 now and has dementia along with multiple other issues - but she is still happy, enjoys her walks and has a great appetite! So hard when this happens - hang in there and please be kind t your furry one - wont help losing your temper - go take a walk if you feel irritated which I understand happens

]]> Tue, 23 Oct 2018 17:08:05 -0700 item_80 Lindsay McDougle My dog is 15 years old and we recognise this behaviour every evening now . There are periods where she is settled but a lot of the time she just doesn’t know what she wants and paces and pants constantly. This has only happened over the past year to year and a half. Such a shame really but thanks for the information.

]]> Sun, 30 Sep 2018 13:22:45 -0700 item_74 Barbara As soon as my dog turned 15, I noticed changes. Recognizing sundowner's behavior from my mother, I immediately thought of it for my dog, but didn't realize it might be true. All the things mentioned are happening. And I had put on a nightlight, she is pretty the wrong side of the door, and she does turn around and just walls the sidewalk up and down. I feel anxious myself.

]]> Thu, 27 Sep 2018 00:53:39 -0700 item_72 Andy B My dog has a bad leg and doesn't get around much any more and seems to be up all night and sleeps but mere minutes at a time. She wanders around aimlessly and has accidents because she cannot get up and do her business. It is very frustrating and sometimes I lose my temper and then I feel bad about that. My vet has been no help to me at all, suggesting an OTC medication called Senilife which seemed to have no effect. She suggested Trazadone which is a sedative that my dog took before she had her tie-back surgery when her airway was closed up from muscle atrophy. My dog is 16 or 17 years old and I am trying very hard to help her and most of the time she appears to be pretty lucid.

]]> Mon, 20 Aug 2018 13:44:22 -0700 item_59