Older Dog has started barking at night

Mayal - what a lovely dog owner (if you consider it owning) you are. Will keep fingers crossed for you.
Markulous - what a beautiful dog . I have never heard of that breed.

Many years ago we had a Bouvier des Flandres, Zeke, who started barking at night (he was 12). Tried a few things with no success, then I thought I'd try a light. Had a plug-in security device that switched a socket on if there was noise - plugged a light into that and success! He'd obviously become scared of the dark, maybe with a reduction in sight (never displayed any loss of sight but would make sense). So maybe leave a night light on?
Pic of Zeke attached

Thank you highlanddreams, Susysue, Shandy57,
Finn is getting extra cuddles and being told what a good boy he is. It was 2.30 am this morning when l got a big wet kiss and a nudge to say wake up mum, l want to go out.
Just taking it day by day because as you all say what else can l do.

Good luck Mayal, I wish I had a magic wand for all of our pets. Your dog is lucky to have you.

Good luck maya1, so very hard to watch our beloved doggies getting old and infirm, just heartbreaking but we love them dearly xx

I hope the Dorwest things help, we also have the tree barks powder & have only had to use it once so far luckily but it worked quickly, so it's a good one to have on hand I feel.
It is distressing to see them poorly & confused, it happened to one of my dogs a few years back, not the night barking but the 4am waking and wanting to go out and sit in the garden was something he liked to do all of a sudden. Other times he'd go and spend time outside and then come indoors to do his business. I never told him off, I just cleaned up without a word and then gave him a cuddle,because he couldn't help it & needed re-sassuring. Give your lovely dog a cuddle from me, I hope things improve for you both soon .

Thanks Highlanddreams, Dorwest herbs have been really helpful. I have placed an order with them. I am also getting some tree bark powder for his stomach problems.
I do leave a night light for him, that hasn't made any difference to the barking.
Thanks for the info about the biology collar, Susysue. His Librela injections are really helping and not causing stomach problems.
Two nights ago, he was acting more bizarrely, 4am he nudges me awake. I take him out, he promptly sits on the green outside the house and looks at me. He did this on and on until 6am.
We have been to the vets today, she thoroughly examined him and thinks its the start of dementia. She suggested that we try all the natural remedies for him before resorting to prescription drugs.
I take him back in a month and hopefully the Scullcap and Valerian will have helped.
Thank you all for trying to help, l really do appreciate it. It has been so distressing to see him like this. We love him very much.

I hope you don't mind me posting again,but I was wondering if a night light of some sort might help him feel more secure. I don't use a plug in one because I worry about chewing.What we have instead is a large chuck it max glow ball (dog toy) If left in sunlight it will charge up & glow all night but if it's a dark day or Winter you can just hold it close to a light bulb for a minute or two (bedside light is ideal & easy) to charge up It gives off a gentle glow that might just let him see where he is without keeping him awake or alert. We put ours in the hallway on top of our dog's water dispenser so he can easily see where it is should he need a drink in the middle of the night and won't stumble into the wall. It's safer too because it doesn't need to be plugged into the electric either .

Maya1, since my message to you, I have got a "bioflow" magnetic dog collar for my old girl with arthritis. Two days on, what a difference. She is not limping and seems much more lively and comfortable. Wonder if this might help if your woofie is uncomfortable with arthritis. It cost £26 on amazon, pretty expensive for a collar but I was willing to try give it a try. X

Thanks, highlanddreams, l will email them and ask. He is on a number of natural remedies and l am willing to try anything to help.
You have my best wishes, basicallygrace12, l hope things improve for you.
My neighbour has a dog, mokryna, so l doubt it but l will ask when go out with Finn later.
A minor miracle happened earlier this morning though, we managed to get him up the stairs, the first time in 10 years.
It then took 15 minutes to coax him back down, but progress. I text everyone l knew to tell them the amazing news...Lol.

Have any of your neighbours set up one of those devices (which after being a teenager no one can hear) to frighten off animals or bird intruders. Your dog (and babies) can hear it but you can’t.
Unbeknown to me, my neighbours installed a bird frightener, I have no pets but it interfered with my radio even though it was quite some distance.

i could have written exactly this! Our springer/collie cross, 11 years old, in recent weeks barks and whines unless i come down and i sleep on sofa, where she just ignores me and sleeps! She does come upstairs but insists i come downstairs to sleep ! Also rescued at 12 months and has various issues since but nothing like this!

have you tried anything like calming tablets or a spray, they take a few days to start working but they really do help. I can recommend Dorwest herbs,they are so good. I used Scullcap and Valerian Tablets and Valerian Compound for my dog just before & during the firework season last year, they didn't make him drowsy at all by the way,he was just calm and relaxed like he usually is and he slept soundly. It could be worth sending them an email to enquire about what would be the most effective for your dog,before you buy, they are very knowledgeable about their products & so friendly too

Hi Susysue, we do take out Finn last thing for toilet before bed. I have tried extra pain relief, it made no difference to tge barking.
He starts barking within 10 to 30 minutes of us going to bed.
I got the harness but he refuses to go up the stairs and is too large to carry.
I hadn't thought of mice. Once I come downstairs though, he gets on his bed and goes straight to sleep.
I've just got him an adaptil collar to see if that helps.
At the moment lm still sleeping downstairs with him every night.

Hi maya1, sorry to hear re your beloved collie. My elderly cocker had started same thing, barking in middle of night. Took her out for toilet but still every night disturbed. I have given I and taken her upstairs to sleep with me. She has bad arthritis and think it was pain or being uncomfortable which woke her. She has slept solidly since. Only other thought I had was ...you wouldn't have mice as this is the time of year they start trying to get into houses?? Maybe the dog is hearing them?? Sounds though like ke needs lots of reassurance x

Thank you all so much for all the advice. Shelbel, we are trying the plug in device. He is on galliprant for pain.
Dustyhen2010, we are trying short periods in the day time and he seems OK then. He won't use a crate, we did try that when we first got him, he is terrified of enclosed spaces. No doors can be closed. He cannot go into kennels, he was at the vets once for a procedure and they forgot, left him to wake up in a cage. They had to call us to get him out as he wouldn't allow them near him. We were extremely angry as he was very upset and we changed vets.
That's a good idea about the nervous dog coat, collar suggestion, thanks.
Mamma66, we do want to try and get him upstairs if possible. We have tried in the past when the fireworks have upset him but he sits down and refuses to budge.
He weighs 35kg so is a big dog, l have ordered a heavy duty harness to see if we can coax him upstairs using that.

Our lovely boy (about 12) didn’t do stairs for the first year we had him. He had never lived indoors and being predominantly Greyhound they are not always keen on stairs. He had awful separation anxiety too. One night he was so distressed with fireworks we carried him upstairs (no mean feat, he’s a big lad). Well, he discovered beds and has never looked back. He sleeps in our room in his own basket and comes into our bed for an hour or so in the morning for a cuddle and is so happy. Might be worth seeing if you could get your dog upstairs too? They are so much happier when they are with you. Hope you get it sorted - good luck ?

You are having a worrying time. My first thought was dementia starting but I think the main clue is that this started when you went out for a while to babysit. It could be separation anxiety which has been triggered as he hasn't been alone much. Collies are the smartest breed and this can be a plus and a minus. I have a poodle second smartest apparently. I didn't want her to have anxiety when I left her so as a pup I would go out for short periods of time initially then building to longer to allow her to realise it was fine and I would come back. Also I think is important that when you return you shouldn't fuss over your dog and if they get excited ignore the behaviour until they are calm. I feel you don't want them anticipating your return but just to accept it in a matter of fact way when you come back. It maybe worth trying this sort of approach ie going out for increasing lengths of time and no fuss on return. This possible could increase his confidence and decrease his anxiety. We put our dog in our utility room where her bed is in an open crate to sleep. So she has a "cave" to go into which she feels secure in. We just tell her to go to her bed and when she goes in she gets a reward biscuit and we leave the house. Interestingly though, recently my dog who is 9 started whining one night. As she doesn't usually do this I thought she was ill and needed out but that wasn't the case. I put her back to bed but once I was upstairs I heard her start up again. I put her back to bed but as this repeated I ended up closing the crate door and that stopped her. She did it the next night and after checking she was well I closed the crate door and it hasn't (fingers crossed) happened again. She is really smart and I know if I once took her upstairs I would never get her in her own area again. She has also learned that to keep other dogs away (she has been attacked twice by dogs) she can do this by snapping at them when they come near. So basically gets in first to tell them to back off. This is what I mean about there being a negative to them being bright. You mentioned about your dog snapping at the man. He certainly was in the wrong to try to touch your dog and maybe someone had touched him in the past and like my dog he remembered and wasn't wanting this interaction. If he is anxious this may explain the behaviour. You can get yellow collars or coats that say 'nervous dog', 'give me space' or similar which might help stop people from touching him. I hope you get to the root of his problem.

Sorry, I've just seen that your vet was not very helpful. Maybe he is in some pain or just uncomfortable with the arthritis and he is already on meds so not much to be done. Coukd the barking be a side effect if the meds, causing anxiety etc? The plug in was quite helpful with our cat. I think i would try that.

We had some strange symptoms like this with our dog about a year ago. He is now 12. He started scratching at the door (he sleeps in his basket in the kitchen) and seemed very frightened. He has never 'done' stairs so taking him up there would not have worked. We could only let him into the hall where we could call out to soothe him. He also started doing what I can only describe as a sort of cow lowing noise. Off to the vet ( thought maybe arthritis pain) nothing wrong. After a while it just stopped. We thought he had dementia but apparently not. His sight and hearing are going a bit now but he's been fine. I suppose we will never know what that was all about. .

I did read something once by a dog behaviourist who said that elderly dogs get scared of being attacked and not being able to defend themselves, like they might in the wild. I suppose the only thing you can do is try to console him but do go back to your own bed or he might get used to it. Maybe a talk radio on low all night?
Does the vet have any ideas?

Hetty58 wrote:
"Caleo, I sleep downstairs these days as my JRT often needs a trip outside in the early hours. It's quite bad enough struggling with the harness and putting garden shoes on - without negotiating stairs when I'm half asleep".

Hetty, can you not fence off the garden so your JRT can go out unaccompanied?

Thank you both for your advice. The trouble is, he is a lovely looking long haired tri coloured border collie. The man was walking by us, Finn was sitting down waiting for his friend to catch and the man just bent down. Finn was on his lead.
Normally, he just ignores everyone whatever they do.

Can you take him somewhere quiet for exercise? Allow nobody to touch him, but it would be a good idea to clip his lead on if people approach, if you greet them make him sit and wait for a treat?
Remember whatever emotions you are feeling transmit down the lead , so always try to feel calm and confident.

I have similar issues with one of mine,
She goes off lead a lot, but has trained herself to run back to me if she sees anyone with dogs or not. She was always called back to me with a special whistle call , but now does it second nature, no need for whistle.

Good luck I’m sure things will improve soon.

That sounds like deafness or loss of sight. Having said that, no one should just go to stroke someone’s dog without asking. What an awful situation you would be in if he had bitten the man, and it wouldn’t have been his or your fault.

Oh l forgot to say something quite important. When we were out on our lunchtime walk, he did almost bite someone.
This is totally out of character, a man came up to us and without asking tried to stroke him. He put his hand down to his face and luckily pulled it back in time as Finn snapped.
So that's aggression and the barking.