16 year old greyhound will not sleep through the night

[drjulian]

We have two Italian Greyhounds here in FL. The older, a 16-year-old neutered female, is nearly blind from cataracts (can only see shadows) and almost completely deaf (responds to loud noises with one ear). She is otherwise healthy having recently had some teeth removed with the vet commenting on the great shape she is otherwise in. She has always slept in the bed with us at night, however, with her lack of eyesight, she cannot judge the edge of the bed and has fallen off so we stopped that practice. She now sleeps on the ground floor of the house (bedrooms on second floor) in her own bed on the floor. In fact, she spends 24 hours a day in that bed except to eat and when she goes out.

The problem is that at night she will awaken every two hours and begin to bark making it necessary for me to come down to quiet her. I usually will take her out, but often she will just stand there barking until I bring her back in, so I do not think it is a bathroom issue. I think she realizes she is alone and that is what causes the barking. We have tried leaving lights on all night, or the TV, we even got her a heartbeat pillow, but still she will get up and bark every two hours at night. During the day, she will sleep all day without the barking.

The only thing I have found that works is if I sleep on the couch in the same room. When I do she will not get up. What I do not understand is that she cannot see or hear me sleeping in the room yet my being in the room seems to prevent her from waking.

If someone can explain to me how she knows if I am or am not in the room when she cannot see or hear me? It is uncanny. If I am sleeping silently in the room she is fine, but as soon as I leave the room, she is awake and barking within two hours. Better still can someone tell me how to deal with this issue in some other way? She is afraid to walk on a lead any more so ‘taking her for a walk before bed’ is not an option. We have tried several different feeding schedules (I make all their food) with no success. Now she is fed in the morning and in the evening. She is not on any medication. It is truly bewildering. Any help would be appreciated.

[specialmom]

Ah, this is hard.  I had an old dog also get nights and days mixed up.  She literally would sit and stare and then start crying or barking at night and sleep during the day.  We had a very rough time with that.  Can you bring her to sleep in your bedroom?  If that helps and you are not ready to put her down, that's probably your best option.  It's hard when they begin losing their senses.  hugs