# My golden roams the hall....kind of strange.



## nicpaige (Dec 26, 2010)

My 12 year old golden roams the halls of our house almost obsessively it seems. He doesnt seem to be content to just lay on his bed. When we are ready to wind down and call it a night you hear the pitter patter of his nails on the hardwood floor back and forth. He may lay down but never for more than a minute or so until we all go to sleep then sometime after he will go to sleep as well. This seems to have gotten worse or more frequent. Should I be concerned or is it normal? If we are in a carpeted room watching tv he will lay down and stay put. Other than that and being deaf he is perfect.


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## brianne (Feb 18, 2012)

I'm far from an expert, but our senior bridge girl did that too at times and she was also deaf. Our vet told us that it could be a form of senile behavior. I likened it to "sundowner" behavior in Alzheimer patients.

"For most of us, sunset is an occasion we celebrate. It's a time of transition from the often frenetic energy of the day to the more subdued and relaxing nature of evening. But for many elderly people who suffer from Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia, it can be a time of increased memory loss, confusion, agitation, and even anger." quoted from an Alzheimer's website

For our Sophie, we started to take her out for a short walk before bedtime or at least had a period of play/awake time to relax her. We also put up a gate to keep her in our room and would give her gestural commands to "settle" and this seemed to help her stop wandering aimlessly.

Good luck,
brianne


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## OnMyWay2MyDreams (Feb 13, 2011)

Agree with above poster..dogs can get cognitive dysfunction. Their are meds to help with it. Might want to get a check up and talk with your vet about it. 

CDSInDogs


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## Weepav (Jan 17, 2014)

Two dogs ago my old girl was deaf, she use to lay down and sleep, often I would think she had died due to not responding. At the age of 14.5 she finally did.

Just comfort your dog, reassure him, love him while you can.
I hate to think what state I will be in if I reach 100 years of age, I would just make sure he is pain free by checking him regularly, and don't change is routine.

All the best.


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## nicpaige (Dec 26, 2010)

He is in great health other than not being able to hear. Still acts like a puppy at times. He will still try to steal toys from my nieces room to play with. I think it must have something to so with his hearing, maybe confusion or anctious behaviour. Either way I love him to death.


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

I was also thinking cognitive dysfunction or pain. If your dog has developed arthritis, he might not be able to sleep due to pain. There are some therapies you can try for senility and of course pain management therapies for any diagnosed pain issues, but your vet would need to evaluate and prescribe them.


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## Heather C. (Sep 25, 2013)

My first dog was diagnosed with dementia - canine cognitive dysfunction - at around age 11.5. He was deaf before that, probably since around 10.5, and interestingly, deafness goes along with dementia in both humans and dogs (I guess its very disorienting after a while?). For us the drugs didn't really help, although we gave them a try. Our vet told us that roaming at night is one of the common signs; just like people with dementia. Bigsby also forgot where he was sometimes; he would walk into corners and seem stuck there. He forgot his manners; he would walk up and lift a leg on the chair while we were eating dinner (in the chairs). He stole food, got into garbage, which he NEVER did before. Luckily, he never got aggressive, which can happen to some dogs. Sometimes he looked at us like our old pup, and sometimes he stared at us like "who are you??" He lived until almost 14, and physically, he was totally fine until right at the end. But his brain was long gone. It was sad for us, because his personality was gone long before his body went. Hopefully the roaming is the extent of it for your guy. Good luck,

Heather


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## Suni52 (Jan 18, 2012)

Our old bridge dog started doing that too. She was about the same age when it started. The vet also called it a form of dementia. It is similar to elderly adults who "sun down". They are oriented during the day but become disoriented at night. It was sad to see her pace.


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## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

The hardwood floor can be very hard on them at this age. With Jack and Trooper we got the large heavy carpet door mats with rubber back (72x48) from Lowes and put in the hallway and the areas where they liked to lay down. Reason I went with those instead of area rugs was because they could not slip and fall on them and the rugs stayed in place while also covering the hallway.


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Nicpaige*



nicpaige said:


> My 12 year old golden roams the halls of our house almost obsessively it seems. He doesnt seem to be content to just lay on his bed. When we are ready to wind down and call it a night you hear the pitter patter of his nails on the hardwood floor back and forth. He may lay down but never for more than a minute or so until we all go to sleep then sometime after he will go to sleep as well. This seems to have gotten worse or more frequent. Should I be concerned or is it normal? If we are in a carpeted room watching tv he will lay down and stay put. Other than that and being deaf he is perfect.


To be on the safe side I'd take her to the vet for a checkup, perhaps an exam and blood test. It is possible she has cognitive dysfunction and there are meds for that.


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