9 yr. old dachshund

Question
We have a 9 yr. old dachshund that we have had since he was 5-6 wks. old. He started keeping us up at night all the time back in January. We took him to the vet, and he seems to think he is healthy with no problems. He has always slept with us at night, but now he is on and off the bed continuously all night long. We've tried putting him in another room, but he shredded the carpet, gnawed on the door frame, and whined continuously. We've tried keeping him out of the room with a gate, but that doesn't work. We've tried petting him, talking softly to him, everything we know to do. He sits by the bed and whines, then he'll jump on the bed, lay there for a few minutes, and then get up and do the same thing over and over. The vet has put him on Seligilene 5mg. He is taking 1 tablet daily. He has been taking this almost 2 weeks now, and he seems to be getting worse. We are at our road's end. It is going on 4 mos. that we have gotten very little sleep. The vet has even suggested euthanizing him. If my husband or myself sleep in a separate room, he seems to sleep a little better, but even then he still is whining and getting up and down. In the daytime, he acts fine, other than sleeping a lot. It seems almost as if his days and nights are mixed up. What do you suggest? We don't want to put him to sleep, but we are just about out of alternatives.
Thanks

Answer
Hi there,

There are a couple of things which come to mind:

Has there been a change in your dog's daily activity routine? Such as a daily playtime which has been omitted, or have you had a change in your household routine that your dog is reacting to?

Although your dog is nine years old, if he's still able to get around it might be a good idea to increase the number or walks or off the leash playtime he gets. A tired dog is less likely to be troublesome.

Along the same lines of making your dog tired, would be enrolling in an obedience class. Obedience classes offer the dog a lot of mental stimulation. An intense obedience routine for 20 minutes will tire your dog out, without the physical stress that a 20 minute run would have. Also, learning and obeying the "quiet" command might be quite helpful.

Is your dog crate trained? If he is, can you move his crate to your bedroom, and crate him over night?

Some older dogs develop a condition called Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome. This is an age related deterioration of cognitive abilities characterized by behavioral changes in dogs, that cannot be attributed to any particular medical condition.
48% of dogs 8 years of age and older exhibit at least one clinical sign associated with CDS: seemingly aimless pacing or wandering, the inability to settle down, and abnormal sleep/wake patterns are some of the signs of the condition. There are other symptoms, but your dog need not display all the symptoms of this condition to have it.

Happily, there is a new medicine that can help called Anipryl. About 2/3 to 3/4 of dogs suffering from Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome show signs of improvement when given Anipryl. The bottom line is that for any dog that is slowing down to the point that problems become apparent, treatment with Anipryl is the logical choice once other organic causes for reduced mental function have been ruled out.

It's definitely worth discussing this condition and it's treatment with your vet.

You can read more about Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome here:

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1551&articleid=1095

http://www.2ndchance.info/CDS.htm

I hope I've been a help.
Best of luck,
Patti