Health
He paces at night, stands with his nose in a corner, waits at the wrong side of the door, wees indoors. Some of it is age. Some of it can be treated.
Caution. A sudden head tilt, eyes flicking side to side, falling over, circling always the same way, a fit, blindness within days or 24 hours without food and water: see your own vet today. Slow changes over months belong in a booked senior check.
Do not look for the answer in a Facebook group, on TikTok or on a forum. Look for someone trained for this: your dog's own veterinarian, the only person who can examine, investigate and treat them.
Use this page to know what to observe, what to note and what to ask at the appointment, not to treat at home. If you still have doubts after a consultation, ask another vet or a specialist (dermatologist, internist) for a second opinion, not a group. And if you do not have a regular vet yet, find one now, while your dog is healthy: how to choose a veterinary clinic.
It is three in the morning and you can hear claws on the floor again. Your thirteen-year-old has been doing this for a few months now. He wanders the house, stops with his nose in a corner and stays there until you come and steer him out. He whines without wanting anything in particular. Yesterday he waited for you to open the door on the hinge side. During the day he sleeps, and when visitors arrive he no longer gets up. Last week he weed in the living room, by the door, for the first time since he was six months old. Friends say "he's old, that's just age". Some of what you are seeing may be cognitive decline, the dog version of dementia. Some of it may be pain, or an illness that can be treated. This page helps you tell them apart, shows you what to write down, and describes a proper senior check with your own vet.
Cognitive decline creeps in over months. Anything that arrives suddenly, over hours or a few days, has a different cause and needs seeing today:
When you ring, say when it started, what you noticed first and whether he is on any medication. With an old dog, "let's wait and see" costs more than it would with a young one.
Your vet needs the pattern over several months, and you are the only one who sees it. Two tools catch it: a night diary and a checklist you fill in again every month.
The night diary. What time he wakes, what he does (wanders, gets stuck in corners, whines, asks to go out, wants water), how long it lasts, how he settles again. A night spent in pain looks different from a night spent confused. The dog in pain keeps lying down and getting up, changes spots and pants. The confused dog walks with no purpose, gets stuck behind doors and seems not to know where he is.
Video. Thirty seconds on your phone of the circling, the corner, the pacing. On film your vet sees what you cannot put into words: whether the circle always goes the same way, whether he leans on the wall, whether he lifts his feet oddly.
The checklist. On a sheet of paper, dated, write down what you see in six areas. A month later, do it again and compare.
Hearing and sight. Clap behind him where he cannot see you and watch for a flinch. Rustle the treat bag from another room. Drop a ball of cotton wool from his head height, off to one side, and see whether his eyes follow it. Notice whether he bumps into furniture, especially in the evening. A dog who cannot hear or see well looks confused even when his mind is still doing fine.
Movement. How long it takes him to get up, whether he slips on tiles, avoids the stairs, has stopped jumping into the car, squats for less time when he wees. Joint pain is the cause people miss most often when a dog starts having bad nights.
Water, food, weight. Note whether he drinks more than before, and whether he eats less or, the opposite, a great deal more. Weigh him once a month.
| What you see | Could it be cognitive decline? | Rule this out first |
|---|---|---|
| Up at night, asleep all day | Yes, the sleep pattern gradually flips | Joint pain, needing to wee more often, an illness that drives thirst |
| Stands in corners, waits at the wrong side of the door | Yes, the classic sign | Failing sight, blindness, a brain tumour |
| Walks in circles | Yes, in bouts, with no favoured side | Always the same side, with a head tilt: inner ear or brain |
| Wees indoors | Yes, he forgets the rule | Urinary infection, incontinence, kidneys, diabetes, difficulty squatting |
| No longer comes when called | Yes | Hearing; deafness is common after 10–12 years |
| Does not want to go for walks | Yes, interest drops | Pain, heart, lungs |
| Cries for no obvious reason | Yes, especially evening and night | Pain, high blood pressure, a need he cannot tell you about (water, going out) |
| Growls, seems irritable | Sometimes | Pain when touched, poor sight (he startles), thyroid |
Work through the right-hand column first. That is where the treatable things are.
An appointment for an old dog whose behaviour has changed takes longer than a routine check. Book it in good time and say what it is about when you book.
Before you leave, ask how the two of you will keep an eye on his quality of life and which signs should bring you back sooner. It is a hard question. It is easier to ask now than in a year's time.
Night lights in the hallway and by his bed. Non-slip mats over tiles and wooden floors, from bed to bowl to door. His bed on the ground floor, low down, with a low edge. A fixed routine for meals, going out, walks and bedtime, at the same times each day, because routine does the job memory used to do. Three short walks instead of one long one, letting him choose where to sniff.
Put his food in puzzle toys or scatter it over a rug so he has to find it with his nose. Five minutes of searching tires an old brain out in a healthier way than an extra hour of sleep. Once a week, teach him a new, simple trick with tasty bits and plenty of praise, so every small success is a happy one. In the evening, when he gets unsettled, quiet music or the radio helps.
Dogs well into double figures come to our training sessions too, working short, easy trails. Their people tell us they sleep through the night afterwards. We would not call it treatment. It is what is left for the dog to do with his nose, and that is a lot. If you do not yet have a regular vet to carry out his senior checks, our page on related services will help you choose a practice.
What dog owners search for most often on the internet about this problem, with the short answer. The answers are a guide only: the decision belongs to your dog's own vet, after an examination.
Getting lost in the house (stuck in corners, waiting at the wrong side of the door), a change in how he is with the family, awake at night and asleep by day, wees indoors after years of being clean, aimless wandering, circling, licking the air and new fears. All of it creeps in over months. Pain, failing hearing or sight and other illnesses cause the same signs, so he needs a vet check.
Most often pain: his joints ache after lying in one position for a long time. It can also be needing to wee more often, confusion on waking or anxiety that builds in the evening. Note the time, what he does and how he settles. A dog who keeps lying down and getting up is probably sore; one who wanders and stops in corners is probably confused. Both need the vet.
If he circles in bouts, with no favoured side, and shows other signs of confusion, it may be cognitive decline. If he always circles the same way, holds his head tilted, leans on the wall or it all started suddenly, the cause is in the inner ear or the brain and he needs seeing that day. Film it: the direction and the head position tell your vet a great deal.
It cannot be cured, but it can be slowed and the dog can have a good life for a long time yet. Your vet treats what is treatable first (pain, blood pressure, infections, thyroid), then talks about diets and supplements for the ageing brain and medication where it makes sense. At home, a fixed routine, night lights, short sniffy walks and food-searching games all help.
Usually after 9–10 years, and more often with every year; past 15, more than half of dogs show at least one sign. Small breeds live longer, so they more often reach the age where it shows. From 7–8 years, a senior check every six months with blood tests catches changes early and rules out the causes that can be treated.
The information on this page is educational and does not replace an examination. For full details and a diagnosis, consult your dog's own veterinarian.
They often come together: the same causes, plans that complement each other.
He howls after every ambulance or whines from morning to night. The causes differ, but the plan starts the same way: find out what he's trying to tell you.
His first night away from his mother and littermates, alone in the dark in a box. Crying is normal; how you respond in the first few nights decides how long it lasts.
Up in two stages, refusing the stairs, bunny-hopping at a run. Joint pain shows in what the dog stops doing, long before he whimpers.
You take him out, he stands in the grass for ten minutes, you come in and he goes on the rug. House-training takes set times and a real fuss when he gets it right.
We work with your dog's behaviour, not its health. For any sign described here, book an appointment with your own vet; the related services page explains how to choose a clinic.