[blord]

Last night at about midnight I heard Ellie walking around and scratching at different things like the floor or a wall. I got up and tried to get her to settle down, but she wouldn't do it. She kept pacing from room to room and was panting quite a bit. I let her out to pee, but that didn't help. She has never done this before. She always sleeps through the night. I finally got her to lay down with me outside my sons door and was able to go back to bed around 3 am. I was scared of bloat or something, but her stomach wasn't hard. She seems fine today, she's snoozing away at my feet. The weird thing is that my son woke up with a fever and is home sick today. She kept going in and out of his room while pacing, which is not usual since she's not allowed in there due to his allergies/asthma. I would love to think that she somehow knew he was sick and was nervous about it, but she's never done this in the past. Am I overthinking this or is something wrong??

 

[Courtney]

Very interesting? I think she knew your son wasn't feeling well. Dogs are so tuned into us-it's scary.

Keep a close eye on her behavior today-just to make sure there's nothing more going on with her. But it does sound like she was restless because her buddy was sick.

 

[PaddyD]

Last night at about midnight I heard Ellie walking around and scratching at different things like the floor or a wall. I got up and tried to get her to settle down, but she wouldn't do it. She kept pacing from room to room and was panting quite a bit. I let her out to pee, but that didn't help. She has never done this before. She always sleeps through the night. I finally got her to lay down with me outside my sons door and was able to go back to bed around 3 am. I was scared of bloat or something, but her stomach wasn't hard. She seems fine today, she's snoozing away at my feet. The weird thing is that my son woke up with a fever and is home sick today. She kept going in and out of his room while pacing, which is not usual since she's not allowed in there due to his allergies/asthma. I would love to think that she somehow knew he was sick and was nervous about it, but she's never done this in the past. Am I overthinking this or is something wrong??

Dogs sometimes catch our germs and get sick too. Your dog's symptoms reflect not feeling well and if she is panting and sleeping more, she may have 'something'.

 

[blord]

Dogs sometimes catch our germs and get sick too. Your dog's symptoms reflect not feeling well and if she is panting and sleeping more, she may have 'something'.

She's not sleeping more than usual. She's 11.6 years old so being up most of the night is odd for her. She naps quite a bit during the day usually so it's not out of character for her to be napping right now. I hope she doesn't have anything. I'm keeping an eye on her. Right now, since my son is home sick from school, we made a "pillow bed" with couch cushions on the living room floor. I have my son snoozing on one side and Ellie snoozing on the other.

 

[London's Mom]

My Minerva began this unusual behavior at that age. My vet at that time diagnosed it as Azlheimers. Yes, dogs can get that awful disease as well. I did not want to give her any of the meds (a canine version of valium) so I took the natural route and just made sure she was taken on long walks before evening so that she could sleep better. I don't want to scare you, but it is something you should look into.

Minerva gradually got worse. She began to really stress something terribly at sundown (that is why they call it the "sundown syndrome"). After 2 years of decreased quality of life I finally had to make that horrible decision. She did let me know that it was time, though. It was so hard for me to accept because Minerva was always such a brilliant Shepherd.

I truly wish you the best with Ellie.

 

[Kris10]

Maybe she heard things from his room you couldn't, like your son tossing and turning or breathing differently because he was feverish.

 

[trudy]

my old girl was like that one night and the battery on the smoke detecter was beeping as it needed replacing. She got so bad she grabbed my arm and pulled to get me to go outside...I finally heard the beep, it was quiet but she was bothered by it

 

[Courtney]

How's Ellie doing today?

Hopefully your son feels better

 

[blord]

She is fine today. She slept all night like usual! Hopefully it was just a freak thing and not Alzheimers like London's Mom posted. I did notice that she has not eaten much in the last day or so either. She finally ate something a little while ago. Once in a while she does that, not eat anything for a day or two and then eat normally until the next time she does it. I have no idea why she does this, but if I offer her cheese or something she loves she will eat that.
My son is much better today - probably could have gone to school, but I kept him home just in case. Thanks for asking!!