It usually starts small. The old dog who always slept through takes a while to settle. Then they get up at two in the morning and stand in the hallway. Then they start pacing, or whining at a wall, or barking at nothing in a house that has not changed in ten years.
Owners tend to explain it away — she’s just old, he’s a bit deaf now, it’s the arthritis. Sometimes that is right. Often what is happening has a name: sundowning, the evening and night-time restlessness associated with canine cognitive dysfunction. And unlike much of ageing, it is a picture that responds meaningfully to intervention, particularly when it is caught early.
This article covers what sundowning is, how to distinguish it from the several things that mimic it, and what genuinely helps. Owners of senior dogs sometimes use Calming Dog Treats as part of an evening routine, though the light, the routine and the veterinary workup are the parts that carry the most weight.
What sundowning is
Canine cognitive dysfunction is a neurodegenerative condition with real similarities to Alzheimer’s disease in humans, including the accumulation of beta-amyloid in the brain. It is common and substantially underdiagnosed — study estimates suggest a large minority of dogs over eleven show signs, and the figure rises steeply with age.
Sundowning is the name for the symptoms clustering in the late afternoon and evening. The likely mechanism is disruption of the circadian rhythm: the internal clock, which relies heavily on light cues and is regulated in part by melatonin, degrades along with everything else. The dog becomes confused about when they should be asleep.
The classic signs are grouped under the acronym DISHAA:
Disorientation — standing in corners, going to the hinge side of a door, getting stuck behind furniture, appearing lost in a familiar room.
Interaction changes — less greeting, less seeking of contact, sometimes new irritability or clinginess.
Sleep-wake cycle disruption — the core of sundowning. Awake and restless at night, sleeping heavily through the day.
House soiling — accidents in a long-reliable dog, or toileting immediately after coming in from the garden.
Activity changes — repetitive pacing, circling, staring at nothing, purposeless wandering.
Anxiety — new fearfulness, distress when alone, agitation at dusk.
Rule out everything else first
This matters enormously, because several conditions produce a near-identical picture and most of them are treatable.
Pain is the biggest one. Arthritis is present in a very high proportion of older dogs and hurts more at rest, which is precisely why a painful dog cannot settle at night and gets up repeatedly to reposition. A dog who paces at three in the morning may simply be uncomfortable.
Sensory loss. A dog whose sight and hearing are fading becomes disoriented in the dark and startles more easily. That is not dementia, though it looks similar at night.
Urinary problems. Kidney disease, diabetes, urinary tract infection and Cushing’s all increase drinking and urination, and a dog who needs to go out at three has a very good reason to wake you.
Hypertension and thyroid disease. Both affect behaviour and both are straightforward to test for.
Medication side effects. Steroids and some other drugs increase thirst, urination and restlessness.
A proper senior workup — full clinical examination, bloods, urinalysis, blood pressure, and a genuinely honest orthopaedic assessment — should come before anybody accepts a dementia label. Many owners find a pain trial alone substantially improves the nights.
What helps
Light
The most underused intervention, and one of the most effective. Circadian rhythms are driven by light exposure, and an old dog who spends the day dozing in a dim lounge is getting almost no signal about what time it is.
Get them outside in daylight, particularly in the morning. Even a short trip into the garden helps, and bright natural light in the first hours after waking is worth more than the same exposure later. Then keep the evening dim. Low lighting from an hour or two before bed, curtains drawn, screens off.
A dim night light in the hallway helps a dog with fading vision navigate without panic.
Routine, tightened
Cognitively impaired dogs cope badly with variation and well with rigidity. Fixed feeding times, a fixed evening walk, a fixed wind-down, and a bed in the same place every night. If the dog sleeps near you, keep it that way — moving a confused old dog to a new sleeping arrangement rarely goes well.
Build a defined bedtime sequence and repeat it identically: last toilet trip, same light turned off, same blanket, same words. Familiarity is doing real work here.
Daytime activity
An old dog who sleeps all day will be awake all night. Gentle, frequent activity across the day is the aim — several short walks rather than one long one, simple scent games, food puzzles, a few minutes of very easy training. Mental activity matters as much as physical, and there is good evidence that enrichment slows cognitive decline rather than merely occupying the dog.
Keep it appropriately gentle. This is not the time for anything strenuous.
The physical environment
Non-slip runners on hard floors, because slipping is frightening and painful for arthritic dogs and a major reason old dogs become reluctant to move. Ramps instead of steps. Raised food and water bowls. Furniture kept where it has always been, so a dog with poor vision can navigate by memory. Baby gates at stairs. Corners blocked off if the dog gets stuck in them.
Diet and supplements
There is a reasonable evidence base for nutritional support in canine cognitive dysfunction, more so than for most conditions in this area. Antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids and particularly medium-chain triglycerides have shown measurable benefit in trials, and several veterinary senior diets are formulated around this. It is worth a conversation with your vet.
Separately, supplements built around ingredients traditionally associated with relaxation are sometimes used as part of an evening routine for a restless senior. Framed accurately, they may support a calmer wind-down; they do not address the underlying cognitive changes and should not be positioned as though they do. Given the number of older dogs on medication, and the frequency of kidney and liver changes in this age group, checking with your vet before adding anything is not a formality here — it is genuinely necessary.
Veterinary options
There are licensed medications for canine cognitive dysfunction in the UK, and they help a meaningful proportion of dogs, particularly when started early. Melatonin is sometimes used for sleep-wake disruption under veterinary direction, and anxiolytics are occasionally appropriate for severe night-time distress.
The single most important point: these work better the earlier they start. The common pattern is an owner who waits a year, attributing everything to age, and begins treatment when the disease is well advanced. If you are noticing signs now, raise it now.
What to do during a night-time episode
Knowing how to handle the two-in-the-morning pacing makes the difference between a difficult night and a distressing one.
Keep the lights low. Turning on a bright overhead light wakes the dog further and makes the disorientation worse. A dim lamp is enough to let them see.
Speak quietly and do not crowd them. A confused dog approached suddenly in the dark may not recognise you immediately, and older dogs with reduced hearing and sight can startle into a snap they would never otherwise make.
Offer a toilet trip, because a proportion of night waking is straightforwardly a full bladder, and rule that out before assuming confusion.
Guide rather than lift. If they are stuck behind a chair or facing a corner, place a hand at their shoulder and steer them out gently rather than picking them up.
Then settle them back in their own bed and go back to yours. Long periods of attention at three in the morning inadvertently teach a dog that night waking produces company, which is the last thing an already disrupted sleep cycle needs.
Catching it early
The signs that appear first are subtle and almost always dismissed. A slightly slower response to their name. Standing at the door hinge rather than the opening side. A few seconds of hesitation before recognising a familiar visitor. Sleeping a little more in the day than they used to. Losing interest in a game they always liked.
None of these on their own mean much. Together, in a dog over about eight, they are worth mentioning at the next appointment rather than at the appointment after the one where things have clearly deteriorated.
Living with it
Sundowning is exhausting for the household as well as the dog. Broken sleep for months is genuinely hard, and it is one of the more common reasons owners of senior dogs reach crisis point.
A few things that help: take turns with a partner if you can. Move your own sleep earlier, since the disruption usually clusters in the small hours. Accept that some pacing is not an emergency and does not require you to get up. And keep a simple diary — episodes, timing, duration — because it gives your vet something concrete to work with and shows you whether an intervention is actually helping.
The honest framing
Cognitive decline is progressive and there is no cure. What is available is meaningful slowing, symptom management, and often a considerably better quality of life for the time remaining, for the dog and for you.
Owners who address the light, tighten the routine, treat the pain and involve their vet early frequently get months of better nights. That is worth pursuing, and it starts with taking the restlessness seriously rather than filing it under old age.