Dog yelping at night

CatFromHue

We have a Golden Retreiver, she's about 11 or 12 now, who yelps or barks at night for no real reason. She's not barking at anyone just making noise really.

I was wondering does anyone know how to make her stop?

We used to have two, Brother and Sister, but one of them passed away a couple of years ago. Even when he was alive though she used to yelp at night for no reason. When she was a pup or a young dog this never happened.

She has dodgy knees so isn't a great walker anymore so trying to tire her out is difficult. In reality she's nearly nocturnal in that she lies around during the day time sleeping but is up all night.

Any ideas would be great!

boomerang

She may just be having senior moments OP. It's well recognised that elderly dogs can suffer dementia too.

Is she on any pain relief for her knees? Have you tried things like glucosamine, fish oil, etc? They all can make a difference and might get her a bit more mobile for walks and sleeping less fitfully at night.

DBB

Night-time wakefulness is a recognised symptom of Canine Cognitive Dementia (CCD), and you need to bring your oldie to a vet for an age-specific check-up. It is all too common for owners (and sometimes vets) to dismiss these symptoms as "just old age", but the tragedy is that many of the symptoms of CCD can be reduced, sometimes even reversed, if you change address some health issues, and incorporate some changes to the dog's routine, and diet.
A diet rich in anti-oxidants, and cell-repair ingredients is vital for an ageing dog: Omega-3 fatty acids, and Vitamin E are so important for mental health and can also help with creaky joints.
Behaviourally, if she can go for short walks, bring her for a couple of little potters about during the day, letting her sniff and root around in a new environment. It doesn't have to be a "walk" as such, just a potter down the street to the park, or whatever you can do in your own environment: allowing the dog just sleep all day promotes dementia, just as it does with humans. If she can't walk, spend some time every day doing some refresher training with her: re-teach her old skills, or teach her some new ones. Give her stuffed Kong Toys to work away at during the day. If she likes other dogs, get her out interacting with them a bit. All of these things will help to keep her awake during the day, and let her slip back into sleeping by night.
Medications are available to help her to sleep better at night, you'll need to talk to your vet about this.
Don't just leave this: get active about your dog developing dementia. It could make a huge difference to her quality of life in her golden years.

david75

Not to sound silly but check the room the dogs on for mice.
We had the same thing and went through all the worry then found we had a few mice under the floor. It stopped once we got rod of them. Just a thought

CatFromHue

Thanks everyone, some good advice here.

She does take stuff for he knees, arthri-aid I think it is, and she is feed Royal Canin Mature/Ageing so her diet is more for the older dog.

The Kong thing is a good idea too.

No Mice either as we've checked and there's no Mice droppings or other signs they're about.

Her yelps at the moment are just random yelps at nothing in particular.

juice1304

My dogs sometimes run, bark and growl as well as making weird noises intheir sleep. It's pretty amusing to watch maybe she is dreaming.

CatFromHue

She's nearly wide awake at night.

If you get up to go to the toilet or try and calm her she is awake and almost bright eyed.

Sometimes I hear her get up and walk around upstairs too (our bedrooms and hall that she sleeps in at night are downstairs and the living room is upstairs).