Otis restless at night, hungry, pacing about acting like it is morning

[ANJ]

Hi all,

I am hoping someone can offer me a bit of advise.  Monday night and yesterday night Otis did not settle well when going to bed and just before midnight decided to bark for us to get up.  I normally react on a cry or bark to let him out.
Both time he has no interest in going out but wanted to pace around the entire house, sniffing and jumping up and down, trying to pinch sock etc...... also barking to get into every room of the house.
Monday he was panting a bit but yesterday nothing like that, just seem really alert and also very hungry!!  He was begging for treats and food...... I decided to give him a small meal after 1 hour of unsettled behaviour, he ate that immediately and after a bit of barking at various doors fell asleep for a couple of hours only to wake again and pace around basically behaving like it is time to get up........
I did not sleep a wink, and feel I should take him to the vets and have his bloods checked (liver/adrenal glands???).  My husband think I am bonkers and says just to leave it as he has had 2 normal night in-between.....

Otis is a HUGE scavenger...... on walks he is obsessed by trying to find food etc. but we do our best to be very careful.  We have a large garden, where I know he also eats cat poo (sorry!) and he has eaten some apples (I know the pips are poisonous) but again, I check the ground all the time before I let him out.....
Otis is on a hydrolysed diet due to colitis and he loves the dry food and is doing very well on it.

I thought the first night it may have been some anxiety but yesterday he was not bothered about being with us in the bedroom, just wanted to pace about and act like it was in the middle of the day.
I did notice he slept a lot yesterday during the day but I had guests the day before so that can sometimes happen anyway.

I am just thinking if there is something more fundamentally wrong with him.  Normally he is very good at going straight to sleep and does not wake us until the morning.

Has anyone had this sort of thing happen to them???

Anette & Otis

[JennyBee]

Panting and pacing are both signs of pain or discomfort in dogs - I'm not sure with the rest of your description if there is something wrong, but it's always worth checking out at the vet.

If not, I'd keep a close eye on him and see if any other symptoms appear: Brodie had both symptoms when she had pancreatitis, but she also had a whole load of other things going on, including stretching, being unable to lie down for more than a few seconds, being sick, etc, and couldn't even hold down water.

It all sounds rather strange - I wonder if he's smelling/hearing something that's making him so unsettled? Hopefully others will have an idea. Really hope he doesn't have any more restless nights

[MacTavish Boys]

Could he have eaten some form of mushroom or other funghi.Poor Otis  , i hope  you find the solution quickly
Stephanie, George and Hamish xxx

[elaine.e]

Is Otis entire? Perhaps there's an in season bitch in your neighbourhood and that's the cause of his restlessness.

[Redked]

I was thinking a mouse or something in the house? If it was due to an in season bitch, I would have thought he would want to go out once the door was opened to follow the scent? As he is barking at doors etc in the house it sounds like something inside but it does sound odd if it is out of character. I would get a vets opinion if it continues just to rule out illness etc. Hope he settles down, whatever is causing it xxx

[BobnDot]

If there are no obvious reasons for the odd behaviour I'd be heading straight to the vet, explain the circumstances and get a check over to discount any medical problems before looking for things in his environment that may be upsetting him.

Maybe something like a mouse in the house or under the floor or even something like a cat or hedgehog moving around outside. The problem is that dogs are able to sense things so much better that we mere humans and you may have difficulty in identifying the problem.
After watching a wildlife program on TV I got an "Acorn" infra red wildlife camera last year and set it up in the garden....You wouldn't believe the nocturnal visitors that it picked up crossing our patio over a couple of days.....Cats galore, two hedgehogs having a bit of a standoff and a fox.

Bob.

[ANJ]

Hi all,  Thanks for all your suggestions so far.......  I did wonder about the bitch in season but as also mentioned, he is not that bothered about going outside, so that might not be the trigger.

We had another interrupted sleep last night but this time just with him barking and whining.......  I think there might be a mixture of things going on but will make an appointment with the vet to make sure there is no medical reason for this.

I do know we have bats, and foxes, cats and lots of squirrels in our garden, so there must be mice and dare I say rats! running around as well.  He seems his normal self all day long and evening also, but he did jump up from the sofa a couple of times barking and running in the hall way, so perhaps there is something there as well. 

Otis is quite a strong willed dog and bosses us about too much to be honest, so my husband believes it is just attention seeking......  I hope he is right but I will feel better having it all checked out.