Help with sundowners/ways to settle a senior at night
I have a 13 year old Lhasa Apso mix who has been showing early signs of doggy dementia for the last year or so, which was brought up to her vet at her annual exam in December. The vet offered to prescribe some medication to help her settle at night once it gets more consistent (occasionally she’ll stay up all night wandering around the house, asking to go outside every hour or so and not going potty, just wanting to stand in the yard or wander around out there). I’m open to medication of course once her symptoms become more frequent, like her vet said.
For now though, last night she had a really bad night. It started around 7pm and she was obsessively pawing at a cabinet. She was trying to get under the cabinet to get something. I checked and there was a small rock under there. I grabbed it, showed it to her and threw it away. That didn’t stop her. She continued to dig and paw at the cabinet. At 8pm she always gets a bedtime treat so I gave that to her in hopes of stopping the pawing. The pawing stopped but she laid down by the cabinet. Around 8:30 she’d given up and went to sit with me and watch tv like usual. Then she started obsessively licking my hands, which has been a habit of hers for quite a few years. 15-20mins of that and she was done. Around 9pm I was going to bed so I asked if she needed to go potty. She refused but just as I was about to go to my room, she decided she did need to go outside. Let her out, she walked around for like 5 minutes and I assumed she went potty. I was going to sleep around 11:30 only to find out she’d peed on my bed at some point yesterday. My parents and I aren’t sure if it was during the day or later towards the evening. I’m not upset with her over it because she only has accidents if she REALLY needs to go and isn’t let outside in time.
My question is: does anyone have suggestions for managing her nighttime behaviors before we advance to medication? Maybe some easy enrichment ideas for her around dinner time to tire her out and settle her a little more for bed?
Posted Apr 4, 2026, 1:24 PM UTC