My dog pants and paces at night. Is that pain?

A dog who settles perfectly well all day, then pants and paces at night, is telling you something. Often it's pain, not because pain arrives at bedtime, but because at bedtime there's nothing left to drown it out.

That's the part people find counterintuitive, and it's worth understanding, because "he's fine during the day" is the reason a lot of these dogs go months without being looked at.

Why a dog pants and paces at night

During the day a dog has things going on. People moving around, food, noises outside, a walk to think about. All of that competes for attention, and discomfort sits somewhere in the background.

Then the house goes quiet. Everyone's in bed, nothing's happening, and the only thing left to notice is the thing that aches. Add a dog who's been lying still for a couple of hours, joints stiffen up with rest, and you get a dog who stands up at one in the morning and can't work out how to get comfortable.

So they pace. They reposition over and over. They pant. They go and lie somewhere else, then somewhere else again.

What the pattern looks like

The version that's worth investigating has a shape to it:

• Starts in the evening or overnight, not at any particular temperature
• The dog was settled earlier in the evening
• Lots of position changes, up, circle, down, up again
• Panting in a cool room, with no exertion to explain it
• Sometimes seeking out hard floors, or somewhere unusual
• Settles eventually, often towards morning

What makes that different from a hot dog is the repetition and the restlessness. A warm dog pants and lies still. An uncomfortable dog can't stay anywhere.

The things it could be other than pain

Being straight about this, because pain is not the only answer.

Cognitive decline. Disrupted sleep and night-time restlessness are well-recognised in older dogs with cognitive changes, and it looks very similar from the doorway. It can also happen alongside pain, which makes it harder.

Medication. Steroids are a common cause of panting and restlessness, and plenty of dogs with mobility problems are on them.

Other medical causes. Several conditions cause panting or disturbed sleep. This is exactly why the question belongs with your veterinarian rather than with a search engine.

The reason to raise it rather than wait is that these have different answers, and some are more time-sensitive than others.

When it's urgent

Go straight to your veterinarian if the panting is heavy or distressed, if your dog's gums look pale or blue, if they're restless and their belly seems swollen or tender, or if they're collapsing. Those are emergencies, not ordinary night-time restlessness.

One thing to try tonight

Keep a three-night note.

Each night, write down four things: what time it started, roughly how long it went on, what the room temperature was, and whether anything helped. That's it, four lines, three nights.

The reason is that a pattern over three nights is worth far more at an appointment than "he's been restless lately," and nobody remembers accurately by morning. It also sorts out the one thing you can't tell in the moment: whether this is every night or just some nights, which genuinely changes what your vet is thinking about.

If you can film thirty seconds of the pacing, do that too.

Where this leads

If it does turn out to be discomfort, the useful question isn't just what to give for it, it's what's causing a dog to be sore enough that it surfaces every night.

Quite often it's a joint or back problem that's been building slowly, and the night restlessness is simply the first thing noticeable enough to prompt a phone call. In those cases there's usually a good deal more available than a daily tablet: rebuilding the strength that's been lost, taking load off what hurts, and improving how the dog moves so there's less to ache about by evening.

Your own veterinarian works out what's going on. If movement turns out to be part of it, call and describe what your nights look like.

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Related reading: How do I know if my dog is in pain? · Arthritis in dogs is more treatable than most people think · Five ways to help your senior dog

Questions Pet Parents ask

Why would my dog be in pain at night but fine during the day?

They're probably uncomfortable during the day too, there's just more going on to distract from it. At night the house is quiet, nothing is happening, and there's nothing left to compete with the discomfort. Pain doesn't arrive at bedtime so much as become the loudest thing in the room.

Is panting always a sign of pain in dogs?

No. Dogs pant to cool down, when they're anxious, after exertion, and as a side effect of some medications, steroids in particular. What makes night panting worth investigating is the pattern: a dog who pants and paces after dark, in a cool room, having been settled all evening.

Could this be dementia rather than pain?

It could. Night-time restlessness and disrupted sleep are recognised signs of cognitive decline in older dogs, and it can look very similar from the outside. The two can also happen together. That's genuinely difficult to separate at home, and it's a good reason to see your own veterinarian rather than guess.

Should I give my dog something to help them sleep?

Not without talking to your veterinarian. Human sleep aids and painkillers are dangerous to dogs, and sedating a dog who's uncomfortable addresses the symptom while leaving the cause running. Your vet can work out what's going on and prescribe something appropriate if it's needed.

What should I tell my vet about this?

What time it starts, how long it lasts, whether your dog settles eventually, what the room temperature is like, and whether anything helps. If you can film thirty seconds of it, do, the pacing pattern itself is informative, and it's almost impossible to describe accurately at nine in the morning.