My dog wakes up yelping

[Andrea Cameron]

For the past few mornings my dog Charlie has woke up yelping. I have never heard him make this sort of yelp before and it is very distressing as it sounds like he is in a lot of pain. I jump out the bed and as soon as I touch him he stops and goes back to sleep snoring away as usual. He sometimes has problems with his legs. He has to be carried up the stairs. On the last visit to the vet she said his heart is healthy for his age (he will be 10 this year) but he may have arthritis. His legs have seized up and became very stiff in the past, lasting around 5-10 minutes. I thought this may be what was happening during sleep and causing the yelping, but like I said as soon as I clap him he is fine, so therefore I don't think it's that? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Nicki]

I'm sorry to hear this - please take him back to the vets, dogs do not vocalise pain unless it is bad.

Is he on medication for the arthritis?

The alternative is that he is having some kind of night tremors but it would be strange that it is a the same time.

Also at his age he may be starting CCDS - similar to human alzheimers.

[Andrea Cameron]

No he is not on any medication. I just read the symptoms of CCDS and yes charlie is showing some symptoms of it He pants a lot at night and is very restless. I just put it down to him being too warm. For the past few weeks he has been getting us up through the night, and not always for the toilet, he just wants to wander around the house, which is unusual for him as he normally sleeps the whole night. He has also had a few accidents urinating in the kitchen which is not like him at all, he normally barks when he needs out.

[waldor]

Especially because he's been having accidents lately, it could well be CCDS or maybe he's had a mild stroke.

[MomObvious]

I think you need to take him to the vet. Only because some of the things you describe could be because he is in pain. I hope he is feeling better soon.

[Pavane]

Sorry I did not see this earlier. Please see my earlier posts about Barkleigh's nightmares. We found out that he has a neurological disorder called REM Sleep Disorder. It has been almost totally cured by a few medications including melatonin and potassium bromide. It is supposedly rare, but you can find info on it. The doctor who treated him for deafness (and cured it) figured this out. It may be a form of seizures and thus needs to be treated to prevent damage. One sign of it is that you have to wake the dog up to stop the yelping. (Ours is more of a plaintive howl.) Feel free to contact me more about it at gay at gaycourter dot com

[DZee]

Awe..poor thing ! I agree..I would get him back to the Vet right away. If he needs pain med.'s or whatever....hopefully it ends up being something very minor ( and fixable !!)
...but either way you will have peace of mind.

[Kate H]

My Oliver has spondylosis (osteo-arthritis of the spine) and is often stiff when he wakes in the morning and a bit wobbly on his legs when he gets up. I find rubbing his hind quarters helps him to get going. The only time he yelps is if he gets up quickly after lying curled up - obviously his back sort of locks when he's asleep and is painful when he moves after a long time. He's on a daily dose of painkiller (his is Carprieve, but Rimadyl is another common one), which generally works well, as he's quite active during the day and on walks. An x-ray picked up his spondylosis 5 years ago, when his legs went very wobbly.

There are times when I wonder if Oliver is going senile, but I think really he's just a bossy old man who knows what he wants and wants it NOW!

Kate, Oliver and Aled