Okay, so I’m driving home right now and I wasn’t planning to talk about this.
Actually I was thinking about whether I remembered to take the trash out.
I probably didn’t.
Wouldn’t be the first time.
But then I started thinking about Max last night and suddenly I’m talking into my phone about Signs That Senior Dog Is in Pain At Night.
Which is kind of how most of these recordings happen.
One random thought turns into another.
Anyway.
Max is fourteen now.
Or maybe fourteen and a few months.
I know his birthday is coming up.
I should know this exactly.
I really should.
That’s embarrassing.
Signs That Senior Dog Is in Pain At Night
The thing is, when people ask about Signs That Senior Dog Is in Pain At Night, I don’t immediately think about limping.
I know that’s what most people picture.
I didn’t notice limping first.
I noticed weird little things.
Tiny things.
The kind of things you almost talk yourself out of noticing.
A few months ago I woke up around two in the morning because Max was moving around the bedroom.
Not running around.
Not barking.
Just moving.
Standing up.
Lying down.
Standing up again.
Then turning around.
Then lying down somewhere else.
I remember being surprised because he usually sleeps like a rock.
Honestly, he sleeps better than I do.
I’ve had nights where I’m awake worrying about bills or work or something stupid I said three years ago.
Max usually snores through all of it.
But that night felt different.
And one of the Signs That Senior Dog Is in Pain At Night that stuck with me was how restless he seemed.
Restless.
That’s the word.
Actually maybe uncomfortable is a better word.
I don’t know.
It’s hard to explain.
You know your dog.
You just know when something feels off.
At least that’s how I feel.
Maybe I’m wrong.
Wouldn’t be the first time.
I once spent thirty minutes looking for my car keys before realizing they were in my hand.
So let’s be honest, I’m not exactly a detective.
Anyway.
There was this old Labrador named Buddy that belonged to my neighbor.
Buddy was one of those dogs everybody loved.
Big head.
Gray face.
Moved slowly.
Super sweet.
One night his owner told me he kept getting up and walking around the house.
Not doing anything.
Just wandering.
And that’s another one of those Signs That Senior Dog Is in Pain At Night that I hear people talk about.
Not always pain.
Maybe discomfort.
Maybe stiffness.
Maybe something else.
But it gets your attention.
Especially when the dog has been sleeping normally for years.
The older dogs get, the more I think the little changes matter.
Actually maybe that’s not true.
Little changes always matter.
We just notice them more when dogs get older.
I don’t know.
See, this is why these voice notes get messy.
I keep changing my mind halfway through.
Last winter I noticed Max hesitating before jumping onto his bed.
Just a second.
Maybe two seconds.
Nothing dramatic.
But one of the Signs That Senior Dog Is in Pain At Night can be those weird pauses before doing things they used to do automatically.
At least that’s what it looked like to me.
Again, not an expert.
Just a dog owner staring at his dog way too much.
Which I definitely do.
Probably more than is healthy.
Actually hold on.
There’s a guy riding a bicycle while holding what looks like a pizza box.
That’s impressive.
I can barely carry groceries without dropping something.
Anyway.
Back to dogs.
There was a Beagle named Rusty.
I think I’ve mentioned Rusty before.
Or maybe that was another recording.
Doesn’t matter.
Rusty used to sleep in exactly the same spot every night.
Every single night.
Then suddenly he started moving around constantly.
Different room.
Different rug.
Different corner of the house.
His owner kept joking about it.
Then she stopped joking because it kept happening.
And honestly that reminds me of something.
Sometimes Signs That Senior Dog Is in Pain At Night don’t look dramatic at all.
Sometimes they look boring.
A dog changing sleeping spots.
A dog pacing.
A dog taking longer to settle down.
A dog sighing more.
I swear older dogs have different sighs.
Nobody can convince me otherwise.
It’s probably not scientific.
I don’t care.
Senior dog sighs sound different.
They just do.
Another thing I noticed with Max was the stretching.
So much stretching.
Not normal stretching.
Long stretching.
Like he was trying to work something out.
His front legs would stretch.
Then he’d pause.
Then stretch again.
One morning I remember feeling relieved because he finally settled down and slept comfortably after moving around for nearly an hour.
An hour.
Well maybe not a full hour.
Could’ve been thirty minutes.
Everything feels longer at three in the morning.
Three in the morning changes time somehow.
I’m convinced of that.
One thing people don’t talk about enough when discussing Signs That Senior Dog Is in Pain At Night is staring.
That sounds weird.
But hear me out.
Max sometimes sits quietly and stares into the room before lying down.
Not every night.
Not even often.
But enough that I’ve noticed.
Maybe he’s thinking.
Maybe he’s confused.
Maybe he’s waiting for me to stop watching him.
That’s possible too.
There are moments when I think dogs know we’re worried.
Not scientifically.
Just personally.
I’ve always believed they know.
Another thing.
Appetite.
Not exactly nighttime behavior.
But sometimes the days when Max seems less comfortable overnight are also days when he seems less excited about dinner.
Maybe coincidence.
Maybe not.
Dogs don’t fill out surveys explaining their symptoms.
That would make things easier.
Imagine that.
“Hello Max, please rate your discomfort level from one to ten.”
He’d probably eat the survey.
Actually he would definitely eat the survey.
What was I talking about?
Right.
Nighttime.
Sorry.
Long day.
Long drive.
One of the most frustrating things about Signs That Senior Dog Is in Pain At Night is that they can be easy to dismiss.
You tell yourself they’re just getting older.
You tell yourself maybe they had a weird day.
Maybe they slept too much.
Maybe they didn’t sleep enough.
Maybe it’s nothing.
I think most dog owners do that.
Not because we don’t care.
Because we hope everything is okay.
There’s a difference.
A big difference.
I remember feeling embarrassed once because my wife noticed something with Max before I did.
She said, “He’s getting up a lot tonight.”
And I immediately said he was fine.
Then twenty minutes later I was watching him do exactly what she’d noticed.
She’s usually right.
Don’t tell her I said that.
Actually never mind.
She already knows.
The older Max gets, the more I pay attention to the small things.
The hesitation before lying down.
The nighttime pacing.
The restlessness.
The constant repositioning.
The weird sleeping habits.
The long stretches.
Those little things.
Because sometimes Signs That Senior Dog Is in Pain At Night aren’t loud.
They’re quiet.
Really quiet.
And that’s what makes them easy to miss.
Anyway, I’m almost home now.
Thank goodness.
My back hurts from sitting in this car.
Which is funny because I’ve spent twenty minutes talking about discomfort while my own back is reminding me that I’m not getting any younger either.
Maybe that’s why senior dogs hit us so hard.
We see a little bit of ourselves in them.
I don’t know.
Maybe that’s too deep for a Tuesday evening.
But yeah.
When I think about Signs That Senior Dog Is in Pain At Night, I don’t think about dramatic emergencies.
I think about the little things.
The tiny changes.
The stuff that makes you pause and wonder.
Because after living with an old dog for enough years, you learn that sometimes the quiet changes are the ones worth paying attention to.
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