I have an 11 year old who during the day is a bit of a couch potato other than pottering in and out at will down the garden or going for a walk. However when it gets dark she changes in her behaviour quite dramatically. Instead of being in the house she becomes desperate to get either in the outer utility or preferably outside. She will even lie up the corner in the yard when the garden gate is shut. If we close back doors and utility doors she scratches and whines like mad and is quite agitated. Once this starts she will not accept treats or anything. One night she managed to jump up and break the yale catch. Last night we put foood storage bin(Dustbin) which is quite heavy in front of door so she couldnt open it, so we thought but she still managed it. Its getting cold now so I dont want her lying in cold [places which utility will be in winter, plus she can open the doors and those doors she cant she just damages) Its really strange cos her daytime behaviour is quite normal. She is a really healthy dog, eats well and wags her tail. This has been happening for a few weeks now and am just wondering if anyone else has experienced it. Vet can find nothing physically wrong. When she is in this mode she almost slinks about quite furtively. I dont know what to make of it. I have started putting a fleece coat on her to keep her warm but for the last 11 years she has slept on the sofa quite happily, never a moments fuss.
Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks

Could be a bit of doggie demeture. My old girl gets a bit wierd at times. She barks at nothing and stares at ?? who knows what?? She takes it into her head to go and sit outside in the evenings even in the rain so I have to bring her in. Not as drastic as yours but maybe the vet could give her something to help her settle.
Aileen

I've had a couple of oldies over the years who have suffered from Dementia and I'm afraid this sounds quite like it.  My girl started by doing 'funny' stuff which was out of the ordinary like that.  She was a house dog but all of a sudden she wanted to spend all her time outside, lying on cold concrete.  It was weird.  Still, she carried on like that for a year or so but did get progressively worse till she was a danger to herself(not walking down stairs, just falling).  I just got hard on her and made her come in and eventually we put her back in a cage to sleep at night to save my door and so she couldn't harm herself.  She was happy in herself, just confused.
PS  I tried letting her sleep in our room but she just wouldn't settle at all.  She spent the night woooing in my OH's face(she was his dog) or pacing the room, huffing.

I think alot of older dogs do this at night,my older labs have done it,is her eyesight ok,maybe she is to warm

Sheila

Might be worth getting her bloods checked at the vets if it has been going on for a while, it may be some imbalance that is causing her to feel anxious.

Thanks for the feedback. Did get routine bloods done but nothing shown. I do havea 15 and a half year old who is totally senile and partially deaf, she stands on sofas and barks at the wall but still wags her tail, runs round the garden and eats her food. Did think it was a a bit of dementia but just strange you only see it an night......

You haven't got some new nocturnal visitors,foxes,hedgehogs that she is aware of and you are not? Courting cats can be a pest too but they normally wait till the middle of the night to kick off.

I was going to say, if it is only happening at night, then I wouldn't assume it is dementia...

Perhaps something has happened at night, when she has been alone or without you, which has scared her - and she has associated it with night time.  Could be fireworks, lorry backfiring, even someone knocking at the door....  Or perhaps something fell over in the house and spooked her.  Something made her want to get out of there, where she felt safer and free.

I'd suggest that whatever your night time rituals are (moving bins, shutting doors, putting the house to bed!), that you do it all many hours earlier, well within daylight hours.  If that's not possible, then don't open the doors, move the bins etc in the first place - get rid of all that activity which signals 'something scary is coming' just before night.

Then, if possible, stay with her indoors and see how she behaves without all that activity going on beforehand.  Hopefully, without a trigger for it, she won't react.

I'd also suggest a DAP diffuser and Zylkene tablets.  Both are available without vet prescription and are totally natural and proven to be effective for anxiety in clinical trials. 

If it still continues, see a reputable behaviourist.

Sorry, I should have added.  My girl only behaved strangely at night but it was only because she was scared to be on her own and us sleeping confused her.
I probably wouldn't jump to the dementia conclusion either, I just wanted to say about the similarities.