Pacing Is a Symptom, Not a Habit
A dog who paces at night is telling you something is off, and the right response starts with finding out what. The commonest causes are physical discomfort he can ignore during a busy day but not in a quiet house, a genuine need to toilet, anxiety that rises when the household settles, and — in dogs entering their senior years — the disorientation of early cognitive dysfunction, where day and night blur. Treating all pacing as naughtiness or excess energy misses the cases that need a vet most.
Start With the Physical Checks
If the pacing is new, suddenly worse, or your dog is older, book a vet visit before behaviour work. Arthritis pain that a dog pushes through in daylight often bites hardest after hours of lying still; stomach discomfort, itching, and urinary urgency all produce the same restless circuit of the house. Note what accompanies the pacing — panting, lip-licking, whining, asking at the door, or seeming not to recognise where he is — because those details point your vet toward very different causes.
Log the Pattern for a Week
Write down when the pacing starts, how long each episode lasts, what happened in the hour before bed, whether a toilet trip ends it, and whether he eventually settles or is still restless at dawn. Patterns emerge quickly: pacing that ends after toileting is a schedule problem; pacing that starts in the small hours in an old dog suggests cognitive or pain causes; pacing only on days with visitors or storms points to anxiety. A dated log turns a vague 'he's restless lately' into something a vet can actually reason from.
Build a Wind-Down He Can Predict
Whatever the cause, anxious and confused dogs settle better when evenings run on rails: a last toilet trip at the same time, lights lowered, a short calm chew or lick mat, then the same words and the same bed in the same place. Avoid exciting play late in the evening. For dogs who pace because the dark house worries them, a low night light and a bed near your room — or in it — can remove the trigger entirely. A worn item of your clothing left by the bed settles some anxious dogs too, carrying a familiar scent through the hours when the house feels emptiest. Keep the routine identical every night; predictability itself is the sedative.
Comfort Measures for the Older Dog
Senior dogs who pace often benefit from practical comfort changes: a supportive bed that is easy to get in and out of, a non-slip route to the water bowl, and a slightly warmer sleeping spot. If your vet identifies pain or cognitive change, they can advise on appropriate management — that conversation belongs with them, not with home experimentation. What you can track at home is whether the pacing eases as changes bed in, week by week.
Because the pacing log is most useful complete, keeping each night's times, triggers and settling notes in KinsLe inside his Pet Passport means the full pattern is already together in one packet when you sit down with your vet.