marsye

I know there are alot of animal lovers on here so I would like some advise and opinions. We have 2 outside big dogs that are about 8 years old and we've had them since they were only weeks old. They grew up together and can't get along without each other. They play all the time and have never fought with each other. They are always together. But here for the past 3 months or so they have been getting into it during the night many times for some reason. They just bicker all night and keep us awake. Getting onto them doesn't help. I will not hit a animal. So.....I have read that you can give dogs Melatonin for reasons like if one is scared of thunder, or maybe has had surgery to him one sleep, etc. For the last 2 night I have give them 3mgs of Melatonin and never heard a word out of them all night.....and I finally got to sleep thru the night! So has anyone ever give their pet Melatonin? Is it safe to give everynight? I sure don't want to harm them in any way! They are my kids. I would just like your input on this. Thanks!

amma

do you have a vet that you can call and ask? to find out the correct dosages also?

joeyoz

I would call the vet and ask them. If they know your dogs, then they would know what your dogs can handle. They look very sweet.

bearisgray

If they are outside dogs, is something "out there" bothering them or alerting them?

nativetexan

melatonin didn't work for me at all. please check with your Vet before you give animals anything. they may have something else you can try. but also try to see if there may be a reason for this behavior.

marsye

They are just aggravating each other for some reason. I did call the vet and he said it would be fine but I was just curious if anyone had given to their dogs.

Sandy1951

Marsye,

Your babies are adorable! After I read your post I googled giving Melatonin to dogs. There's a lot of info out there. Evidently it's used more for stress relief than to get dogs to sleep better. I wish I'd known about it when we had our beloved Keeshond. She was terrified of thunderstorms. We always knew when a storm was coming because about an hour ahead of time she'd start to hide. If it started storming during the night she would wake us up until we'd pet her and hold her to comfort her.

Fireworks were a nightmare for her, poor thing. I would shut all the windows and turn on the a/c (if that wasn't already done), which helped a little, but she was just so scared. We always watched our town's fireworks from our back yard, but eventually I stopped watching them and stayed in the house with her to keep her calm. I should have gotten a sedative from the vet, but never did. From what I read on the internet, Melatonin might have worked well for Keesha.

Marsye, Keesha and Sammy (our Peke), were very loving and close like your dogs. However, for some reason they'd get active at night and start growling, racing back and forth through the house, and playing/nipping at each other. They didn't do it all the time, but fairly often. It didn't last all night though, just for about an hour then they'd collapse and go to sleep. Since your dogs are doing this the entire night, have you considered crating them separately to correct their behavior instead of or in addition to using the Melatonin?

I just love their pic. They really are sweeties.

Sandy

MadQuilter

Did you change anything in their environment? Sometimes readjusting the position of the bed can send ours into a tail spin. Did they sneak a toy out or is there something they may be fighting over? They can be like children. It's odd that they "just" started this behavior so I think something changed.

marsye

Thanks Sandy! My dog on the left is also terified of storms and fireworks so I know what you went thru, exactly! They are outside dogs and crating them would be very difficult....one of them would throw a fit. I think he was abused as a puppy and he wouldn't be able to handle that. I'm just hoping someday they will settle down on their own.

marsye

Nothing as changed that we can find.