# scratching carpet at night



## gina1854 (Mar 11, 2015)

I have a german spitz 11 years old she has recently been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and a heart murmur since then she scratches the carpet when we go to bed the only thing that stops her is if we sleep downstairs with her. We have tried leaving the light and radio on also have a diffuser and the vet has given her pheramone tablets and collar but nothing works please can anyone help thank you


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## Twiggy (Jun 24, 2010)

I suppose, given her age, it could be mild OCD (old age dementia) or maybe due to her recent diagnosis she is simply trying to dig a nest and get comfortable.

You could try leaving two or three flatish dog beds or pieces of Vet bed on top of the carpet to see if she prefers to re-arrange them.

I've had several 'carpet diggers' over the years and my 13 yr old collie has always done it. She also re-arranges all the fleece covers in the beds to her liking.


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## karmacookie (Nov 9, 2014)

Is her thyroid stable at the moment? If she's still a bit hyper then she'll have nervous energy to burn and be more anxious than usual. have a word with your vet


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## Rott lover (Jan 2, 2015)

Oliver has done this since he was a pup.Even with his bed and blankets.He will scratch and dig until everything is where he wants it.Before he had his bed and blankets he used to dig at the floor all night long.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

I always take the line of least resistance - if she stops when you sleep downstairs with her, and I'm assuming you don't want to do that every night  could you not let her sleep upstairs with you, in her own bed?

My dog has the choice to sleep on the sofa downstairs or in his bed on the floor next to my bed - with fleeces and duvets for him to arrange.


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

gina1854 said:


> I have a german spitz 11 years old she has recently been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and a heart murmur since then she scratches the carpet when we go to bed the only thing that stops her is if we sleep downstairs with her. We have tried leaving the light and radio on also have a diffuser and the vet has given her pheramone tablets and collar but nothing works please can anyone help thank you


The only reason Ive known mine to do this, when they are stressed or anxious, one of mine does it when fireworks start or thunderstorms, and the other reason is when we had little furry visitors running about under the floor boards at night.

When you say hyperthyroidism, do you mean hypothyroidism which is underactive too low thyroid hormones? Dogs rarely go hyperactive (too high levels) when the do go hyper one of the reasons if often usually too high doses of thyroid hormone replacement.

If it is Hypothyroid, and shes started thyroid hormone replacement how long as she been on it and when was she tested for levels post treatment starting.
Too high or two thyroid levels can affect behaviour.

Other thoughts is she on any other medication and if so which ones, sometimes again different meds can cause side effects.

Is she showing any other signs of odd or different behaviour too like, sometimes looking confused in general, loss of any toileting or accidents, not being so responsive to commands or her name, maybe wanting to go out in the garden and then, standing there not sure what shes going out there or how she got there. Barking at seemingly nothing, and also maybe sleeping a lot more in the day, and the more agitated/not sleeping behaviour at night.
Some become more clingy others may become more withdrawn.

If she is also showing other behaviour then at her age cognitive dysfunction syndrome may be a possibility, they lose optimum brain function or can much like older humans do, if it could be this there are things like Aktivait and veterinary only medicines that can help a lot.


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