[Sally Jones]

My dog has always barked at loud noises, squirrels, the doorbell, etc. when he’s at home. You know, the normal stuff. But this week he’s started barking at nothing. He just stands in the room and barks for like 5 minutes straight. It’s during the day; not at night. He doesn’t seem like he’s feeling bad. I’m at a loss of what’s going on. The only thing I can think of is that he’s 13 and may be getting senile. Has this happened to anyone else? Any ideas as to why this is happening?

[MichaelJ]

Hey, I totally get what you’re going through. My dog started doing something similar around that age too. He was always the type to bark at usual things like the doorbell, but then out of nowhere, he’d start barking at what seemed like nothing. It got pretty weird, like he was just staring at an empty spot and barking for no reason.

I did some research and talked to our vet about it, and it turns out it was a sign of canine cognitive dysfunction (CCD), which is kind of like doggie dementia. It can cause confusion, disorientation, and sometimes weird behaviors like barking at nothing. It’s not super uncommon in older dogs, unfortunately.

That said, I also noticed that his hearing was starting to fade, so sometimes I think he might’ve been reacting to sounds he couldn’t fully identify or process, which made him bark even though there was nothing there. It could be a mix of things—age, hearing loss, and maybe a bit of confusion.

If he keeps doing it, definitely chat with your vet. They might have some suggestions for helping him out or some medications to manage it if it’s CCD. Also, it helped a bit to try to keep his routine as consistent as possible to give him some comfort. Hope that helps!

[Author]

Posts