Why Your Dog Stares at the Wall (It’s Not Always Ghosts)

Is your dog staring at the wall or a corner every night? In this episode, Dr. Randy Aronson, VMD, explores why dogs exhibit this strange behavior and whether they are actually "seeing ghosts" or if there is a deeper biological cause. We dive into the sensory world of dogs—discussing how their superior hearing and scent can detect things humans can’t—and when this behavior might actually be a sign of Canine Cognitive Dysfunction (dog dementia) or "Sundowner Syndrome." If you’re a proactive pet parent noticing nighttime restlessness, pacing, or staring in your senior dog, this video will help you understand the root causes and how to support your pet’s brain health.

Dr. Randy shares his integrative approach to senior pet care, covering everything from environmental triggers and "nanny cams" to the gut-brain connection and the role of inflammation. You’ll learn about specific holistic recommendations, including the microbiome's impact on behavior and the benefits of C8 MCT oil for cognitive support. We also touch on conventional options like Selegiline to give you a full picture of how to manage cognitive decline. Don't dismiss these subtle changes—investigate them to ensure your pet's golden years are comfortable and vibrant.

Connect with Dr. Randy: 📧 Ask your questions: askme@drrandypetvet.com 📸 Instagram: @drrandypetvet 📺 Subscribe for more integrative pet health advice!

#DogBehavior #PetHealth #SeniorDogCare #DrRandyPetVet

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Products and Resources I Recommend

Dental:                                                                                                                            TEEF: https://teefhealth.com

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Books
Four Paws in Five Directions; by Dr. Cheryl Schwartz
The Forever Dog; by Dr. Karen Shaw Becker & Rodney Habib

Ear Cleansing Solutions
Oti-Clens Cleaning Solution for Dogs & Cats
Triz EDTA

Tests
Nutr...

Transcript

Randy Aronson, VMD, CCRT, CVA (00:01)

Dr. Randy here. And the question is, why does my dog stare off in the same corner every night? Olivia, what is that coming from? So that's coming from Sandra. Okay. And she wants to know, you know, why is the dog doing this? What are some causes of that behavior? Well, sometimes ⁓ people think that this might be like our dog seeing ghosts. You know.

Yeah, I could see that. But it's actually grounded in some biology. they don't usually... That's reassuring to Yeah, yeah, I know. So they don't usually bark at nothing. ⁓ If they're reacting consistently to the same spot, there probably is some trigger that's causing that to happen. It may be one that we can't perceive. Maybe it is a ghost. I don't know. But first, dogs hear frequencies ⁓ far beyond what we Right. So we got to remember that. ⁓ Rodents and walls, insects,

shifts, plumbing, expanding, all of those could be possibilities and we wouldn't know it because we don't really hear that. Yeah, no, absolutely. So even if when the house cools structures contract a lot of times and you can actually hear settlement noises a lot of times too. Whoa. So second one is scent.

Yeah, that's what I remember. Their scent is many, many thousand times what ours is. In fact, we have dogs that are blind that come into Paws Veterinary Center here in Tucson and the owners don't even know they're blind because they're smelling so well that they can get their way around. recently encountered a cat like that. Actually, it's very cool. It's very cool. So remember that outside vents come in, crawl spaces, attics have sense. So this they could be detecting even wildlife and it be a residual scent too, right? Because let's say somebody marks

in the house previously, your cats or your dogs can pick up on that. And unless you're adequately cleaning it with those crazy enzymatic cleaners, those little particles can remain. That's exactly right. ⁓ But here's where I want our listeners to pay attention. ⁓ If this is a sudden behavior in a middle-aged or senior dog or cat, especially if it's paired with restlessness at night, a lot of times pacing or nighttime anxiety, we also think of what's called cognitive dysfunction syndrome.

Cognitive dysfunction syndrome is like senility, ⁓ maybe compared to Alzheimer's in people. ⁓ We call it sundowner syndrome because often this happens when the sun goes down and you see this pacing restlessness, barking, whatever the situation might be. ⁓ So, you know, what do you want to do in that situation? Well, first, we want to check if there's any environmental cause that we can pick up. So step one, we'll rule out.

something environmental or try to pick up on that. Some people even like use like a baby camera or a nanny cam and point it to that corner. That's smart. And say like, you know, is there anything that this is picking up? Maybe we're even lucky to see the ghost-like figure. know, that's it. knew you were going to go to that point. Yeah. Maybe we'll start to see some changes like when they have those, what are those, those thermal cameras? Yes. I was, let's get back to the important stuff. Well, and you should, and you should pick up and pay attention to any other behavior

So for example, you come home and all of sudden your dog or cat is not looking at you or not paying attention to you or again staring off into space somewhere. ⁓ These are often hallmarks of cognitive dysfunction syndrome. And the big takeaway on this is repetitive nighttime changes, ⁓ they require information. So we will ask our clients, ⁓ our pet parents, don't dismiss them, let's investigate and make sure that something doesn't come up.

that we can look at. Now, people often say, well,

What if my senior pet starts to show cognitive dissonance? That's what I was going to go into. What do you recommend once they get to that stage? Well, it can be very long answer and I'm not going to give it all. But what I will tell you is I make sure there's no inflammation in their body. Again, going back to things like allergy testing to make sure there's nothing in their food that's setting them off. Microbiome work, making sure they're good and bad bacteria is balanced because we do know that there's a gut-brain connection. Absolutely. And so that will really affect them.

⁓ And then, know, also talk about maybe some supplements again. ⁓ One of the things that we look at doing is MCT oil. I'm really a big fan of bulletproof. What's called the C8 ester MCT oil because it's very pure. Okay, there has been some evidence that maybe this might help brain function. And I think I've read about similar studies in humans as well for brain function. again, it's out there. The other thing is there is a medication called seligelin that can be used. It can be ⁓ used with very limited kind of applicability ⁓ and it takes probably six to eight weeks before it even shows its effectiveness. So most people aren't really wanting to wait that long to see but it is something that veterinarians have in their armamentarium. It's an option. It's an option. Okay, perfect. Okay. Well thank you for walking us through that. Absolutely. Hopefully it's not a ghost. Thank you guys for your question. If you have any other questions please feel free to add them to the social media accounts

Randy Petfet on YouTube, Instagram, and his website as well. And please follow us and subscribe because that helps us, Olivia and I, get all this information out to you guys and we really love doing that. We do. So thank you guys. Thank you.