It is 11pm. You go to bed and your dog will not. They pace up and down the stairs, lie down for a minute, then get up again. This has been going on for a week.
This is worth taking seriously without assuming the worst. Most of the time it is an unsettled dog with nowhere comfortable to land. Sometimes it is a body that is uncomfortable, and that needs ruling out first.
Rule out discomfort before anything else
Pain frequently presents as a change in behaviour rather than as obvious lameness. A dog who paces rather than lies down may be telling you that lying down is not comfortable right now.
Watch how they lie down. Slow, careful, or shifting position repeatedly are all worth mentioning to a veterinarian.
Check whether the pacing started suddenly, over a few days, rather than building up gradually over weeks.
Notice whether they are also drinking more, panting at rest, or reluctant on the stairs during the day.
Safety note
Book a veterinary examination if the pacing arrived suddenly, or comes with panting at rest, reluctance to lie down, or any daytime stiffness. Sudden behaviour change warrants a veterinary check, and pain is a common, treatable cause of restlessness at night.
If your veterinarian finds nothing physical
Adolescent dogs go up in arousal quickly and often have no practised way back down. Relaxation is trained as a behaviour in its own right, in short repeatable sets, rather than arriving on its own at bedtime.
The stairs themselves are often just the halfway point between where the family is and where your dog is expected to settle. Pacing there can mean the sleeping spot is not working.
Where your dog sleeps matters
Give them a bed somewhere they are not woken by comings and goings. A landing between two used rooms is a poor place to ask a dog to switch off.
Move the bed closer to the family for 2 weeks if they are sleeping alone downstairs. Some adolescent dogs settle far better within sight or sound of people.
Keep the spot and the bedding the same every night. A sleeping place that moves around gives your dog nowhere settled to head for.
Tonight's wind-down, starting 90 minutes before bed
Finish any tug, fetch or chasing games at least 90 minutes before you want your dog settled. Those games raise arousal at exactly the wrong moment.
Offer a chew or a slow scatter feed in the last hour, in the spot you want them to end up in.
Take a last, unhurried toilet trip on a leash, with no play, then go straight to the sleeping spot with no detour past the stairs.
When the pacing starts, go to your dog without talking. Walk them to their bed, and sit nearby quietly rather than carrying on a conversation.
What to expect
A wind-down routine often changes the pattern within about 2 weeks. A cause you can name, such as a bed moved or a late game of tug, can change things within a few nights.
Tonight's version, in one line: rule out discomfort, then a chew in the same spot, finishing 90 minutes before bed.