Help me solve this please

[hiredandsqueak]

So ddog almost 14 wakes me most nights anywhere between midnight and half three. Usually if it's around midnight it will be again later on as well. I let her out for a wee but not convinced that is why she wakes as she goes back to bed as I walk down and on the very rare occasions she has woken me for a wee she waits at the back door.
Taken her to two vets now, swapped from our regular one as well to the one with the best reputation in our area. First vet could find nothing wrong, new vet said she is in incredible shape for a senior dog, no stiffness, no signs of cataracts, nothing to indicate her age, doesn't believe it could be dementia and said she could have another ten years in her so believes it is behavioural.
Interestingly she doesn't wake me if the weather is windy or cold or rainy most likely because she knows I will take her out for a wee and she hates the cold and rain so hopefully as autumn and winter sets in she will get me up less but I would like to try and solve it as well.
I've tried ignoring her, she keeps it up until I get up. I've tried giving her the run of the house (normal for her) and limiting the rooms she has access to at night (probably worse), I've fed her earlier and later, she's had a snack before bed or no snack before bed (made no difference) She has multiple beds in different rooms all off of the floor and access to sofas (preferred sleeping place) and the bed in the spare room. I think she would probably sleep all night if she was in my bed but I'm an insomniac at the best of times and would wake each time she moved or breathed so that isn't an option. Any ideas?
Oh have solved the ridiculous not going out/ not coming in with a song she now comes in and goes out on command to a rendition of the Proclaimers "I'm gonna be"😂just glad my neighbour is deaf.

It sounds like she's getting older and doesn't want to be alone - would a pen/bed in your room or in the hallway be a compromise?

She's getting older. Maybe she does need to go in the middle of the night? I have my dog on my bed. He's really quiet and just snuggles up. Have you tried it? It might not be as bad as you think.

She has an optional bed on the landing not six feet from my door but she never chooses to sleep in that bed. She prefers to sleep downstairs apart from on very hot nights when she chooses the bathroom floor. I can't have her in my room, her sleeping in the bathroom (never deny her access) wakes me because I can hear her breathing. If I thought it was for a wee it wouldn't annoy me so much tbh but she doesn't need a wee in the night if the weather is bad and she has just had to be forced out for a wee this morning after twelve hours because of the rain.

Restlessness at night in older dogs is one of the most obvious symptoms of dementia so not sure why your vet dismissed this.

I would want to try 2 things initially

One a pain test. So give her pain killers and see if this does stop the night waking. It is very hard to see if she is in pain after rest. By manipulation alone which is what your vet must have done.

If after a few weeks there is no difference they I would ask to be treated as dementia.

I will try going back again. Tbf I think I am in part responsible if it is behavioural. I hear a pin drop and I am instantly awake so I hear her come upstairs and huff. She doesn't wake ds and dd because she isn't noisy. Of course when she started doing this I got up when I heard her and took her out. Probably the wrong thing to do because if she had needed out previously ( very rarely) she yipped at the back door. Now of course she knows if she comes up I will come downstairs to her. I'm going to try playing rain noise overnight for the next week or two and see if it deters her but then will take her back for painkillers and go from there. In every other respect she is a lovely dog though.

Trust me no dog wants to wake up in the middle of the night so she is not doing this on purpose or planning to get you out of bed.

She is uncomfortable for whatever reason and wakes up. Get her comfy again and she will not wake up

My dog does this, she gets lonely. Always between 1am-4am. She now sleeps in our bed. I suffer from insomnia and am a light sleeper and honestly, after a week or so I got used to her being in bed and she no longer bothers me - and, crucially, neither my husband nor I get her nose in our faces at 1am because she wants a cuddle!!

Disclaimer: my dog is very, very needy. Including, it seems, at night.

I’m not sure my dog has ever slept straight through a night. He starts off in his bed on the landing, he gets under the covers in my bed for a cuddle, he gets hot and relocates to the bedroom floor, he hears a noise and goes off to investigate, he gets on the end of the bed so he can watch the birds as the sun comes up. If he barks or he seems really unsettled I go and investigate what’s going on, but otherwise I leave him to it - I always assumed dogs have sleep cycles like humans do so they don’t necessarily sleep deeply all night.

Could she be getting a bit hot and going outside to cool down? Could she be thirsty and does she like her water bowl? One of our dogs likes to drink from any container that has collected rain water.