View Full Version : Dog won't go outside.. anyone else have this experience?
For the past 7 years, I've gotten up at dawn, prodded by my dog, gotten dressed and taken her for a nice walk around the neighborhood, and then she eats.
Also for the past 7 years, we've taken her at least a couple of days a week to the dog park.
Suddenly she won't go for her morning walk. I put her leash on her and she turns away from the door and pulls on the leash. I have to really encourage her to get outside, and after she's peed, she runs right back in.
Also suddenly, when we take her to the dog park, she sits by the car and can't be dragged in.
Has this happened to anyone? It's really strange, and frustrating!
The only place that she's REALLY excited about visiting is the co-op farm we belong to. This is a farm that practices some permaculture principles, and they have chickens wandering around, and lambs, pigs, and a few acres of woodland, farmland, swales, greenhouses, and other fun things like that. The dog LOVES just wandering around there off-leash, and they really like her, but we can't just impose ourselves on them every time we need to get the dog outside!
What do I do?
Hmmmm.....that is very strange. I suppose the obvious question is: Did something happen to her the last time she was out?
Or.....might she have a urinary tract infection, and what she is avoiding is peeing? Any other behavior changes? Is she still eating and drinking the same?
Did you go on vacation and leave her somewhere else? Did you just recently take her somewhere, where things were done to her? i.e. the vets for shots?
Could her legs/joints be hurting her? Many times animals instinctively hide their pain/illness.
No, the only thing that's happened is I had about 2 weeks of travel and DH doesn't walk her… he has a completely different routine--after I came back from my last trip was when she started behaving strangely. But it's not like I haven't traveled before.
Otherwise, she's fine, eating, drinking normally. No shots. Plus it's weird that she won't go on her walk and she also won't go in the dog park, but she happily visits the farm.
Is it possible that your hubby didn't mention a bad interaction with another dog? Do you have a fenced in yard?
freshstart
8-21-15, 10:47pm
do you have a relationship with your vet that you can ask questions and they don't mind? I adopted my friend's mother's dog and he always went outside in a fenced area like I had. He would not pee when I got him, I'd watch him outside never peed, I had taken time off because he was never ever alone with the old lady. He never peed inside. I tried the dog park, walks, tons of water. I'm a nurse and I could feel his little bladder was distended and he needed to go, eventually he appeared uncomfortable. I was in touch with the vet because I did not know how to fix this but I knew he was not comfortable. She had me wait one more day, then she would catheterize him. Day 4 he peed in the yard, I swear it was 20 min, lol, and he was fine ever since. The vet said it was the move and sudden change in caregivers. He had a lot of little quirks like that that we had to figure out, like he would sit all day in front of a turned off tv, the old lady and I kept in touch so she would tell me, he watches this show at this time, QVC (?) most of the day, and Animal Planet whenever she wasn't watching tv. Turned on the tv to his "shows" and he was happy as a clam. He watches Too Cute on AP, all puppies and kittens and he goes nuts, he howls and whines and jumps at the tv, it's cute. But if it hadn't been for the old lady, I would never have turned on a tv for a dog!
Dogs are like people, it's tough to figure out behavior changes. I hope he gets back to his old self soon! Maybe the vet will have an idea. UTIs can be painful, it could be something as simple as that.
I agree with CathyA. My suspicion is that something happened while you were gone. Either with another dog somehow, or with your dog having a problem that DH got upset with her or whatever. The change in the routine could've caused it, but it just seems likely that it was an actual trauma/drama that happened in your absence. Dogs LOVE to go out for walks. At least as long as it's not rainy or whatever. So for a change like this to happen something must've really gone wrong. Unless she has developed a new medical issue, which seems unlikely since she likes the farm still, she's not likely to have suddenly gotten too lazy to want to go out.
mschrisgo2
8-22-15, 5:33am
Ok, a slightly different idea... She doesn't want to be separated from you. Maybe she wants to be inside because she thinks if she's outside, you will leave again? Same at the dog park, she's expected to leave you and the car, and she's telling you she's not ready to be separated again. Do you have a verbal cue for her? I say "Right back" to my dog when I go outside without her. When she gets to go with me I say "Let's go!" My thinking is that she knows where we are in relation to each other.
A couple of other ideas... has something changed in your yard? Tree cut down, different treatment of the grass, new lawn furniture, new wind chimes or whirly-gigs? Are you using an anti- mosquito scent outside? Insect trap?
What about the dog park? Is something different there? Dogs use their noses to identify places, what can she smell there? Are the other dogs having a good time at the park, or is there tension? Dogs give of odors of tension and stress, and some simply want to avoid the experience.
I know here in California it is so dry because of the drought; I see my dog put her nose up and sniff the air when we go out. She smelled the smoke from the wildfires before we could see it or people could smell it-- and she doesn't like it. A naturalist at the regional park told me the wildfire smoke smells like death to the animals. My dog has wanted to be closer and inside more this summer, and I'm certain that is the reason. That, and our indoor air is filtered and cooled; she's smart like that.
Good thoughts everyone.. thanks for helping me think this through.
Today she wouldn't go out. I couldn't drag her.
Anyway, here's the routine my husband had when I'm away: He didn't get up until 8-9ish. Dog didn't go out. Just waits. Then DH took her to the dog park around 10, she was fine while there (although she is very off and on with how much playing she does there--sometimes she swims and runs, other times, she just clings and sits).
Then he would take her to the farm where she would push past him to get out of the car as fast as possible and she'd spend 15-20 minutes just exploring, wandering, smile on her face, tail wagging.
The only thing he said that happened at the dog park that was negative was an altercation between two dogs, but she wasn't one of them. The member had to remove his dog from the park. But I can't see how that could have traumatized her.
Anyway, she's been acting a little strange for about a month now, but it's all culminating in this. I looked online, and it seems that the same thing has happened to other people and their dogs, and the advice seems to be to try to re-acclimate the dog to the outside slowly and with lots of incentives, like playing and giving treats.
But this is impinging on MY exercise routine! Now I have to go out and do some walking by myself! I miss my companion..
Catherine........is your dog too big for you to carry maybe 20' outside your home, and then put her down and see if she would like the walk then?
This is pretty strange, and I tend to think something happened to instill fear in her. Is it possible that someone tried to break into your home when she was home alone??
Does your dog respond quite differently to your DH, than to you? Is it possible that your DH lost his temper with the dog when they were on a walk?
early morning
8-22-15, 8:35am
I think mschrisgo2 has some good thoughts re: smells - many animals, esp. dogs are so sensitive to smells, and they react innately. If there are any natural predators about, even at a zoo, animals will often react. My friend had a dog that absolutely hated going down a particular road - he would growl and snarl - and we were at a loss, until we discovered that one of farms had a pet bear. We never SAW the bear, which was caged, but the dog knew that something he didn't like was out there. Perhaps your dog is reacting to something that you all know nothing about?
I think mschrisgo2 has some good thoughts re: smells - many animals, esp. dogs are so sensitive to smells, and they react innately. If there are any natural predators about, even at a zoo, animals will often react. My friend had a dog that absolutely hated going down a particular road - he would growl and snarl - and we were at a loss, until we discovered that one of farms had a pet bear. We never SAW the bear, which was caged, but the dog knew that something he didn't like was out there. Perhaps your dog is reacting to something that you all know nothing about?
That's very interesting. Dogs do have an exceptional sense of smell.
I do tend to go with the smell hypothesis. In fact, when we brought her to the dog park recently, she was fine and excited until she got out of the car and then she stopped dead and changed her mind.
DH noted that a dog that she doesn't like had just left, and its scent was probably still in the air. But I still don't know what she's afraid of on our walks. The only thing she runs into there are squirrels and rabbits.
Miss Cellane
8-22-15, 9:45am
Or she may just be trying to tell you that she prefers the farm, if DH was taking her there daily and you don't (I couldn't tell from your post how often you take her to the farm).
Once I was house and dog sitting for a year. The dog loved car rides and I'd load him up and take him to the woods where he could run free a couple of times a week. He'd hear me get the car keys and dash for the door, doing the doggy dance of delight. Then I had to take him for his annual vet visit.
For a month afterwards, he did not want to get in the car.
How old is your dog? Maybe some early onset arthritis is bothering her? Dogs will often be willing to push past their pain or discomfort if the reward is worth it - like the farm. Or, she might just be letting you know that compared to the delights offered by the farm, the old walk and dog park are not worth her time. :) Makes sense to me :).
You can try going for your regular walk without her, at whatever time is good for you, and see if after a few days she decides to join you. Unless she's destructive with lack of exercise, I would just let her take a break and join on the walks when she's ready.
However, keep an eye on her going up and down any stairs and when she gets up from the floor. If she's getting any joint pain that's when you'll likely notice it, especially early in the morning.
I had a collie who was terrified of going up certain staircases. He was fine with the inside stairs but refused to go up the back deck stairs, and he nearly pushed me down them once in his terror to get down when I tried to push him up them in hopes of having him overcome his fear. The difference between the two staircases is that he couldn't see through the inside stairs to the ground, but the way deck stairs are built, the rise wasn't solid so he could see that he was up in the air. It turned out that when my brother was building the deck, the dog went up the stairs before the main part was completed and fell off of the top of them. While he wasn't noticeably hurt physically by the experience, he was traumatized by those stairs and any stairs like them.
He had a similar experience with a cat attacking him from the street gutters, so he refused to walk past those when on walks in neighborhood streets. He would circle around them as far as he could, and if I tried to make him walk past them normally, he would plant his paws into the pavement and sit.
It's possible that something happened with the dog outside and your husband just didn't see it at the time it happened, or the dog could have seen something frightening out the window in that area. It's too bad they don't share the same spoken language with us to be able to let us know what's wrong!
mschrisgo2
8-22-15, 3:57pm
Early Morning, you have reminded me of a friend's dog who suddenly refused to go out their back door. After a couple of weeks, it was discovered that a coyote had taken up residence under their deck! Undoubtedly, the dog smelled it, and decided that wasn't a safe place for her to go.
mschrisgo2
8-22-15, 6:35pm
Early Morning, you have reminded me of a friend's small dog who suddenly refused to go out their back door. After a couple of weeks, it was discovered that a coyote had taken up residence under their deck! Undoubtedly, the dog smelled it, and decided that wasn't a safe place for her to go.
mschrisgo2
8-23-15, 2:59am
Double posted, sorry.
I'd take the dog to the vet for a full workup.
Psychological reasons are very possible. It's best to make certain the dog is not injured, ill, or in pain first.
I hope the dog is fine. Then I suggest hiring a trainer to come with you and make an assessment with recommendations.
I think you have done everything frugal you can. Time to call in the experts.
Well, yesterday morning, I did the routine--got out the leash and went to the front door, and guess what, Nessie wagged her tail and barged out the front door without skipping a beat. We had a regular walk and she seems fine.
We've substituted an environmental center near our home for the dog park because she still is not into that for some reason, but the environmental center is absolutely empty and it's a big field surrounded by woodlands, so it's like our own private dog park and she loves it.
She's still a little funny about going out back (we don't have a fence and our property abuts a public park), but she will go out if both DH and I are there.
So she's getting back to her old self, thankfully.
Thank you all for your great thoughts, suggestions, and support!
Nessie thanks you, too.. (I don't have a decent photo of her so this sketch will have to do):
http://rs885.pbsrc.com/albums/ac56/cmboyd/IMG_0402_zps8tjhjowo.jpg~c100?t=1440629906
My big golden went through stages where he wouldn't want to go for a walk.
It wasn't until his back basically exploded that they could tell from the x-ray that it wasn't the first time he'd broken his back. He couldn't tell me what the pain was and I had no way of knowing. I thought he was just being lazy and I'd force him to go for a walk.
If your dog is larger...it might be worth an X-ray.
(I didn't read any of the other comments yet so this may have already been mentioned)
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