New fear of going outside

[G-Diddy]

I'll try to make this as brief as possible, but still get all the important info in. I have a 3-year old German Shepard Dog. When I put her outside I put her into the garage where her food, water, and doghouse are. There is a doggy door out into our yard where there is another house. Gracie loved being outside and spent almost no time in the garage b/c she loved being in the yard watching her neighborhood. She's also supremely confident and has never been the slightest bit skittish about fireworks, noisies, or anything for that matter.

In early July, Gracie suddenly refused to go out. Bribes, commands, nothing could get her to go out. Fireworks suddenly scare her. When I do get her to go out, she goes to the yard, watches me leave, and runs back into the garage until I get home (often for hours). It pains me to see a dog who loved being outside so much suddenly fearful. I suspect, but can not prove, somebody set off a firework by her when I wasn't around. It's been about 2 weeks. She's slightly better about going out, but still spends a lot of time in the garage.

I need help getting rid of this fear. I can't do the traditional de-sensitizing to the noise b/c I'm not 100% sure that's what happened, don't know what the noise was, and the fear seems more generalized to the yard itself. If I go out in the yard with her, we have absolutely no probelms and she plays like nothing ever happened.

I've got a couple ideas, but would like some suggestions and can post more info if need be. Thanks in advance.

[lizbud]

G-Diddy,

I sympathize 100%. I wish I knew what would help you with Gracie. I'd be willing to bet that someone did throw a firecracker
or other loud device very near to her while she was outside.

If she didn't see the person, I would think it would scare her
all the more. My dog Smokey just recently overcame a fear of
t-storms & thunder, only to be scared witless all over again by
the setting off of fireworks in the neighborhood every night last
week. He had always loved going outside before, but now will
only go outside if I put on his leash & drag him out AND stay with
him the whole time. His little legs literally shake with fear.

I'm think if this goes on much longer(no fireworks last 2 nights)
but he's still scared to go outside) that I'm going to make an appointment with the dog trainer to see what I can do to help him overcome this new fear. I wish you luck & patience to help
Gracie.

[LorraineO]

Have you thought of setting up a camera in the yard to see what she does when she is alone? Perhaps this might shed some light?

Best of luck!

[lv4dogs]

I too belive that someone did soemthing to her outside & it probably involved a loud device. Just one more reason I never leave my dogs outside unattended.
There are a few different ways to help w/ this fear but without knowing the exact cause it may be difficult. I would talk to a behavorist &/or reputable dog trainer.

Whatever you do do NOT praise or re-assure her or talk in baby voices when she is scared, that will just re-inforce the bad behavior.

In the future I would make sure she only goes outside supervised that way you can assure that nothing happens again. Especially now that is starting to show progress.

Maybe leave yummy treats & toys around the yard to incourge her to get out of the garage.

[WistfulPassage]

That's scary. I would be wondering if someone didn't try to do something to her while you were gone. People can be so cruel to animals. I never leave Zeeke anywhere unattended (except home, inside) and I've trained him not to take food from anyone but me when we're outside, just in case.

Zeeke loves going outside all the time, but recently our front porch got infested with wasps. Now everytime he goes outside he gets divebombed by wasps. Now he gets so skiddish everytime I open the door, and I have to drag him out, till we get past the wasps, then he's fine.

I thought maybe your dog too might be afraid of something IN the yard, bugs, rodents, etc...

I don't know, Just my two cents. I hope you get it worked out and If you find out anyone did anything to her, Call me, I'll help you kick their butts.

Wistful

[G-Diddy]

I've been hiding some of Gracie's favorite snacks around the yard so that she is rewarded for snooping around the yard more. I'm basically hoping to "get her mind off" whatever is weirding her out.

Fortunately she is acting less and less fearful, but is only spending marginally more time in the yard. In fact, I put her out to use the bathroom about 40 minutes ago and she is just lounging in one of her old favorite spots. Normally I would have brought her back in by now, but I figure as long as she's happy and outside I might as well use it.

[gr8dane]

Start feeding her outside in the yard. Video taping as mentioned before is another good way to find out exactly how she acts during the day.

Also practice your basic obedience in the yard, this will help build her confidence back up

Take baby steps...

Lori