Tessa refuses to go out!

[Tessa's Mom]

We have a 10 mth old bullmastiff Tessa. We adopted her from the rescue. For the first 3 months life with Tessa was perfect! All of a sudden one day she refused to go out. The strangest thing is how and when this happened. We took her out at 7 am, we all left and I returned about 1030 am (our pretty normal schedule). When I tried to get her out, she just hankered down and backed up. For 4 days we tried to get her out and ended up literally pulling her to go out. Well we finally found out she has diskospondylitis (an infection in her spine area). She is being treated for this and while her stay at the vet was short, they encountered NO problems with her going out. We brought her home yesterday and went to take her out and BAM we are right back where we started from. I have not been able to get her out all day. When I opened the front door and walked to the mailbox, she stepped out on the front porch, but apparently I was not quick enough to get her in because she began stratching at the door. We live a pretty rural area, our back yard is fenced in, she knows all the neighbors adn we have never let her out without one of us being with her. I am so frustrated with this any suggestions. I am sure something has spooked her or is bugging her when she goes out, but we have got to get her out to "go" before she explodes!! We know she is in alot of pain from her diskospondylitis, but if the vet had no problem, then we cannot understand why we are having a problem! HELP!!!! please.

[Karen]

What is her favorite thing, treats or toys? How is she on a leash? Can you lure her out with a treat several times, going further from the door each time? Poor thing, with such a painful condition, I hope it clears up soon. It is the front or the back door she balks at most? Does she usually enjoy car rides, could that be a lure to get outside, opening the car door and saying "Wanna go for a ride, Tessa?"

Mastiffs are stubborn, but also can be the sweetest big babies, I hope she feels better soon.

[Tessa's Mom]

Thanks Karen. We tried the treats and because bullmastiffs are also very smart, I got her out once with the treat and once with the car! I just thought (hoped is more like it) that someone had experienced this with their dog (unfortunately) and could give me that all "magical" answer. I love my baby Tessa to pieces, just wish she was not as stubborn as me! LOL

[Karen]

Ayup - the thing is you need to "out-stubborn" her! Consistency is the best thing, just practice several times a day going out for no reason, so she gets used to the fact that it isn't scary after all, no big deal!

Ah, the things we do for our dogs, eh?

See this thread for someone who had a similar problem, albeit a smaller dig!

[Freedom]

I don't know anything about that spine infection.

Do you have stairs in and out? Do stairs bother her right now? At the vet's is it a walk out, or just one step?

Just a thought!