Animal Welfare Professionals

hello!

I adopted a 3 year old pit mix about 6 months ago, and a few months after I brought her home, she developed an unusual fear of going outside after about 8pm. Then it kept getting earlier and earlier, and if we try to get her to go outside after 5, she doesn’t want to. She paces and pants and tries desperately to get on top of anything she can, or knock stuff over if she is outside. She won’t eat or take treats outside after 5 either. She has been on trazadone which helped her around the house near the 4th of July, but never helped her to feel comfortable outside. She is fine during the day and loves to be outside until her witching hour. Sometimes she will hold her bladder all night, and sometimes she won’t :(

 We have also used rescue remedy, DAP spray, DAP collar and canine massage without any improvement.  Does anyone have any advice or suggestions? 

Does she have any doggie friends in the neighborhood? She may feel more confident walking with another dog. One of my dogs has always been terrified of any kind of mechanical noise- garage doors opening, cars slamming on brakes, loud trucks, etc. We used to have a really difficult time even getting her past the end of the driveway. She's much more confident when we walk her with her doggie brother, and she's nearly fear-free when we bring along a dog foster too.

She actually does do better overall when there is another dog around. She has a dog pal, but she lives a few miles away. Maybe I should try a doggy sleep over to see if it would help her at night!

thanks!!