dog won't go out - for any reason!!!

[thesherb]

In the last month my dog, Digby (he will be six yrs old this month), has started refusing to go outside, for any reason. He will hold it all day if he has too. I'm not kidding. He went from a 3 times a day outside guy to barely even once a day. The weather isn't a factor because it could be 72 sunny and lovely and he still looks at me, yawns and goes back to bed. Sometimes he looks sad, ears down and curls up when I say "let's go!" At first, this behavior was only about me. My partner (who is pack leader) would say "let's go!" and he would pull it together but now he's doing the same thing with her. Refusing. We've tried treats (hot dogs!), we've tried pulling him on the leash we've tried everything. It's BIZARRE! Can anyone offer some advice?? We've had him since he was 10 weeks old and have never hit him or barely even raised our voices with him. Needless to say we're stumped and frustrated. Thanks!

[Renee750il]

What kind of environment are you in? Is it possible that something/someone has frightened him? That's what it sounds like.

[thesherb]

we live in an large, victorian house in a 3rd floor apartment. I've thought maybe something was scaring him but I can't figure out what. My downstairs neighbors recently moved but his weird behaviour started much before that. I was thinking that he might have somekind of pain when going down the stairs but he seems perfectly normal when he gets to the ground level.

[Renee750il]

Any chance the neighbors did anything to frighten him before they moved?

[chazhound]

Sounds like he had a bad experience outside. Try taking him to a different route or a different place. Pretty weird..

[Julie H]

This may sound stupid, but what if you tell him you understand his aprehension and that it is okay to feel that way. keep telling him that you or your partner will be with him and that nothing will happen to him. Maybe is he thinks it's okay to be afraid (if that's what it is) but he can still go out with you he would feel safer.