SPDoggie

Oh my gosh... so much you have had to deal with. I am so sorry. Prayers to you

Target sells memory foam toppers too.

He could have hurt her... a new person putting on her coat, he could have bent something the wrong way or pinched something... since it was supposedly such a sudden reaction, my guess would be that she got hurt and reacted strongly to "the new guy"

I'm so sorry for your 2010 so full of loss and grief and that 2011 had to continue in that vein. It sounds like there were blessing within the tragedies, and I hope boyfriend and friends and family can be there for you to help you continue to grieve and continue to function and move on after all of this loss. Glad to hear from you, but sorry for all the sadness that led to you're posting

our Kingsley does not sphinx... so we taught him "down" simply by saying "down" as he was in the process of lying down and then praising that. sounds like you are making good progress!

For Kingsley it was an instantaneous personality change once we allowed him free-roam of the house. While he had gotten to the point (over his 1st month with us) that he would destroy anything in the crate with him, as soon as we left him out of the crate he never destroyed anything again. I'd just leave the dog out of the crate, leave for 5 minutes and see what happens! then leave 15 min and more and hopefully you will find the dog's anxiety has dissolved when allowed out-of the crate.

Oh, prayers for you and your "pack" so sorry for your grief

Oh, so sorry glad for the fun of his trip to Dewey

We put harness over the coat as I feared the latch rubbing and coming un-latched if it were to come up thru the coat.

Our super-shy boy would also freeze if we put a harness on him, so if you really want to use a harness (which really is safer) I'd put it on her in the house and just let her get comfortable with that on for periods of time, with no attempts to go outside. it is such a gradual process with the shy/spooky ones... but an awesome reward of all their love

After 5+ years, no one beyond my husband and I would recognize Kingsley's "sign" that he needs to go out... he will just walk into the room and turn around and leave again, but have a subtle look in his eyes! We have always just tried to keep our dogs on a schedule, rather than trying to teach them to tell us they need to go out. Sounds like you're doing great!

could she have a small bruise or something that is hurting her and your boyfriend managed to touch that?

Since this is a new thing, ruling out a UTI is first and foremost... since he had been doing well through the night, it seems likely to me that he truly needs to go (since he did go in your room) so I bet it is UTI.

Construction next to our house right now too, and Kingsley is off on wanting to go for walks, even when there is no construction going on.. totally normal for him to be put-off by these noises.

We have a boy who goes thru phases of not wanting to leave the property. When we first had him we found that when he would not walk out of the yard, if we put him the car and drove down the street, then he would get out and walk... so we did that for a while. Hopefully in another month's time he will change again... but it sounds like you are trying good things and some others have added their ideas too.

We are very late in seeing this but wanted to express our sadness at your loss... Red was a good guy. My husband walked him at one of the TBH walks back in 2007:

Just seeing this now... so so sorry for this loss... and no, knowing "it" was coming does not help with this new reality. Many prayers for your whole pack

Our boy Kingsley is also scared of the outside world... even after being with us 5 years he still has moments of not wanting to leave the property, but he is SO much better than when we first got him. All I can say is time and patience. You can try treats outside, but she may be too scared to take food while outside. We found that Kingsley really liked going in the car, so we would put him in the car and drive a short way and then get out to walk, and he would... so we did this for a while. He's also better when the whole "pack" is with him, so if you have other people who could all walk together-- maybe some other dogs too, that might help ease her fears. But just to reassure you this can be normal, and can take a while to change. Bets of luck!

Just wanted to sympathize as Kingsley, our shy boy, will constantly look over his shoulder, sometimes at nothing, but often at people who are walking *way* far behind us. Some times we just have to stop and wait for the people to pass us and then continue on our way. I'd try letting her look, but then try to keep walking... don't always turn around and take her right home when she first shows signs of being "concerned" with the outside world. If you stand there with her, confidently, and continue walking, maybe over time she will get more-and-more used to being outside and learning that she does not need to always be on her guard. Sounds like she is already making strides, and this will continue! (we just know with these shy ones is can take a long time)

I also say not really a spook, just shy... and a little more time, patience and consistency will do wonders! Love the suggestions to have her wear a short leash

Glad for the vet visit.. could she be in pain?

Ugh-- hate that you have to sit and worry and second-guess yourself for weeks.... many prayers for you and Neyla

I think it's an issue with this particular kid, not all kids... especially since you say he has always gone to M&G and liked kids.... while I also agree that he could be changing as he ages... I think it seems to be related to this child, and not all-children.

I would think it would be easier to adopt one... get it used to this new-world of your home and then bring in a second. I think it would be really overwhelming to deal with 2 new-to-the-outside-world dogs. But the idea of bringing home a returned pair, is a super idea too... they would not have the training issues and you would really be helping a pair of dogs who already love one another and might be harder to adopt (just since they are coming as a pair) Can't wait to hear about your new dogs!

I'll just mention it here, that our 2 had problems with K9 Advantix but have not had any issues with Frontline. The Adavantix actually made them sick, diarrhea, so we stick with the Frontline.