My Dog Refuses to Go in the Garden Anymore — Now What?
Learning to be patient and put her feelings before mine.
Recently, my puppy, Ginny, refuses to go into our back garden in the morning and in the evening.
She rushes to the door, presumably because she needs to pee, takes a couple of steps outside, and goes back inside, her tail between her legs. That means that she doesn’t pee before bed or until we go on our morning walk around 11 am. That feels like much too long to not go.
I am not sure exactly what happened. This was never a problem before. I’ve spent the past couple of days trying to figure out what changed. Our neighbours got a puppy a few months ago. Recently, as the weather has gotten warmer, their puppy spends a lot more time outside and barks when he hears someone in our garden.
Ginny has met their puppy but, perhaps because she can’t see him, she is scared of him? Maybe he has marked his territory and she can smell it and assumes it includes our garden as well?
A new playground was built behind our house and kids have been playing there during the day. Maybe that is why she refuses to go in the garden?
Maybe there is a weird smell. Maybe she heard a scary sound. Maybe she got stung by an insect. Maybe the changing of the season…
