Being scared to leave the house

Then suddenly, for no obvious reason, he really really didn't want to leave the house. We were a few weeks in to our medication journey at that stage.

It suddenly changed from one day to the next.

He would drag his feet and look up at me with fearful eyes. He would sometimes try to hide or run in his crate. It was really sad to see.

He also become afraid of the garden for the first time. From the early days when I first brought him home, he had loved the garden. He was pretty easy to toilet train and loved running around and playing outside.

Now he would be very hesitant to go outside and started having accidents inside which he hated. As we were also limiting walks, I was worried about him not being able to comfortably go to the toilet. We didn't quite get to that stage but I read advice to consider using puppy pads if needed.

Due to his initial reluctance to leave the house as a puppy, we were advised he may be reverting to his natural state. His previous 'excitement' to leave the house may have been due to fear of being left alone, hyper-attachment to me and/or over-arousal (he would often rush outside looking for triggers).

Our trainer advised to play our pattern games using high value treats near the door, then slowly progress to having the door slightly ajar, then with the door open. This was tricky as we often have neighbours walking past the door (a huge trigger for George) but we persevered. Luckily, George really enjoys the pattern games and they were pretty solid in his safe space at that point.

Similarly for the garden - play pattern games near the door, then with the door open, then on the deck, then finally in the garden.

When he had accidents inside, clean it up calmly. When he toileted outside, calm praise.

We were advised not to force him to leave if possible and to take it slowly. Sometimes leaving was unavoidable, but we took it very slowly and gently and used high-value treats (usually a trail of chicken or cheese leading to the door!). I would try to start the process at least half an hour before we had to leave.

Around this time we also started a trial of Trazodone to be used situationally (on top of his other meds) to help with stressful situations.

How long it was going to take was up to George - it was going to take as long as it takes.

He slowly started to regain confidence going out to the garden and the accidents in the house stopped. I was so happy and relieved when he started playing in the garden and lying in the sunshine again.

One day, he suddenly stopped being afraid of leaving via the front door. It was like a switch had flipped.

Currently, he is mostly happy to leave the house and enjoys being in the garden which is a huge relief. I am mindful that the fear may return but we now have a proven plan to put back in place if needed.