[Frank]

Hi

I adopted a beautiful four year old female Mastiff in Jan. She is very shy and, until very recently preferred being indoors with me (like my 2 previous mastiffs). Suddenly, she now prefers being outside both day and night and practically refuses to come in .. except while her meals are being preferred.

She was sold by the original breeder to a second breeder and was admittedly left on her own a lot. Both breeders are reluctant to discuss her past which is a big surprise.

I had her spayed abut a month ago and she is doing great. She has a great appetite ( I feed her Large Breed Adult Chicken Soup for The Pet Lovers Soul .. a huge improvement over the Purina corn based food she was being fed). She gets lots of love and attention and her desire to be outside is totally contrary to what I consider typical Mastiff behavior. Something seems wrong somewhere.

HELP APPRECIATED . THANKS

[Yogi]

Originally Posted by Frank

Hi

I adopted a beautiful four year old female Mastiff in Jan. She is very shy and, until very recently preferred being indoors with me (like my 2 previous mastiffs). Suddenly, she now prefers being outside both day and night and practically refuses to come in .. except while her meals are being preferred.

She was sold by the original breeder to a second breeder and was admittedly left on her own a lot. Both breeders are reluctant to discuss her past which is a big surprise.

I had her spayed abut a month ago and she is doing great. She has a great appetite ( I feed her Large Breed Adult Chicken Soup for The Pet Lovers Soul .. a huge improvement over the Purina corn based food she was being fed). She gets lots of love and attention and her desire to be outside is totally contrary to what I consider typical Mastiff behavior. Something seems wrong somewhere.

HELP APPRECIATED . THANKS

There really is no time schedule as for the time it takes for a dog to acclimate to new surroundings. Considering that the only thing in common from place A to place B is you, you then became the surrogate in a sense. She needed you as now she was in a new environment and typical of most dogs, was somewhat fearful of her surroundings (shy as you put it). Time has gone by and feeling more secure in her surroundings and environment, she is expanding. This is not that uncommon. If you do not have a fenced area for her, take her for some walks in the woods so she can become more familiar with her area.

[Frank]

Yogi

Thanks for the commentary .. your comments make sense. My previous mastiffs always preferred being with me 24/7 so my current gal's preference to be outside has been unexpected. What I can gather of her being pretty much isolated during her 4 year lifespan fits in with your thoughts.