[DanaDP1]

I have an eleven-year-old borzoi who has just started to refuse to go OUT through the dog door. He approaches the door enthusiastically, then stops. He’ll stare at the flap for a second, and even stick his head through a bit. He still start to go through – then STOP, and even retreat. So, for the first time in his life, he’s having some housebreaking issues because he can’t will himself through that door in time. I must stress that we are NOT punishing him or yelling, etc. He’s a sweet old man who is having a challenge, and I would never give him grief over this. We just quietly clean up and then give him some extra TLC. The house soiling is NOT the reason I’m writing; I’m hoping for insight on WHY he’s suddenly stopped going through the door on his own. In other words, I want to treat the disease not the symptom.

We’ve decided to try to head off any house soiling issues by giving him regular walks. (Because we have the doggie door, daily walks aren’t part of our pack routine. They have a big yard and two other dogs to play with; they get PLENTY of exercise.) My theory is that if he gets used to eliminating on walks, the scary, scary dog door won’t be an issue. But obviously, we want to also help him re-learn how to go out on his own, as he has for so many years, too. We don't want him to be a prisoner in his own ome, unable to go enjoy his backyard whenever he wants to.

He isn’t having problems with his vision, as far as we can tell. He navigates around the house with no problem, even with chairs in unexpected places, etc. He is not head shy, doesn’t seem to be startled by objects near him, doesn’t trip over his bed, etc.( I’ve had a dog with vision problems, so am somewhat familiar with the signs.)

Once he is encouraged, he hops through the door with no problems. He re-enters the house without hesitation, so my thought was that maybe he fell once going out and it hurt and now he is afraid? I also thought that since the deck outside is darker than inside, he was having problems seeing his “landing” so I put some rope lights out to illuminate the way. He still won’t go out on his own – as he has without problem for the eight years we’ve lived in this house). And today, during full daylight, he refused to go out until I physically held the flap out of the way and commanded him to go through, and then minutes later, but blew right through coming back in without the tiniest hesitation.

But SOMETHING’S changed … I don’t think he’s suffering from cognitive dysfunction; he’s his “old self” and has no problem coming when called, knowing where bowls are, recognizing his pack mates, etc.

Any ideas? Suggestions? We’re taking him to the vet as soon as we can, but certainly would appreciate any advice from those who have either seen this before or have other insight that might help us help our sweet old man.