My wife's silly mutt has developed a new quirk that I don't understand. She's suddenly become afraid of the dark. Up until a couple weeks ago she loved running down to the barn with me at night to check on horses, but now won't leave the house. And if we don't turn on the back porch light and make her go pee before bed, she's liable to have an accident in the house rather than use the dog door at night. Weird. Dog is 3 years old and we've had her 1.5 years, so not an old age issue.

I guess I'm going to have to put her on a leash after dark and prove to her nothings scary out there. Anyone run into something like this before with a mutt??

But there are scary things out there. Maybe she is losing here vision in the dark.

Get you a pitbull to go out with her. My pit Max, ain't afraid of the dark, just everything else.

She might be in the early stages of Nyctalopia

Something scared it.
Our cat suddenly wouldn't go out side at night a while back.
Saw w great horned owl sitting on a light pole a few nights later, then came home from ranch tending one day and found the owl sitting in a tree about 5 yds from our deck. It was trying to claim a nest box for birds. That was not going to work. Owl moved on and cat went back to going out at night eventually.


Had a lab get wary after a bear encounter in the mountains one night years ago.

I bet something happened and freaked her out. Whatever you do, don't force her to go out, could make it worse.

coyotes is my guess.

Could be for sure. My dog knows not to mess with coyotes, and I can tell when she picks up a coyote scent, she jumps and runs from the scent, similar to what she does with snakes, but she has been trained to avoid snakes.

It's probably NOT the night of darkness. There is another reason, something scared the dog, perhaps a snake was there the last time around.

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The dog is playing you. There is something in the house it wants to check out while you are outside in the dark. The old scared of the dark routine.

She is a pit bull. Sort of. Wife had her DNA tested. Looks like a full blooded American Staffordshire Terrier, but DNA test said she was 1/4 Pomeranian.

I'm thinking the same thing. Either a coyote or bobcat or snake scared her.

Mine gets spooked walking down the halls by either bathroom?
Obviously he had a bad experience or two walking by them when someone (had to be the wife ) dropped a stink bomb and his nose caught the brunt of it

Maybe opossom. They stink, hiss and show their teeth.

Something frightened her at night

Find a way to build her confidence up at night.

Treats are a start along w praise