# LGD Puppy suddenly afraid of the dark?



## alidbond (May 30, 2014)

I have 2 9-month old Akbash female litter mates. I got them at 5 months so they’ve been here for 4. I’m still penning them at night and only letting them out during the day so I can watch them. Last week one of the girls started frantically trying to get out of their pen at night and trying to come inside the house. Then she was fine for a week and then it started again tonight. She climbed up the corner of the fence, so we fixed that. Now she just pushed under it. I am not aware of any trauma, there have been no storms. I have no idea what is going on with her. Any ideas? I don’t want to bring her in. The one time I did she peed on the rug (large dog, large pee).


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Is there something out there?


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## alidbond (May 30, 2014)

Something? Like “It?” I don’t think so. It’s 2:30am and I just went out and she’s inside her dog house shaking. Could she be cold? It’s 37 degrees right now.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

You've let her in before and she liked it.

True LGD's should be with the animals they are guarding all the time.
Night time is when they should be roaming the pastures.

The temperatures shouldn't bother a healthy dog.
My Maremmas preferred freezing cold to even mild heat.


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## alidbond (May 30, 2014)

Actually she got out and went to a neighbors and they let her in. When I got her home she was shaking so bad I let her in for about 10 minutes to make sure she was ok and she peed on the floor.


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## IlliniosGal (Jun 3, 2019)

Something is obviously scaring your dog very badly, now we need to figure out what. 
At 2:30 this morning what caused you to go check them, was she or the other dog barking? How does she get along with the sister dog, I got sisters once and they were nightmares with each other, one was a horrible bully to the other and bossed her constantly. I have done some reading since then and have decided never to get two litter mates again as it is often a recipe for disaster..


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## robin416 (Dec 29, 2019)

IlliniosGal said:


> Something is obviously scaring your dog very badly, now we need to figure out what.
> At 2:30 this morning what caused you to go check them, was she or the other dog barking? How does she get along with the sister dog, I got sisters once and they were nightmares with each other, one was a horrible bully to the other and bossed her constantly. I have done some reading since then and have decided never to get two litter mates again as it is often a recipe for disaster..


I was wondering about the other being a bully and causing the one to be so stressed.


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## alidbond (May 30, 2014)

I’ve got cows calving so I’ve been doing rounds in the wee hours regularly. The two get along great. I’ve never seen any bossing or bullying. There is a male dog that visits during weekdays who belongs to one of the construction guys. He is their age and they just play all day too. He’s not around at night so I don’t know why she’d be acting scared only at night. 

they hang with the cows all day so it’s not that. They aren’t scared of the chickens. I don’t know of anything else in the immediate area. She’s not scared of anything during the day when she’s out patrolling.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

Lonely for the alpha ?


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## muleskinner2 (Oct 7, 2007)

If there isn't anything out there, scaring her. She is conduction a text. It is up to you to pass or fail.


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## alidbond (May 30, 2014)

That’s why I’m asking for input.


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## robin416 (Dec 29, 2019)

Who is her alpha? That might not be so far off the mark. I had one that came unglued as a puppy when left outside but was a happy animal when I let her in.


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## alidbond (May 30, 2014)

Wouldn’t she be lonely all the time? She’s fine during the day, and this scared thing only happens randomly. She only hangs out with her sister.


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## robin416 (Dec 29, 2019)

I really don't know. It's a mystery.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Not IT, I was thinking something like bear, big cat, coyote. But I don't know what kind of big predators might be around.

Moms Pyrenees insists on staying inside some nights but most of the time the dog prefers to be outside at night, even when temps are below freezing. They figured the nights the dog wants to stay in are the nights when the coyotes are roaming.


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## mzgarden (Mar 16, 2012)

Would it be possible to put a game camera or two out there to photograph the beginning of her reaction?
Does she startle awake, is she looking a particular direction, etc? We have 4 working trail cameras and find them to be tremendously helpful solving mysteries in the night.


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## IlliniosGal (Jun 3, 2019)

mzgarden said:


> Would it be possible to put a game camera or two out there to photograph the beginning of her reaction?
> Does she startle awake, is she looking a particular direction, etc? We have 4 working trail cameras and find them to be tremendously helpful solving mysteries in the night.


Putting up a trail camera in the area they are kept at night is a wonderful idea!


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## [email protected] (Sep 16, 2009)

One trip into the house should not be detrimental.
We let our Maremma come once a day at about dusk for social hour. they each got three beggin strips. they were very polite and waited their turns. the male would go to the door as soon as the treats were over. 
outside he wouldn't go to anybody but me.
I am wondering if it is not something your pup sees, but something she hears and doesn't understand what it is.. ?? like coyotes or wolves howling ??
also could be something she smells.. our Maremma could smell a deer from over a quarter mile away..
I imagine they could smell other animals also..
even the smell of a raccoon might have her on edge if she doesn't know what it is..
I would not break down and let her in when she is acting this way. then you have lost the game..
We had 50 pups born on this place. Never had a timid one..


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

A **** or possum ?


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## emdeengee (Apr 20, 2010)

Problems with eyesight? night vision, cataracts? Usually happens with older dogs but can happen at any age.


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

I had a skittish adult female Great Pyrenees given to me. Finally figured out the reason why was because she was deaf. Too inbred.


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## frogmammy (Dec 8, 2004)

Probably won't be much help, BUT.....

I have shown some of my dogs. One dog in particular would go "strange" every now and then. Like the time when he was about a year old and decided that NO ONE would open his mouth for him! And after having his mouth opened MANY times for exams. 
reacting?
Got over that, then decided that he would shy when we'd take off from where the judge was standing...and sure enough, just as I (or whoever) would be getting up to speed on the "go around" about seven steps in, he would shy to the left BIG time. 

His last ring attempt at driving handlers nuts was stopping suddenly in front of the handler when going around the ring full speed so the handler would trip over him.

All of this between about 11 months and two years of age. Never could find the "why" on any of these, never could "fix" any of these until he decided to move on to something else. And by the way, he loved being in the ring.

So, like someone else said, the dog is playing games with you and trying to get a reaction. If there was something to be afraid/react to, why isn't the OTHER dog reacting? if the first dog was reacting to something it heard/saw, the other dog would react to the *reaction*....and it's NOT. Therefore, you're being played.

I'd suggest, next time you see the dog shivering/acting scared, pet the OTHER dog and pay attention to it. Should only take 2-3 times.

Mon


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

Id say that last post is genius!


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