dog won't settle

[jollymollie]

We have had our dog since september and got him when he was 2 years old. He had very bad separation anxiety at first but we let him have the run of the house and he settled down. Lately he just seems really unsettled. every time he goes out in the garden (on his own, he has access through cat flap)he barks constantly. He never used to do this and used to stay quietly out there until he felt like coming in. He won't come in when we call him and it can take ages to get him in but we can't leave him out there barking. He paces the whole time and doesn't seem to settle well. He is also scared of the combi boiler on the wall in the kitchen and won't walk past this to get access to his food unless someone is in the kitchen with him. He just doesnt seem happy and I don't know why. He gets walked twice a day, usually has someone at home with him and has full access to the garden. Nothing's changed so why does he now bark constantly in the garden?

Hi Jolly, has anything changed recently in your neighbourhood? New factory, new neighbours, different sounds? One of our neighbours likes doing joinery in his garage, and our dogs are not very keen on the noise when he uses what sounds like a circular saw. Has one of your neighbours got one of those sonic animal repellant devices up? This could be disturbing your dog but you might not hear it. If you are away from home e.g. visiting relatives is the problem the same or will your dog settle nicely?

He's not been away from home recently so we haven't had a chance to test that theory. Nothing has changed as far as I am aware but he might be picking up on something we're not. It is every time he goes out there now, he just starts barking immediately so I don't think it's an activity that someone's doing. He seems to be sniffing the air, barking and shaking. He must be able to sense something but I haven't got a clue what it is. He's very strange at home and he won't go into the kitchen on his own, even to eat his dinner. I'm sure it's the combi boiler on the wall that he doesn't like as he looks up at it and cries. It's always been there though and he used to be okay