Scared Greyhound

Question
Hi - I'm looking for advice. I adopted a retired greyhound 12 months ago - she's 3 now.
At the begining she was very distructive when we left the house so I bought an indoor kennel which she loved and treated as a playpen moving her toys in and out and always sleeping there - door open or closed.
A week ago she suddenly refused to go in the kennel - howling and panting and getting upset. The only thing that is different is that the Christmas tree is up in that room (she did see it last year but not for long). Today before I came to work I had to move the kennel into another room just to see if it made a difference, because she refused to go in. She was still upset but not so bad and got into the kennel with ease - help! I have no idea what is wrong but I hate her being upset. Problem is she still cannot be trusted to be left for longer than a few minutes, we are working on that part of her training!
You can see her at www.mygreyhound.me.uk

Answer
Dogs can be very sensitive to new stuff in their environment. If this behavior started when the tree went up, and she's better since you moved the pen out of that room, I suspect you are correct in your thinking that it may be the Christmas tree she's afraid of. You might go sit next to the tree, and give her treats for checking it out. Sandy Case BFA, MEd CPDT www.positivelycanine.com