Dogs Weird Behavior

Question
Hello! I have an odd question about my dog. She's a 3 1/2 year
old terreir/brussels griffon mix. She's a very loving, attatched
dog that never leaves my side, especially now that I am 8
months preg. We recently moved from CO to TN about a week
and a half ago. She'd been acting a little strange since the move
but the past few days she's seemed to be adjusting well and
settling into out new place. She was having some issues with
eating/drinking- she would only eat if I hand fed her and gave
her water myself. But, like I said, the past few days she has
seemed to be getting back to normal and started acting the way
she always has. Then, this evening, I put her leash on to walk
her outside and she normally gets very excited when it's time to
go outside. She rushes out the door and takes off running. This
time though, when the door opened, she acted scared and kept
backing into the door way. Once outside, she was sniffing
everything like crazy and kept pawing to go back in the house.
Once back inside, she ran straight to the bathroom and hid
behind the toilet. After I called and called and called for her, she
came out and sniffed just about every inch of the house and
then ran upstairs and hid under the bed. My husband went
upstairs and was calling her name and finally got her out from
under the bed. When he picked her up, she started growling and
kicking away from him until he couldn't hold her. We tried to go
back outside but she acted the same way- like she was scared of
something outside. When we came back in, she ran directly back
upstairs and under the bed. As I said before, she is a very
attatched dog and NEVER leaves my side. To the point that if I go
to the bathroom, she goes with me. If I am cooking dinner, she's
on the kitchen floor. If I am on the couch, she's pressed up next
to me. Now, she won't even come near me and if I get close to
her, she sniffs me like crazy and then runs off. I apologize that
this is so long but do you have any idea what her problem is?
This came out of no where and is totally not like her. I am
worried about her and want to know if there is something that I
can do or need to do for her. Thanks in advance for you time
and advice!
Amber

Answer
Hi Amber;
It sounds to me like something is out there she is afraid of, or sge has seen something out there that she is afraid will come back.
It certainly sounds like a fear thing.
Dogs can have nervous breakdowns just like people can. They can also have all the mental problems we can have.
There could be a physical problem that is causing a mental reaction too.
That behavior certainly sounds like a bazaar.
Sylvia Brown might tell you there is an unfriendly spirit in your house.
Depends on what you believe about that.
I have lived too long and seen too much to discount the possibility of spirits being around us.
Here's another thought.
Do you live in a fairly urban area, or out in the country, where there might be a snake or some other critter in your attic, or under the house?
We had a situation in Dallas a couple of years ago, and this couple was hearing something drag across their ceiling at night.
They called in the city pest control or the zoo, I forget which.
anyway, they found a large boa constrictor in the people's attic.
They speculated someone's pet got away and took up residence in their attic.
They had just bopught the house, and thought it must have been there when they moved in.
I would check for, or have the house checked for an intruder that needs to go away.
We live in a suburb of Dallas, with a population of 2 a little over 200.00, and that is no small town, and we sometimes get opossums in our attic, as well as squirrels.
Dogs, especially smaller ones or ones that are not a hunting breed are afraid of opossums, which they should be, those little ctitters are MEAN!
She may be avoiding the two of you because she is afraid you will take her outside where the other animal is.
could you have snakes, other than grass snakes in your yard, or other wild animals.
they have spotted coyotes in Dallas residential neighborhoods.
We have encroached so heavily on their natural habitats and crowded the animals so much, they sometimes have no place to stay out of the wy completely.
Have a complete physical checkup fr your dog, to make sure there is not a medical problem she is trying to bring to your attention, and check under the house, in the attic, and your grounds for strange critters that shouldn't be there.
Charlotte