My dog now refuses to go out

Question
We have a 3 year old black lab mix, female, Mya.  We recently left her at my mother in laws house to go away for the weekend.  We were only gone for about 8 hours when we returned to get her because something came up that we had to come home, not with the dog, other circumstances that we didn't want to stay where we were.  Ever since we brought her back to our house she has refused to go outside.  We have to sit at the bottom of the stairs and watch her like a hawk to make sure she goes to the bathroom. She has peed but then will jump over us to get up in the house as soon as possible.  Before we left she always wanted to be outside.  We have gone through nurmerous door knobs because she jumps at them to get out.  My mother in law said that she whined a lot when we were gone but she ran around outside, but my mother in law sat with her to ensure that she did not get out of the yard.  She said she wouldn't play in the house but that she was fine outside.  Now we can't even get her to go near the back door.  We have to hold on to her collar and walk her out the door.  She shakes if you don't let her in right away.  Also in the house she will not leave our feet.  Could it be that she is afraid of us leaving her again or something else.  We have left her with my mother but we live with my mother and she remained in our home, this time she was in a new home.

Answer
Hi Mya,  Your dog is now suffering from separation anxiety.  She obviously got traumatized by being left and now she is making sure she never gets left again.  Just spend a lot of time with her and reassure her that everything will be ok.  This could take some time for her to get over.  Hope this helps,

Dawn