Something odd is going on & have no idea what is the problem or cause?

The two dogs have always chosen to stay close to us - we work from home - especially of an evening, no deviation in all the years. Tonight Otto will not settle in the house, he's laying on a paving stone outside the kitchen door up against the passageway gate, if I entice him back in he then heads back to the door to go out again.  He doesn't appear to be in discomfort but perhaps a little more sensitive to sounds, the other evening he became fed up with a lazy low flying noisy fly & kept moving rooms to get away from my attempts to swat it. Could he be upset by another fly in the room, he has just come in quietly grumbling & then gone out again. He has never chosen or wanted to be outside of an evening?

Any ideas?

I would keep a close eye on him for belly pain/ discomfort or any kind of panting. I am sure he is fine but I am always wary of bloat when my dogs behave oddly

Hopefully by the time you read this he is back to normal behaviour

He has just come in, having been outside for nearly two hours (very strange). Just the word bloat elevates my BP, think I'll be sleeping down stairs with them tonight as he's still acting nervously.

Unfortunately, I have no idea what the problem may be, whether it is a health problem or something going on in his head that is spooking him, but, acting nervously and sitting outside for 2 hours, (not exactly warm now) something is obviously going on, are you able to take his temperature, do you have a thermometer? If not probably worth sending the other half out to get one, local supermarket should have one. (If you have any in your area)

I'm glad that you are staying downstairs to keep an eye on things, always a good idea when our dogs act differently.  It could be nothing but, trust your instincts, always trust them and if anything worrying happens tonight or his behaviour continues to be strange, get him straight to the vet, it might be a waste of time, but worth the risk if it is something serious, let's hope he is just not feeling himself or that something has just spooked him and he is affected by it?

Don't you just wish our dogs could let us know?

{{hug}}

could it be a bitch in season locally or animal eg. cat fox or another dog wandered through the garden and scent has upset his normal regime

Yes I know Lacy sorry I did think twice before posting then decided to go ahead. Better to be safe than sorry.
Having lost a dog this way I know how horrible and worry  it is

Thank you all, know there was next to nothing to go on but sometimes just good to know others with more knowledge might think of something that I've missed - not difficult!

Chris, Bloat is always a fear & looking last evening a symptom I came across (& unaware of) is a dog asking to go out of a night for no reason! He's suffered from so many ongoing problems since a pup it means we've had to assess & manage him on a daily basis for years & still the little s-d keeps developing more.

Temperature was OK, slept beside me all night, though thought he had disappeared in the early hours but only when I got up & trod on him realised I couldn't see!! Still very sensitive to noise but think this has come about through OH chopping up bones in the kitchen as he now disappears as soon as the knife box comes out!!

Had a walk this morning & so far seems OK but will keep a closer eye on him today. Thanks again, very strange.

so pleased he is ok :)

It does sound peculiar, but that's dogs for you!  I'm glad that he's ok.  :-)