Slightly odd behaviour

Snifter has been behaving a tad oddly at times. When we are out on a walk he may suddenly stop and bark at something that simply is not there. In the past when he has done this it has culminated in a dog or person he disapproves of coming round the corner, so he obviously sensed they were there. However lately there has been absolutely nothing and nobody around when he has done this.

Sometimes he will stop and refuse to walk on for no apparent reason. The other day I had to carry him part of the way home; normally he dislikes being carried and struggles but this time he did not, though when I put him down again he pulled like a train in the direction of home.

I'm suspecting his vision is not all it might be; he has a degree of PK which I will get the vet to look at again when we go next week for a checkup. However he can see perfectly well if there is an enemy bird in the sky (or at least he seems to).

Last night he fell into our water feature. He dislikes getting wet so he certainly did not go in on purpose. It was admittedly quite dark outside but there is a change of surface from grass to stone before you actually hit the water, so he should have felt that. I'm not worried about his safety in the garden because I keep a constant eye on them and the water is not deep, but dealing with a wet dog at bedtime is not much fun.

Any thoughts? He's not old - he turns 7 in August.

I was going to suggest eye sight too. We've noticed as Hooli's sight is getting worse (especially in dim lighting), he does a lot more of staring at nothing at barking. He also started barking at the cat, which I think is because he can't see that it's a cat in low light-he just knows there's a blob moving. He's gotten more cautious about other things too.

I just posted about Stewie just staring at nothing for a long time, he is blind in one eye and is slighly impaired in the other, so that could very well be the issue with Snifter.

Donna, it was in fact your post about Stewie that prompted me to post about Snifter, though I would probably have done so soon in any case to get some input.

My parents have recently moved house and when I first take the pugs there for a visit it may be interesting to see how Snifter reacts to somewhere totally new to him.

Eyesight is my guess, too. Hattie (almost 9) has also recently started to bark more, and on walks if she lags too far behind I'm not sure that she can always see where we are when she decides she ought perhaps to think about catching up with us.

I agree on the eyesight guess. Penny is mostly blind in her right eye and partially blind in her left - when we go for evening walkies, she will often stop and bark madly at something that is not there. She calms down very easily, though. Hugs to Snifter!