Dog Psychology?

Redbush is racking her brain trying to figure out what goes through either of her dogs' minds, but especially Bonzi in the last three months.  Bonzi, her german shepherd, has always loved his doghouses.  They have been supplied with home-made straw burlap pillows to keep him warm in the winter.  He has always used them as a refuge as well, to give him a rest from chasing squirrels, or if it's just too warm out in the summer sometimes.  He has a doghouse in the garage and outside the garage.  He is locked in the garage at night so that he doesn't have to deal with wild animals, or crazy neighbors even though the Redbush family has their 3 acres fenced. Lately, when they go to let him out  in the morning, Redbush, or her hubby notice that he doesn't seem to want anything to do with his doghouse  in the garage and just lays on the rug at the top of the steps.  Sometimes the temperatures are really cold, so this concerns Redbush because she doesn't want him to end up with arthritis if he is sleeping on a cold rug.  Redbush used to have some small space heaters that pointed at the doghouse to help keep him warm.  He has always enjoyed these in the past and felt toasty warm to the touch when Redbush ,or her hubby go to let him out in the morning.  The heaters have never been a problem to him in the past, but she wonders if they made some kind of noise that scared him.  Because Redbush and her family think that the heaters may have scared him in some way, they have removed them.  The heaters have been removed for some time now, at least 3 months, but even when Redbush encourages him to go in to his house, he almost seems to want to hide, but will go in finally, then pushes himself out just as quickly.  Redbush doesn't want to take him to a dog psychologist because she doesn't want him telling her everything, (Ha!) and she would have to pay big bucks for it!   Maybe Bonzi is just playing with Redbush's mind.  Redbush is wondering if any of you have any suggestions for her.