I have an 8-year-old miniature dachshund. The last two or three days, he's been yelping like he's in pain or like he's startled/scared. It first happened on Thursday when I picked him up off the chair so I could sit down, and I assumed I may have accidentally grabbed him a little too hard when lifting him up. But over the next couple days, he yelped again when another dog playfully bumped into his shoulder, and when I barely touched him under his chin. It doesn't happen all the time and it isn't always in the same places. Sometimes I can pick him up without a problem, and other times he yelps. Most of the time I can pet him, scratch his years, etc, with no trouble, and sometimes he'll suddenly yelp even if I'd touched that spot two minutes before.
He's been refusing to use the dog steps for getting on and off the furniture - up until last week, he would jump up and down (I have been trying to train him to use steps since he was a puppy to no avail), and the last few days he prefers to sit and cry until someone helps him up or down.
He seems to be walking okay - a little slower than usual, but no limp and he's not favoring any particular leg or either side. He doesn't want to run - three days ago if I said "Outside?" he would run as fast as his tiny legs would carry him to the door, and would run around the yard with the other dogs (one's his age, the other's two). But now he looks at me and whines until I put him on the floor and then walks slowly to the door, does his business and comes right back inside. He spends a lot of time resting instead of playing like he used to.
His appetite's good, he drinks plenty of water, seems to be eliminating waste without a problem. His eyes are clear and he responds to sound. I can't figure out what's wrong with him, as there seems to be no single place that hurts and it's not constant.