When the Behavior Becomes a Problem
Even though having a dog follow you all over the place has its benefits, there is a point where it can become a troubling problem. If your pooch starts to refuse to interact with other dogs or humans – then this could be a sign of severe anxiety, and they’re following you for comfort. While that may be sweet, anxiety in dogs causes them an immense amount of stress and can lead to bad behavior if not treated.
Sometimes having a dog as your shadow is nothing more than an instinct or an expression of admiration. But when it starts to correlate with troubling behavior, you should take note and get Fido the help they need, starting with a visit to their vet.
Your Dog May Just Enjoy Your Company
It may come as a shock, but your dog adores you – and them following you and keeping an eye on you may just be a way of them showing that love and admiration. If they enjoy your presence and associate you with positive experiences like treats, attention, and belly rubs, it would make sense that they would want to be around that as much as possible.
Plus, many dogs are naturally protective over their owners and their pack. So if they’re keeping a close eye on you, it may be a sort of security for them. Reassuring them that you’re not in harm’s way, and if you happened to get into trouble, they’d be ready to spring into action and help you.
Why does my dog follow me everywhere?
If your dog follows you everywhere then it’s a sign that they trust and love you and that you make them feel safe. Following you very closely can be a sign that they’re bored, they want something, they’re feeling scared or are just being nosy.
Cesar Explains How To Fix Separation Anxiety With Your Dog
Any sudden change in your dog’s behavior can be a scary thing and should be a cause for concern for responsible pet parents, even if the sudden change is a seemingly innocuous one.
A common, sudden change that many pet parents may notice but not think much of is if their dog suddenly, without an obvious reason, starts clinging to you like glue.
Some dogs are “velcro” dogs that just want to stick to their owners, but if your dog has suddenly started following you around and refusing to leave your side, there may be something wrong that’s worth investigating.
The most common reasons that your dog will suddenly not leave your side are that it’s a fear response, you have something that they want, or they are beginning to develop separation anxiety, though there are other possibilities like they are sick, bored, aging, or reacting to a lifestyle change.
By carefully reading your dog’s body language, paying attention to what happened when they suddenly started being so clingy, and understanding the possibilities of what you’re dealing with, you should be able to figure out why your dog is suddenly clinging to you.
It’s important to figure out why your dog is suddenly clinging to you so that you can help to solve whatever problem they are having that is making them do this new behavior all of a sudden.
Dogs are creatures of habit, so a sudden change means they are responding to some sort of new stimulus or are responding to an old stimulus in a different way than they previously did.
There are dozens if not more possible factors that could make your dog suddenly start clinging to you, and figuring out why your dog is acting the way that they are acting can be challenging for even the most seasoned, experienced, educated, and well-meaning of pet-parents.
To help, I’ve outlined 12 of the most common reasons that a dog would all of a sudden start clinging to their owner.
After that, I’ll go over some helpful tips and offer some recommendations on how you can help curb your dog’s clinginess, whatever their reasons for it may be.
Read on for all the answers about why your dog will not leave your side all of a sudden!