I have a 2yr old named Milo who has begun to exhibit behaviors in the last few months that never occurred before. He has become terribly clingy lately. He follows me everywhere.
-I sit on the couch, he sits right next to the couch
-Going to the bathroom, he follows but does not enter and does a myriad of things in no particular order, heads to his food and water (not far from the bathroom), paces by the bathroom door, sits and watches me
(sometimes accompanied by some barking,
especially if I close the door)
- I go to the kitchen, he follows and watches from the entry (he's not allowed in the kitchen)
-I go in the basement, he stops at the top of the stairs and listens for me (he's not allowed in the basement unless we're getting ready for his walk)
- I move, he's clearly sleep, he hears me leave, HE'S COMING half sleep and stumbling, C'mon!
You get the drift...
Furthermore, when my friend comes over, he ditches ME in favor of following her everywhere. Now this I have mixed feelings about because well, one I get a break, two she is known to feed him tasty morsels from whatever she is eating (something I heavily restrict, but she could care less about), and three she allows him to do whatever he wants, despite my disagreement with that....He is just super glued to her. It then gets difficult to get him to listen to me, I have to call him twice, and if I ask him to do something he looks conflicted as to whether he should leave her and do as I ask. A few times he has gotten halfway to me and ran back to her, like he needed protection! My friend thinks it is absolutely hilarious. My dog is such a trader....
Now with my roomie, he barely exhibits much shadowing at all, maybe to the kitchen, but he
is greedy. He does "visit" her, and that is usually when she has made a sound loud enough to catch his attention, so he checks on her and will usually stay a while. In the last few weeks he has taken up the hobby of licking her constantly too (of all the places, her elbows?). Now that sounds weird & sweet, but he breaks up his "visit" with constant checks on me, as if I will die without him (I forgot to mention he does this checking when he has been with my friend too, except they are more like peeks, can't be away from his girlfriend too long
). Often I catch him sitting on the stairs (where he has a good view of everything) just staring at me through the railings, like some creepy stalker. My friend jokes that he has "dagger eyes". I find myself laughing sometimes, but mostly just plain annoyed, especially when during a "check" he barks at me. I feel like he's saying, "hey I'm right here, look at me", but I'm like who's the boss you or me.
So I guess I will end with what worries me.
I'm not truly his pack leader, my commands should be followed always, right??
The excessive following is his way of controlling me
He loves my friend more than me because I'm the "mean parent"
I am reinforcing bad behavior...feels like it...