When does following their owner around become obsessive?

Darkmoon · 05-02-2008, 07:29 PM

I think its just the past making me worry, but when does following ones owner around become too much? Nubs follows me everywhere when I move, only me not my fiancé. If I shut a door in between us he won't move from that door until I return. This happens even when I leave the house, but Nubs could care less if my fiancé leaves. I've been told when I leave he softly whines for about 5 to 10 mins and then lays down for an hour then walks to wherever my fiancé and then go lay somewhere either upstairs or downstairs. When I am home, Nubs never leaves the floor I am on. If I'm upstairs the furthest he will go is his bed.

Nubs will even follow me around in circles until he is dizzy. I just don't know. I honestly don't care, but I also don't want SA to show its ugly head again. I don't think I could handle it. I don't know if its just because of our bond or if its because he is scared to be with out me... What would you say is too much when being followed around?

FilleBelle · 05-02-2008, 07:36 PM

Alvin followed me to an extent that I would call obsessive in the first...oh...six months or so that I had him. Since we hit the six month mark, though, the shadowing has become slightly less frequent. If I get up and move around, he is right there behind me, but if I'm sitting at the table or desk for a while, he will go into the other room to sleep on his bed. He howls for about 45 seconds when I leave in the morning, but has never showed any signs of SA.

You could start enforcing a separation, even when you don't need to. Teach Nubs a stay and start leaving him in another room for a few minutes at a time. He may eventually decide it's okay to be away from you even when he isn't in a stay.

I suspect that Nubs will shadow you less and less the more he gets used to living in your house.

Xeph · 05-02-2008, 08:37 PM

My Shepherds shadow me all the time. It's a breed trait to do so. Nothing obsessive about it.

It is a rarity for Strauss to be away from me unless I leave him at home.

britishbandit · 05-02-2008, 08:46 PM

Well dogs do tend to always have their favorite person. Mine both follow me around everywhere I go. LOL It is also typical of some breeds, the breed profile specifially mentions that. Rotties are know for that. That they tend to follow their favorite person from room to room, preferring to have them in eyesight at all times. A characteristic that holds true, at least in the Rotties I've owned. And I'm sure it's not just Rotties.

I don't think the following you around is an issue. It's when a dog or dogs suffer separation anxiety. While mine follow me around everywhere when I'm home, they are also quiet and calm when I leave. They don't sit by the door (mainly because they're usually crated when I'm out), nor do they whine/bark or go batty if I'm not home.

Dogs that do suffer from separation anxiety usually do better if you crate train them. Being enclosed and feeling "safe" can help. But if the dog has never been crated before, it's something you'd have to do gradually and make them realize it's a pleasant and comfortable place to be.

When dogs are left alone, a majority of that time they spend laying down in one place and/or sleeping. So there's really no need for you to worry that if you crate him when nobody is home that his freedom is restricted and it will affect him badly. It won't.

If they are up and about, it's usually only for the first 10-15 minutes after you leave.

Royker · 05-02-2008, 09:07 PM

I have two German Shepherd dogs and they seem to communicate with each other about "shadowing." When one dog is sleeping or relaxing, the other dog shadows me around the yard. Then, they exchange shifts. At night, when I give them their chew rawhides, one dog shadows us while the other dog chews away. When the the chewing dog is done with the chewing, it shadows us while the other dog commences chewing.

They seem to talk to each other about shifts. I guess they do it so that if something exciting or important happens, the shadowing dog can alert the other dog.

Sugar Daddy Otis · 05-02-2008, 09:12 PM

Otis does the same thing with me, Darkmoon. My SO could leave and he doesn't care..I leave and he whines for about 5-10 mins and lays at the door until I come home. He also follows me around everywhere all day long. If he is sleeping and I move to another room he wakes up, goes to that room and goes back to sleep. I know it is really hard for you not to worry for what you went through with Carter, but it sounds pretty normal to me.

Darkmoon · 05-02-2008, 09:24 PM

Thanks guys, It does make me feel better. My fiancé and I had a fight over it the other day because of this fear that he'll end up with SA. So far Nubs has been a perfect angel when we leave, but its that fear.

Thanks, at least I can say its "normal" with confidence!

Durbkat · 05-02-2008, 09:26 PM

Snoopy will follow anybody in the house. Even if he is laying down by me and he hear's someone walking down the hallway or in the living room he will go and see what they are up to. I just call it him being nosey. He followed my teacher when she dog sit him as I could see him following her as she was coming to the door when I went to pick him up.

sheltiemom · 05-02-2008, 11:44 PM

Mine are all glued to me 100% of the time I'm home, but none of them have separation anxiety. When I'm gone but DH is home, he says they whine for me, but when we are both gone they are fine, Shiner kennels up on command and the shelties have the run of downstairs. Frosty is the goofiest, he won't even take a command from DH, he'll look at me and wait for me to give the ok, but still he is the best behaved when we're gone. I don't blame you for worrying...I have had a dog with true SA and it kept me from getting another dog for years after...but Nubs is likely ok, it's normal for dogs to attatch themselves to someone and be up their arse when they're home.

Annamarie · 05-03-2008, 11:11 AM

mine follows everyone around the house, even visitors. he has to keep a running inventory on where everyone is at all times. during big family get togethers he's exhausted when we finally leave. being a min pin supervisor is hard work lol

Max'sHuman · 05-03-2008, 11:41 AM

I would concur that it's pretty normal. Max is my little shadow when I'm at home. Sometimes it's worse than others. He used to try to follow me into the bathroom and he likes to check up on my when I'm showering. Also if my and the SO are walking him and I stop in somewhere or something, apparently Max whines and quivers until I come back. However, he is a gentleman when I leave him home. Other than going trying to go through the garbage....but I don't think a dog following you around when you're there neccesarily means there will be problems when you leave. It just means he's pretty enamored with you I guess

K8IE · 05-03-2008, 01:22 PM

Cooper is my shadow. He wants to be in whatever room I am in, even the bathroom. Of course that is totally characteristic of the Boxer breed and this is my third Boxer, so I am definitely used to it. My husband says that when I leave he will sit by the window or door and watch for me to come home. No SA or anxious behaviors, just waiting for his mommy to return.

I think as long as a dog is not exhibiting seriously anxious or destructive behaviors trying to get to or find the "missing" owner, it is pretty typical for a lot of dogs.

LuckyLabMom · 05-03-2008, 01:26 PM

Another thread full of useful info and anecdotes. Seriously, half of what I read here is so helpful as a new dog owner (the rest is mostly interesting but doesn't apply to my situation). My dog is a bit of a mama's boy, which is understandable since it's just me and him...and I worry about him being an anxious, clingy dog. So it's good to hear that this is normal.

FilleBelle · 05-03-2008, 01:27 PM

The bathroom thing drives me crazy! If I keep the door open, there's Alvin, sitting in the hall and staring me down with his one brown dog eye. But if I close the door, he sits in the hall and WHISTLES. He doesn't whine...he makes this hideous, high pitched whistling noise until I open the door again.

The bathroom is obviously equivalent to Doggy Hell. I guess it's kind of our dogs to worry about our safety when we go there.

LuckyLabMom · 05-03-2008, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FilleBelle

The bathroom thing drives me crazy! If I keep the door open, there's Alvin, sitting in the hall and staring me down with his one brown dog eye. But if I close the door, he sits in the hall and WHISTLES. He doesn't whine...he makes this hideous, high pitched whistling noise until I open the door again.

The bathroom is obviously equivalent to Doggy Hell. I guess it's kind of our dogs to worry about our safety when we go there.

That's too funny. I guess I have it pretty good, then. I always close the door when I'm in the bathroom, and when I come out after quick things (peeing, brushing teeth, etc) Chester is always standing there by the door, waiting and looking concerned. One time, though, I found my half-empty sour cream packet on the kitchen floor when I came out so he's not fooling me, lol, he's not just waiting there patiently (and I'm not leaving anything tempting near the edge of the kitchen counter anymore either!).

When I come out after a shower he is almost always laying on the carpet runner in my bedroom, right across the hall with a clear view to the bathroom door - usually flat on his belly with his chin squished to the floor and his back legs splayed out all silly behind him, staring up at me with a wrinkled forehead and total puppy-dog eyes.

He is so fricking cute sometimes I can't even stand it.

tigress · 05-03-2008, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FilleBelle

The bathroom is obviously equivalent to Doggy Hell. I guess it's kind of our dogs to worry about our safety when we go there.

You know, I don't know what it is about the bathroom. Aurora hates it. She was kept in a yard with her littermates before i got her and I've never given her a bath (yet) so I am not sure why she has decided it is an evil room. But you have to drag her with the leash to get her to go in, she resists.

And when she was whining if I left the room she was kept in (to get her ok with me leaving the room I kept her in her crate and would randomly leave for random room for a few seconds and come back), she was worse about me going into the bathroom (before she ever was in it).

Durbkat · 05-03-2008, 02:32 PM

Snoopy is the same way, he will not come in the bathroom if I'm in there but he will if its my mom or grandma because they don't give him baths.

MyCharlie · 05-03-2008, 02:39 PM

Yep, Charile is my shadow. Sometimes I will actually sing, "meeeee and my shaaaadoooow" as he is following me around. I feel bad too, cuz if he's sleeping on his bed here in the computer room and I get up just to get a drink or something, there he is with me! I wish he's just stay there so the poor thing doesn't have to get up and down and up and down <sigh>.

And the bathroom, ugh! Goofball - I usually pee with the door open and he sits right down there staring at me until I'm done, then watches as the water goes down. And if I don't latch the door when I'm showing he'll push his way in and peek around the shower curtain at me. Luckily he hasn't jumped in yet LOL!!!

Annamarie · 05-04-2008, 11:00 AM

ya, what's with the bathroom!! my dog will force open the door if it's not closed tightly, and if he can't get in he sticks his nose under the door and whines. I don't get it. It's not like I've ever gone in the bathroom and not come out again, lol

4dogs3cats · 05-04-2008, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LuckyLabMom

Another thread full of useful info and anecdotes. Seriously, half of what I read here is so helpful as a new dog owner (the rest is mostly interesting but doesn't apply to my situation). My dog is a bit of a mama's boy, which is understandable since it's just me and him...and I worry about him being an anxious, clingy dog. So it's good to hear that this is normal.

This is so refreshing to see that you are doing the research and taking in everything you can. Your boy is so adorable as well!

Anywho- DM I can understand why you'd worry. Chance follows me around and if I stand somewhere for a while he whines like- come on mom, lets get going. Kody follows me too. I can never leave the room without them. Shoot I cant get out of the reclining chair without them geting up,(makes it so hard to grab the camera to take a pic of them, I usually make SO get it lol,) They follow me, not SO. Its either protecting me, being loyal, or both. I would say since all of us have out dogs follow us, and you havent run into any signs of SA, you should be okay. As Im sure you are aware, if you see even the slightest sign of it, then maybe take some action, but you seem safe IMO.