If you raised them since puppyhood, there is a good chance it will be you. They love all of you, but they look to one person in particular as the leader. They don’t mean anything by it, it’s simply in their nature. In households consisting of multiple people, there’s a good chance your dog will seem to prefer one family member over all of the others. Bring them to the vet to find the cause as soon as you can. If they’re limping, they could have torn their ACL, or if they’re not eating, they could have a virus or gastrointestinal bug. Remember, not all injuries and illnesses are obvious. If your dog isn’t super clingy, but suddenly wants to be by your side at all hours, they may be trying to tell you that something is wrong. They train us as much as we train them - they learn to do what we like so they can be rewarded for it. If you like to give them treats (and who doesn’t), then your dog will learn to follow you around and act cute to get rewarded. Positive ReinforcementĪnother reason your dog might stay close to your side is positive reinforcement. Puppies need their mother and rely on them - if they don’t grow out of this as they get older, they can develop separation anxiety. This is because young dogs often imprint on their owner as if they were their mother. It’s estimated to affect about 14% of pups. In actuality, it is quite common in most dogs. Many dog owners think separation anxiety is more common for shelter dogs - ones you’ve adopted later in life.

They could follow you because they love you, want to be around you, for positive reinforcement, or they could follow you because they don’t like being alone - which can be a sign of separate anxiety. It’s not just instinctual, it’s emotional as well. There are other reasons a dog follows you, though. As the owner, this is exactly what you should want. The answer is actually pretty simple: it’s their instinct to follow the leader! Dogs are pack animals and if they follow you, it means they see you as the alpha of the pack. If you have a “velcro dog,” chances are you’ve asked yourself this exact question a few times.

Today, we’re going to go over all of them. Right? Yes, it does but there are other reasons why your dog follows you everywhere. Do you have a little shadow that follows you everywhere around the house? It’s both cute and inconvenient at times, but we push through that inconvenience because it means our pet loves us.

My dog follows me everywhere