Dogs are incredibly loving animals that people love taking care of. Having a dog is something that can bring you so much joy in life, and you want to be sure that you’re taking care of your dog properly.
It’s normal for dogs to get attached to their owners and for them to get excited when they get home. You might be used to your dog greeting you at the door and wagging its tail when you get home from work.
If your dog suddenly starts following you around everywhere, then you might be wondering what’s up. It’s not weird for your dog to be attached to you, but you might find it a little strange for it to follow you everywhere in the house.
Read on to learn a bit about why your dog might suddenly start following you everywhere. Once you’ve read all of the information, it’s going to be easier to figure out what’s going on.
1 – Your Dog Just Wants Attention
One of the most likely reasons why your dog is following you around is just that it wants attention. Your dog craves your attention and might just want you to pet it or play with it a little bit.
It isn’t unusual at all for dogs to try to get their owner’s attention by following them around. Try giving your dog some pats and seeing if that makes it happy.
It’s very possible that it might want something else, but your dog will often just be trying to get your attention. Try to give your dog some attention and hang out with the dog so that it can feel loved.
2 – Boredom
Pets can get bored sometimes just like humans can. If it has been a while since your dog has done something fun, then it might start following you to try to get you to do something fun that it enjoys doing.
For example, the dog might want you to play fetch or do something else like that. Your dog might also be trying to tell you that it would like to go out for a walk.
During a lazy day, your dog might be more likely to follow you around due to boredom. This isn’t too different from trying to get attention, but you should be able to tell when your dog is a bit bored.
3 – Fear
There are likely quite a few things that will cause your dog to feel a deep sense of fear. Some dogs are going to be more afraid than others, but most dogs will be afraid of loud noises.
If there is a thunderstorm in your area, then your dog might be more likely to follow you around. The sound of thunder and the force of strong winds might cause your dog to be frightened.
Dogs will try to follow their owners around when they’re afraid because they think that they can protect them. If your dog is following you very closely during a storm, then it’s almost surely because the dog is afraid.
You’ll also find that dogs will get scared when people in your neighborhood are shooting off fireworks. If you live near a firing range or an area where people go hunting, then your dogs might be afraid of the sound of gunshots as well.
4 – Your Dog Wants Food
It should come as no surprise to hear that your dog will follow you around when it wants food. Dogs are going to grow accustomed to getting fed at certain times of the day.
When it starts to get close to a dog’s usual feeding time, it might start to follow you closely. It’s anticipating that it’s going to get fed sometime soon while also telling you that it’s hungry.
If you find that your dog starts following you suddenly when it’s close to dinner time, then it likely has to do with the dog being hungry. Once you feed the dog, it might stop following you so closely and start to chill out.
5 – Your Dog Needs to Go Outside
Of course, dogs that are house trained will try to tell their owners when they need to go outside. Your dog might need to go outside to handle its business.
Different dogs will try to tell their owners about needing to go outside in different ways. Your dog might follow you around and whine at you a little bit to try to let you know what it wants.
Once you let the dog outside, it should be able to do what it needs to do without problems. After the dog has come back inside, it might not follow you around anymore since it got what it wanted.
6 – Your Dog Has Separation Anxiety
Sometimes dogs get too attached to humans and they don’t like it when people go away. Your dog might try to follow you to different rooms if it has problems with separation.
Dogs that have separation anxiety will often panic when they’re left alone in the house. They want to be near their humans at all times if possible.
This might happen when your dog just isn’t used to being separated from you. For example, you might be someone who spends most of your time at home.
Dogs that get so attached like this might have issues being separated from humans, but they’ll be okay. Your dog might try to follow you around when you’re home, but it will settle down after a bit once you have left the house.
This is actually a very common dog behavior, and you shouldn’t feel bad if your dog shows signs of separation anxiety. Dogs can learn to enjoy or at least tolerate being alone eventually, but it might take time and effort.
7 – Your Dog Might Sense Something Is Wrong with You
Interestingly, dogs will sometimes become clingy and follow you around when they sense something is wrong with you. Dogs are more perceptive than many people give them credit for, and they can actually sense when you’re feeling stressed or anxious.
Your dog might start following you around simply because it is worried about you. A dog might try to check on its owner to ensure that everything is okay.
So your dog doesn’t always want something from you when it’s following you around. Sometimes your dog might simply be checking on you to see how you’re feeling or trying to comfort you in some way.
If you’ve had a rough day, then it wouldn’t be unusual to see your dog try to give you some comfort. Dogs are good companions like that and they seem to truly care about their owners.
How to Stop Dogs From Following You
You should be able to get your dog to stop following you if you take certain steps. Generally, dogs will continue to shadow you if they learn that it gets them what they want.
If you reinforce the behavior, then your dog is going to keep doing it because it gets the desired results. You’ll want to stop reinforcing the behavior if you want it to stop.
This means that you can’t pet the dog or give the dog treats when it follows you because it’ll think that it’s doing something right. Granted, you can’t ignore your dog if it’s following you and asking to go outside.
Sometimes your dog following you will be natural because it’s trying to alert you to something. This is a bit different than the annoying type of shadowing where a dog is getting in your way.
You might be able to get your dog to follow you around less by tiring it out as well. Play with the dog and take it out on walks so that it will get plenty of exercise.
This should make it more likely that your dog will go lay down and relax instead of following you around the house. If you give it exercise and try not to reinforce the shadowing behavior, then you should have much better luck getting the dog to stop following you everywhere.
Final Thoughts
There are many reasons why dogs will try to follow their owners around. Now that you’ve read about them, it should be a bit easier to figure out what your dog is trying to do.
Sometimes it’s going to be something as simple as your dog trying to get attention. Your dog could also be telling you that it’s hungry or that it needs to go outside.
You should pay attention to your dog and what it is trying to tell you. This will ensure that the dog’s needs are being met and that it won’t have accidents inside the house.
Dogs can get a bit annoying when they shadow their owners too much, though. Certain dogs have separation anxiety and will always want to be near their owners.
Even this behavior can be toned down over time if you take the right steps. You just have to learn how to train your dog while still doing your best to care for it.
If your dog following you around doesn’t bother you much, then there isn’t much of a reason to worry about it. Keep looking after your dog to the best of your ability and everything will be just fine.
I have two Associate’s degrees, one in Medical Assisting and the other in Computer Technician, and I am roughly five classes from a bachelor’s degree. Though I never ended up working in the medical field, I have five and a half years of experience in IT. I recently became a stay-at-home mom to my two young boys and also have two dogs and two cats. I grew up with pet dogs, cats, hamsters, budgies, cockatiels, and fish and also love horseback riding. In my spare time, I love to bake and read pretty much anything I can get my hands on.