Strange dog behaviour

[paddywoo]

I have a seven year old jack russell, who for some reason has started to act very weirdly. For no reason at all he has started following me all over the house. Whenever i get up to go to the toilet or make dinner etc, he is always behind me and getting under my feet. Can anybody tell me why this is, or the best way to stop it? i have already stood on him twice this weekend! many thanks

[crazy4cute]

I am not a dog expert but maybe your dog has been scared by something whilst out on a walk or playing in the garden or even house. So he is sticking with you because he wants protection. This may not be the exact answer but I just had an idea!

Becki

[dmsjps]

I think crazy4cute could well be right if you've had him for seven years and he has only just started to act in this way. I can't say how to stop it because it hasn't happened to me, but perhaps you could tell him to 'stay', 'wait' - or whatever your command is for that behaviour - while you go wherever you want to go - for short periods to begin with, so that he doesn't worry too much, but gradually increasing the time - and then when you come back, give him a treat, so that he realises good things come from being apart, if you see what I mean!

The other alternative could be that he wants to protect you. Has something horrible happened to you recently that he was witness to, or have you been upset about something? If so, he could be following you so that it doesn't happen again.

It's terrible when a dog has been distressed by something because they can't tell you what has made them feel that way and you just have to guess. He obviously adores you though, so I hope somebody can offer you some advice and that it works.

[Artful]

Hey, paddywoo, our dog Beethoven has been doing the same recently (he is a mixture of a bit of everything and nearly 4 years old) but for him the explanation is pretty simple - recently I have been going into hospital for short stays pretty regularly (between 36 an 96 hours) and my husband works weird hours leaving home early and not getting back that early at night so the poor old thing is getting worried about being left on his own.

He spends a lot of time with the cat but the cat isn't too bothered unless feeding times become too erratic. Due to my 'illness' I often walk ion both of them and don't realise and they bless them suffer in silence. But for the dog we just let him come wherever with us (except in the bedroom, hubby is very strict on that point) to see we're not pushing him away or out of the circle 

[mr. piper]

i sympathise with you my king charles spaniel did the same thing with my youngest son, i could never understand why except for insecurity, as Mathew is disabled he was always with him and he must have felt secure with him. But you must remember that the dog, unless taught otherwise believes he is in charge, it may be his way of looking after you.But please please do not stand on him again, it really won't help the situation, you know your dog, you must be able to think of a better therapy than that.  

[Artful]

I don't think paddywoo was standing on the dog intentionally.

[acw]

Mr. Piper are you being sarcastic?  I don't think paddywoo MEANT to tread on the poor little tyke!  Yes, you are joking aren't you, and I'm being dumb!

[gazzawazza]

Are you going on holiday very soon? 

Our yorkshire terrier seemed to be able to "sense" this whenever we had an imminent holiday and used to follow my wife everywhere from about a week before we were due to go.  Perhaps she saw my wife getting clothes ready or something but she definitely used to know something was going on and wouldn't let her out of site. 

[Emily Ball]

Dogs are essentially pack animals and if they can't see what you're up to most of the time they can tend to develop what's called 'separation anxiety', especially in a one-person household and any dog in that situation is by default an 'alpha male' and as such needs to feel in control on his patch but if your little dog has only recently started to follow you around at the age of seven then maybe something has happened to make him feel insecure or maybe he isn't feeling well and needs to be near you for comfort. Check out www.champdogs.co.uk. I've found it to be the best site for masses of info on dogs,  with hundreds of questions and answers from dog-owners.