Dependency issues

[icka]

My dog is very dependent on both me and my partner. To the point where I constantly trip over him because he is always by my feet.

Today I noticed a rather funny habit and thought it might be due to his personality. He has had this bone that he has carried around for months now. Not once has he tried to eat it but if the other dog has it he will take it away from her. The only way he will eat it is if I hold half of it while he munches on it. He does not do this with every treat but if it is a big bone/treat he tends to do this.

Is this behaviour normal for an animal? Is it something I should be concerned about and try to break?

 

[Kela]

I've noticed similar behaviors in my dogs. They'll chew on their bones though on their own time, but if I am holding the bone, well that makes it EXTRA exciting. They'll chew forever and much more excitedly while I hold onto it.

 

[Jared.]

I've noticed similar behaviors in my dogs. They'll chew on their bones though on their own time, but if I am holding the bone, well that makes it EXTRA exciting. They'll chew forever and much more excitedly while I hold onto it.

My dog is lazy and does the same thing.

Is the bone possibly too big for the dog to handle on it's own? If my dog cannot get an item into a comfortable position to chew on it, she will avoid it.

 

[lizzybeth727]

I would be more concerned about this:

My dog is very dependent on both me and my partner. To the point where I constantly trip over him because he is always by my feet.

How big/what breed is your dog??

 

[icka]

I would be more concerned about this:


How big/what breed is your dog??

That is my concern? I mean, the whole post is my concern. Just the fact he is so dependent is my concern. He is a 4 year old pitbull/lab mix. It drives me crazy he sits under my feet and if i scold him he just gets all frazzled. If i calmly tell him to go away he acts all confused like he did something wrong.

Not to mention the anxiety he suffers from. He literally sucks on his toy. Kind of like a pacifier. Sometimes I wonder if taking the toy away from him would be better but he plays with them too so.... ?

He gets very anxious around one person in particular. I think I posted another post about that someplace here.

He also has other anxious behaviours, such as biting his paws and remaining in my bedroom when me and my partner are out.

Here lies the problem. I live with family, in a bedroom basically. My boyfriends brother (the person he gets anxious around) lives here as well. In the bedroom right next door. He barks and growls at my boyfriends brother frantically. Ive been trying to calm it for 2 years now (different methods). So when the brother is around, so the brother doesn't freak out I need to close my bedroom door and keep him in here with me. However, it doesn't really matter if I have the door closed or not because very rarely does he just venture downstairs unless somebody is at the door or somebody is feeding him. He sticks to me like glue like i said above to the point where i trip over him. If i don't start walking down the stairs he won't start. I've tried over and over again to break this. I just don't know how. So im here.

Oh yeah and don't even think about a dog trainer. He flips out and Im pretty sure he might bite a trainer. When i get his nails clipped I have to muzzle him and I tell them to not let him see me while they do it. Apparently that doesn't always work. He escapes from the muzzle and bucks till they bring him back out so i can re muzzle him.

So yeah, that's all i guess.

 

[lizzybeth727]

It sounds to me like your dog is extremely scared of almost everyone in the world besides yourself. What a miserable life that would be! I think there are probably many lifestyle changes you can do to solve the problem, but unfortunately it's not as easy as, say, "have your boyfriend's brother give your dog a cookie, problem solved." So, I'm going to go ahead and suggest a trainer. Trust me, a good, reputable trainer has dealt with similar situations before. The most common reasons people go to trainers, I think, are because of aggression and separation anxiety, so I'm sure your trainer will know how to be cautious if s/he feels like your dog might bite. You can check out http://www.certifiedanimalbehaviorist.com/, www.apdt.com, or www.ccpdt.com for trainer searches. Good luck!

 

[icka]

It sounds to me like your dog is extremely scared of almost everyone in the world besides yourself. What a miserable life that would be! I think there are probably many lifestyle changes you can do to solve the problem, but unfortunately it's not as easy as, say, "have your boyfriend's brother give your dog a cookie, problem solved." So, I'm going to go ahead and suggest a trainer. Trust me, a good, reputable trainer has dealt with similar situations before. The most common reasons people go to trainers, I think, are because of aggression and separation anxiety, so I'm sure your trainer will know how to be cautious if s/he feels like your dog might bite. You can check out http://www.certifiedanimalbehaviorist.com/, www.apdt.com, or www.ccpdt.com for trainer searches. Good luck!

no he likes other people, and he will go over to other people when im around. He plays with the other brother who is 16. He licks everyone that comes into our area. He stops barking if i let him sniff people. He goes around people but he just sticks to me. He isn't afraid of them persay. Im trying this method where everytime he is underneath me i tell him to move. I hate that he sits under me drives me nuts nuts nuts!!!! He suffers from anxiety not fear but i guess there is a thin line between the two?

as far as the brother goes, the brother doesn't like the dog. He has kicked at him when he thinksim not around and he slams doors when the dog is barking which only amplifies his behaviour. Really, I cannot control the brother, nor move out so im stuck just keepingthem apart from one another.

Onto the trainer, I hired a trainer once and they were full of (pardon my french) ****. Im having a baby in novemeber and don't have the means to hire a trainer so if you can offer other advice besides a trainer.... otherwise i suppose the dog will remain dependent on me and annoy the crap out of me all the time. Don't get me wrong, i love him to death and would never ever ever ever think of finding him a new home but i'm sure you can see constantly tripping over him can get annoying. As well as his desire to bark at everyone.

 

[lizzybeth727]

The only advice I can think to tell you, is advice that I'm afraid will only put a band-aid on the underlying problem. What the underlying problem IS, I cannot say without seeing your dog, so I'm afraid that without knowing THAT, more problems will arise.

Maybe someone else here can help.