{"id":2754,"date":"2022-01-24T19:02:31","date_gmt":"2022-01-24T19:02:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/notabully.org\/?p=2754"},"modified":"2023-11-11T20:50:23","modified_gmt":"2023-11-11T20:50:23","slug":"why-wont-my-dog-leave-my-side-all-of-a-sudden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/notabully.org\/why-wont-my-dog-leave-my-side-all-of-a-sudden\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Won’t My Dog Leave My Side All of a Sudden"},"content":{"rendered":"

Any <\/span>sudden change<\/span><\/a> in your dog\u2019s behavior can be a scary thing and should be a cause for concern for responsible pet parents, even if the sudden change is a seemingly innocuous one.<\/span><\/p>\n

A common, sudden change that many pet parents may notice but not think much of is if their dog suddenly, without an obvious reason, starts <\/span>clinging to you like glue<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some dogs are \u201cvelcro\u201d dogs that just want to stick to their owners, but if your dog has <\/span>suddenly<\/span><\/i> started following you around and refusing to leave your side, there may be something wrong that\u2019s worth investigating.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why is my dog suddenly following me all around? <\/span><\/p>\n

The most common reasons that your dog will suddenly not leave your side are that it\u2019s a fear response, you have something that they want, or they are beginning to develop separation anxiety, though there are other possibilities like they are sick, bored, aging, or reacting to a lifestyle change.<\/b><\/p>\n

By carefully reading your dog\u2019s body language, paying attention to what happened when they suddenly started being so clingy, and understanding the possibilities of what you\u2019re dealing with, you should be able to figure out why your dog is suddenly clinging to you.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to figure out why your dog is suddenly clinging to you so that you can help to solve whatever problem they are having that is making them do this new behavior all of a sudden.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dogs are creatures of habit, so a sudden change means they are responding to some sort of new stimulus or are responding to an old stimulus in a different way than they previously did.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are dozens if not more possible factors that could make your dog suddenly start clinging to you, and figuring out why your dog is acting the way that they are acting can be challenging for even the most seasoned, experienced, educated, and well-meaning of pet-parents.<\/span><\/p>\n

To help, I\u2019ve outlined 12 of the most common reasons that a dog would all of a sudden start clinging to their owner.<\/span><\/p>\n

After that, I\u2019ll go over some helpful tips and offer some recommendations on how you can help curb <\/span>your dog’s clinginess<\/span><\/a>, whatever their reasons for it may be.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read on for all the answers about why your dog will not leave your side all of a sudden!<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Reasons Your Dog Will Not Leave Your Side All Of A Sudden<\/span><\/h2>\n

Reason #1 – Fear<\/span><\/h3>\n

While it\u2019s true that dogs are complex, nuanced creatures capable of developing and maintaining meaningful, long-lasting relationships with other creatures, they simply do not have the same capacity for understanding that people do.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most modern scientists and behaviorists agree that dogs are capable of 10 distinct, basic \u201cfeelings,\u201d and fear is one of them.<\/span><\/p>\n

While fear often gets a bad rap as one of the \u201cnegative\u201d emotions, fear is an extremely useful feeling that is universally experienced by both dogs and humans. Fear helps keep us safe by driving us to avoid dangerous situations. Still, fear can lead to a lot of weird or strange behavior in dogs<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is why a loud bang makes everyone in the room, dogs and people alike, jump to get out of the way, even if it\u2019s just a car back-firing outside or some other non-dangerous sound.<\/span><\/p>\n

We are programmed to respond to situations that we <\/span>perceive<\/span><\/i> to be dangerous with fear in order to prevent ourselves from getting hurt.<\/span><\/p>\n

Your dog, who lives in a complex, human world and who doesn\u2019t have the ability to fully comprehend everything around them, may be incorrectly responding with fear to something in their environment.<\/b><\/p>\n

A dog will end up clinging to their owners for protection from something that they are afraid of, even if you don\u2019t immediately recognize the thing that\u2019s wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n

Your dog may hear something outside that\u2019s startling to them. Maybe someone dropped a frying pan earlier and now they\u2019re worried that they\u2019re going to get bonked. Or maybe they just saw something that reminded them of something bad that happened before\u2026who knows?<\/span><\/p>\n

The point is that your dog\u2019s fear response could be triggered by almost anything, so don\u2019t discount the possibility that your dog is reacting fearfully even if you didn\u2019t see anything happen yourself.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, it\u2019s also possible that their fearfulness isn\u2019t a misfire but is in fact a real fear of a real threat that is present in the environment.<\/b><\/p>\n

It\u2019s very important that you check with everyone else in the house and check your dog all over for signs of harm or abuse that could be causing their fearfulness and resulting clinginess.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reason #2 – Separation Anxiety<\/span><\/h3>\n

Your dog, who loves you, may be suddenly clinging to you and not leaving your side as a result of the early stages of separation anxiety.<\/span><\/p>\n

Separation anxiety doesn\u2019t happen overnight, so if your dog is suddenly acting very clingy, they have probably been dealing with separation anxiety for a while now and their symptoms are just now starting to show. It can start subtly with things like your dog trying to sleep as close to you as possible (even on your face<\/a>) or simply following you around constantly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Separation anxiety can happen with almost any dog at any stage in their life, though, so keep an open mind to the possibility that your once happy-go-lucky dog may be developing separation anxiety.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is especially true if you notice your dog being especially clingy with you immediately before you leave them in the house or right when you get home from being gone for a long time.<\/span><\/p>\n

They\u2019ll feel inclined not to leave your side just in case you try to get away again!<\/span><\/p>\n

Other early signs that your dog may be dealing with separation anxiety include:<\/span><\/p>\n