Why is my dog attached to someone else?

If your dog is attached to someone else, you might be wondering why and what you can do about it. This post will show you a number of possible causes and what you can do about them.

So, why is my dog attached to someone else? Common reasons why your dog is attached to someone else are that the other person has been feeding it, the other person has been giving it more attention or treats, or that you have intimidated it.

There are actually a number of possible reasons why your dog has been doing it and it might be due to a combination of them. However, there are some things you can consider to help figure out the main cause and there are a number of things you can do about it.

Why is my dog attached to someone else?

Below are a number of possible causes and what would make each of them more likely.

The person is the one that feeds it or gives it exercise

If the other person is the one that feeds to gives exercise to your dog, it is likely that it is showing more interest in the person because it wants food or exercise. This would be especially likely if it tends to show more interest in the person before getting food or exercise.

The person gives your dog more attention

Another possible cause could be that the person gives your dog more attention. If the person does, it might be the case that it wants to reciprocate the attention back to the other person. In this case, it might help to give it more attention by training it, playing with it and exercising it.

You intimidate it

Another possible cause is that you have been intimidating your dog. This would be more likely if it has been avoiding you since you got mad at it. Instead, it would help to be calm with it and to get it to behave in a certain way with positive reinforcement training.

The person gives your dog treats

Another possible cause is that the person gives your dog treats. This would be more likely if you have seen the person giving it treats or his food and if your dog tends to give the person more attention when the person has food.

The person has trained it to behave that way

Another possible cause is that the person trained your dog to give the person attention. This would be more likely if you know the person has been training it and if you did not give it much training yourself.

Things to consider

Below are some things to consider when figuring out the main reason why your dog has been doing it.

Your dog might be showing that it loves you in ways that you are not noticing

Just because your dog has been showing more interest in the other person, it does not mean that your dog does not love you. There are many ways that your dog might be showing that it loves you that you are not noticing that I have explained in this post.

What else happened when your dog first started giving your the other person more attention

If your dog did not always give you less attention, it would help to consider what else happened when it stopped giving you as much attention. If it stopped doing it suddenly, it might be due to things such as if you stopped feeding it, exercising it, training it, or giving it treats.

What is different when your dog gives you more attention

If your dog does give you more attention sometimes, it would help to consider what is different when it does give you more attention. For example, if it does give you more attention when you pet it, a part of the cause could be that the person gives it more attention overall.

What to do about your dog being attached to someone else

Below are some options you have when dealing with the behavior.

Be the one to feed and exercise it

If you are not the one that tends to feed it or exercise it, you could start being the one to do it. By doing so, it is likely that your dog will start to give you a lot more attention.

Positive reinforcement training

Another way to get it to give you more attention would be to give it positive reinforcement training. This is where you encourage your dog to behave a certain way by rewarding it when it shows signs of behaving that way. To use it to get it to give you more attention, you could reward it with a treat whenever it shows you attention but it normally would not.

Be calm with it

If you might have been intimidating it, it would help to be calm with it and to get it to change its behavior with the use of training instead.

Why does my dog prefer to sleep with someone else?

Possible reasons why your dog prefers to sleep with someone else are that the person has been rewarding your dog for sleeping with them, you have intimidated your dog or that your dog likes the particular spot that it sleeps in.

Why does my dog prefer someone else?

If your dog prefers someone else, it could be due to any of the reasons mentioned above. It would help to consider if the person has been giving your dog treats and what else happened when your dog first started showing more interest in that person.

Why does my dog prefer my boyfriend or husband?

Your dog could be showing more interest in your boyfriend or husband because they feed it or exercise it more or because they give it more attention.