The Dog Shadow

by Yvonne
(Gaithersburg, MD)

I have a six year old male Shih Tzu who was given to me as a puppy but now is driving me crazy. My husband and I live in a 1000 sq ft apartment. And everytime, without exception, this dog has to get up and follow every time my husband gets up to go 'anywhere' in the house.
He even sits in front of the door to the one bathroom, until... And it doesn't matter what time of the day or night it is. If my husband is up, for any reason, so is the dog. Its like he is afraid to let my husband out of his site even for one minute.
My husband see's nothing wrong with this and says it doesn't bother him. I on the other hand think its abnormal and put up with it until I just can't. And then I make the dog sit with me for a small period of time (5 or 10 minutes)
This has been going on for a few years now. And growing up I've had lots of dogs and never seen this kind of behavior before. Is a dog supposed to be one's 'ultimate' shadow? Or am I just being unreasonable?

To be honest this is something I really wouldn't worry about too much - I have a relative who has exactly the same problem - (but is it really a problem)? Sometimes dogs do get more attached to certain members of the family. If it's not bothering your husband - whats the problem? I know someone who had a Yorkshire Terrier who followed her everywhere. If you want your dog to start spending more time with you - why not start calling him and then rewarding him with praise and a treat - this will work much better than forcing him to sit with you.