Expert: Alan J Turner, SATS LL1 - 12/20/2006

Question
I have a 9 year old female Great Dane / Rottweiler cross named Kodi. In the past 1-2 years she has started incessantly following me from room to room every time I move about the house. It doesn't bother me but it drives my family crazy. They think she is in the way and too needy. She lays down in whatever room I am in and is not afraid to fall asleep or pay attention to someone else but when I leave, she comes with me. She exhibits no destructive behavior when I leave the house or at any other time. Is this just typical pack behavior? Is my family reading too much into her tag-a-long ways?

Thanks in advance for your response and for the great info on your website!

Answer
Dear Kelli,
Thanks for the interesting question.  

In my (strict scientific) opinion dogs don't form packs with humans. It's a nice and popular way to think about our relationships with dogs, but not so. You can find out more about what I think about dogs and packs and alpha on an article titled, Forget About Alpha. Here's the link.
http://howsbentley.com/bentleyhowls/forgetalpha.shtml

It sounds like Kodi prefers to be near you. There are several reasons a dog might prefer one person over another. In a nutshell, Dogs do what "works" for them and apparently "being near you" works for Kodi! That's not to say she doesn't like the others, it's just that she gets more from life (from her point of view) when she is with you.

I'm glad it's not a problem for you or Kodi. I hope you and your family have a wonderful, safe holiday season. Thanks for the question.

Happy Training!
AT
http://www.howsbentley.com