We have a 3 1/2 year old male German Shepherd that joined our family almost 7 months ago. He was neutered 6 weeks ago. Since the day we took him home, he has been obsessively devoted to me. Inside the house he will not leave my side, and if he is prevented from being with me, he gets very agitated and upset. If I am not in the house, he will stay at the front door until I get home, unless he is forced to comply otherwise. He will obey my husband's commands if I am not around, but if I am, our dog will basically ignore him.

We do not allow him on the furniture or to sleep in bed with us. He must do a down stay before he eats, and we make sure he is the last one out of the door. We give him commands to sit or down before providing him affection, and we are quick to provide correction if he does something we don't like. Recently we decided to have him leashed all the time in the house if we are home and awake. We hold the other end of the leash -he is not tethered. We did this because after he was neutered, he completely regressed with his housebreaking, and after ruling out medical issues, we realized it was behavioral. If we are sleeping or away, he is crated.

My question: Is our dog's attention towards me healthy? Has he simply bonded with me the best or is it a dominance issue with him? His "devotion" has not changed since he was neutered.

Thanks,
Karin

Who feeds him?

It's the same thing with a dog my boyfriend and I found and took care of last year. Although she loves everyone, she seems to be agitated whenever she is seperated from me and would greet me first when we come in through the door. My own dog is also like this, but then he has only met my boyfriend when he is 7, and I have been with him since birth, and he has always been the type of dog who plays favourites.

Otherwise perhaps in his past it was the woman who fed/played with him and he has decided that that's how the world works.

Alfie is like this with me except he doesn't get aggitated, he just sighs and gets as close as he can to me. He also nudges me alot for affection. Insecure? I'd say yes. Trustworthy, yes. Many times he has been mauled by my niece, this was initiated by him. He would always stand still for he as she was pulling on his ears to pull herself up to a standing position and then would stand still as she made her way to his back and held on, but then if I would move to go get the laundry or whatever, he would slowly walk away while she slid to her butt, and be right by my side. Other dogs, except one puppy he is good with.....unless they try to posture on him AND growl, then he gives them a look like "Son, you don't want a piece of me...." then they walk off.

Alfie was owned by a man before. When we got him, I was the primary caregiver/trainer to him. We adopted him when he was 4 from a rescue. He was definitely obedience trained before we got him, so I am assuming the man did that.
He is so eager to be with me that when he is out in the yard pottying and I call out "Xena c'mere" Alfie comes running and sits down right in front of me. God he's adorable when he does that! Big ol blockhead.

Hmmm, one other thing I thought of, perhaps the dog deems you as the more 'dominant' of the pair and hence the true leader. Not that I'm assuming anything of course, but it's entirely possible... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I feed him.
Perhaps he was raised by a woman, (I don't know) because his attachment to me was immediate, even before he knew the extent of my involvement with him. He doesn't particularly show preference to women in general though. Maybe we are interspecies soulmates <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
The reason why I asked the question originally is because when I explained his devotion to me to a trainer, he said it might be a dominance issue. I wasn't too convinced of that. Although I do have a way to go before he completely accepts me as his leader without question, he does listen to me best out of everyone. Nonetheless, I am interested in second opinions, so thank you for your input Kay and Diann.

I think I agree with your trainer's idea that this is dominance. Your dog may see you as the pack leader(or above his rank)but thinks your husband is below him-(1-you, 2-dog, 3-husband) This happens alot with kids in the family. The dog behaves the parents but is unruly with the children. Normally, the parents would have the dog practice training the dog with the parents on another leash to give a correction or use an e-collar. The idea is to have the dog think the kids are the ones training/disiplining him and not the parents & kids would move up in the pack. Of course the kids would need to be taught the correct and consistent way to command the dog and the dog cannot have too big of a dominance problem or you are setting up for you kid to get bitten in a challenge. I am sure this can work with you husband by having him train & gradually increasing the "distractions"(you) and correcting him for not responding.
It might help? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />
Alison Voore

Yes I agree with Alison. Xena was looking at my daughters as lower pack members, so we had the girls train her and she responds very well to my girls, but still best with me. Xena is a hard dog and is still a challenge, but my trainer told me she would be like that. I accept the fact, but I am always working with her, always.

My understanding is that the trainer thought the dominance problem was with me. Since our dog acts agitated and upset when he isn't with me, and really won't quiet down until he is, we are being submissive when we allow him to be with me when he acts that way. Once he is with me, he is quiet and content lying next to my feet. When the situation is looked at this way, and considering the previous information I gave you, does it sound like a dominance problem or an anxiety problem, or a problem at all? Thanks.

Seems like he just loves you more. You did mention he follows your husband doesn't he? I would think with dominance he would refuse to obey him, or even attack him. And probably because a woman took care of him before he has it in his mind that the woman is higher of the two alphas. It just makes sense to fawn over her instead of the lower person even if he is higher--she makes the overall rules!

When you describe it that way, it seems like your dog has an attachment to you. German Shepherds are known for this and you can see alot of gsd squirm in the down stay with abscence of handler in the competition. I would be flattered by a dog who would cry to be by my side but truthfully, it isn't mentally healthy for the dog. When you leave, he becomes anxious and in my opinion, I would try to discourage that behavior. Not by punishment, but by socialization and training with the other members of you family. (see my previous post a few up).
Either way- if the problem is dominance, attachment, or anxiety- exposure to your family as a whole and individually will help to better round this dog and make him the best family pet he can be.
The submissive behavior you trainer recommended you display sounds like a good way to help your dog gain confidence. Being a rescue, you never know what he went through before his new home. With practice and patience, he should be just fine!
Alison Voore