Something that we frequently hear from owners of young dogs is, “My puppy doesn’t wander off when we’re at the park, he just stays near me.” Commonly a young dog will stay very close to his owner in a variety of settings; some new, some not so new. Reasons for the attentive nature may be insecurity, total fascination with the owner and family, or it could be that the puppy just hasn’t yet noticed the other fun stuff in the environment. Although this isn’t always the case for all puppies, it’s fairly common to see this type of behavior, but will it last?
As we do the right things to raise our puppies into the dogs we want them to be, I would hope that this type “follow me around” type behavior changes. I’m not saying that I want your dog to run off and not care about you, but it’s important that your dog gains some independence from you and learns to be social and curious.
We want dogs to have the confidence to get more then 20′ away from you, we want them to investigate, smell, socialize and notice things in the environment; these are all traits of a well-socialized and adjusted dog. So as you continue to go out and explore with your dog, don’t be surprised or upset if you are no longer the center of their universe, don’t be surprised if the size of your dog’s comfort zone increases, and don’t be surprised when all of a sudden you need a leash to travel safely with your pup.
While a dog that wanders off and no longer follows you around is a good thing, it automatically brings on a whole new set of challenges. Now it’s even more important to teach him a recall command to keep him safe!
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