Help?? new OES owner
Im new here, just recently adopted an OES last week. Sara is 6 years old and is wonderful with manners, very loving, etc. But I do have sort of a problem...you see she is REALLY attatched to me, by that I mean i cannot walk anywhere without her going with me, from the living room to the kitchen, etc, she ALWAYS follows me. She does not do this wiht anyone else in our family, just ME!! If I leave the house, she litterally looks out the window and whines, non-stop and lays at the door until I return home. We all thin she is wonderful but my husband thinks this is kinda getting ridiulous how she acts with me...like right now typing this to you....she is sitting here staring at me!!! LOL anyways, why do you think she does this?? anyone have any knowledge of this behavior?? I mean hubby says "shes worse than a kid shadowing" LOL Thanks, Tammy in NY |
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| lol. one piece of advice-- get used to it! clyde is much more attached to me than he is to my boyfriend too. there is nowhere-- and i mean nowhere-- that i can go without him unless he's eating or playing with the other dog. it's funny, if he is following my boyfriend and i walk by he stops in midstride to be with me. i say the same thing about him, "here comes my shadow!" |
You've found out the reason we call our sheepies "velcro" dogs! 
A few things are working here, too. First, she's 6 years old and in a new home, so she's still unsure of her position in the "pack." She views you as the leader, and as such she clings to you for protection. Second, these wonderful creatures in general love nothing more than to be with people and to attach themselves at the hip to their upright. Nothing to be alarmed about, but I would expect it to continue. She'll warm up to the rest of the family soon enough, but until then - you're IT, Mom! Enjoy her! Chris |
| Silly me! Forgot to say -
Welcome to the forum, Tammy! Chris |
Welcome to the forum, and as others have said, get used to it!  This is something I think all OES do, they are very family oriented, and a herding dog, so with the natural desire to be with you, as well as herd you, you have a velcro dog. |
| Welcome to the joys of Old English Sheepdog ownership !!
They were bred to do the job of herding, including being close to their master. They take their job to heart !!! Our first sheepie, Prince loved to go for rides. Talk about a character ! I first put him in the passenger seat to transport him to the vet. Instead of looking straight ahead or out the side window,he sat facing me !!! If I looked to the right, I received a big wet sheepie kiss. Needless to say, he was bumped from first class to coach on our next outing !!! So enjoy being in the spotlight !! |
| Boy, I only wish I had your problem. Ben is 4 months old, and I am always searching for him to see what he has gotten into. I live for the day he follows me. LOL |
Welcome to the forum, Tammy!  Sara sounds like a sheepie! Our 2 sheepies follow me more than anyone else, but they are close to everyone. If my husband leaves the room, they will stay with me and when I walk out they follow me. I have been the one always home with them and they view me as the leader. 
The nickname "velcro dogs" very much applies to this breed, so my best advice is get used to your new hairy shadow. 
Stormi and co. |
| Tammy,
First of all, CONGRATULATIONS on adopting your new sheepie baby. And second...Welcome to the forum. It's a wonderful place to be a part of. So many wonderful, informative people! Anyhow, get used to the fact that you probably won't have much "alone" time. I can't imagine how I ever cooked, took a bath, went to the bathroom, slept, checked the mail, went to the gas station, went to my mom's, went for a walk, read a book, took a nap.... without Abby! If I had a choice would I want to do it all alone again???? NOT A CHANCE! I love every minute of having Abby around. She will love on everyone, but she is definitely a Moma's baby! I think everyone else is jealous,.... oh well! Keep us posted and send pictures! |
| Welcome to the forum! I concur with everyone who mentioned the velcro aspect of the bobtails. It's true. It's gotten so that I'm unnerved when Farley isn't nearby. When I don't hear or see him I get nervous because it means he's into something that he probably shouldn't be doing! <<insert laff here>>
Why was you pup given up for adoption? She sounds lovely. |
| Hi, even though our sheepies are instinctively like velcro I would invest in purchasing "The Dog Listerner" which outlines a lot of a dog's behavior. Since this is a new home for a 6 year old I would hate to see her develop anxiety issues depending on how you react to leaving the house, coming into the house, etc.. |
| welcome !!! My 2 sheepies do the same thing and one of them I have only had for 2 days but the 3 of us travel in a pack wherever I go they go. I will agree nobody told me that they came with velcro! |
| this thread made me laugh!! just last night Mickey was laying right behind me w/ his paws laying on the backs of my slippers so when I tried to walk (move) i fell backwards!!LOL!!and Mickey still didnt get up til I yelled can you move!!!!??? like everyone has said get used to it,because altho I have 3dogs Mickey ,my OES follows me every where,even if I walk a foot hes right behind me,or on my side trying to heard me!!LOL!!at 1st it was aggrivating to me,but now I find it to be just what Mickey does.its a good thing these babies arent tiny or else we would more than likely kill them by stepping on them!! once your OES gets bigger youll get used to it.Oh and WELCOME to the forum!! |
| I have heard of several OES owners that have landed in the Emergency Room because of tripping over their dogs. I think in general statistics are quite high of accidental falls relating to a pet.
I must say Abby is quite the speedbump! |
| Tammy,
My mother is the one in my parent's house who is in your current predicament with the sheepie my brother left in her and my father's care when he left for college. Everywhere she goes, he goes, including the bathroom if she happens to accidentally leave the door a bit ajar! My parents also happen to own a Bichon Frise and an Afghan Hound. The Bichon is constantly compelled to emulate every action the "big dogs" do. Most of the time the Bichon is not that into imitating the Afghan since other than going to the bathroom and eating, he prepfers to spend the day and night all lazy on the living room couch. The Bichon, however, has really latched on to do everything the far more active "big dog" does. Even if the Bichon does not know why the Sheepie is barking at something, he will start barking too. This kind of behavior also happens to apply to the whole situation with following my mother everywhere. So here she is with BOTH DOGS FOLLOWING HER around the house wherever she goes. One time when I was over at my parent's place for a visit, and I gave my mom an extra positive way to look at the situation. I called the two dogs "mom's aunterage". Congradualtions on your new "aunterage"! |
| Tammy how are things going with Sara? |
| Hi Everyone!
Newbie to the site and thanks to eveyone - terrific information and much appreciated. We just picked up 8 week old Gumbo Saturday - 3 days ago . She's absolutely beautiful and we love her already. We are trying to crate train her - help. Any hints or things that worked for you will be appreciated. Also, we have a 7 year old dauqhter who is afraid of her because she is constantly nipping  . Is this normal? How long will it last? Hints?
We thought we were so smart as we had an OES before BUT we got her at 18 months old and were spared the puppy follies. Thanks everyone - gotta check on nutty Gumbo  . |
| I have one word for you Tammy.
VELCRO! They truly love and need to be with their human counterparts. These are not dogs you can put in the backyard and expect to do well. They thrive on the human element. I will not doubt that many of us will say that their sheepie is near human, acts like a human, or does not identify with other dogs well. It's because they think that they too, are human. I personally think it's the bobbed tail that makes them think that way. So welcome to the forum, you will get much enjoyment from it and as someone else already advised, get used to it. I have two and think at times that I have dogs attached to my legs, where ever I go, both also go. Bathroom, kitchen, bedtime or just moving from one room to the other. House keeping is not fun when they have to go every where you do. But you get used to it. We have trained Tyler to stay on our bed when we are doing our cleaning thing.... Might try that. Welcome |
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