Cocker too clingy

[*Marie*]

Bracken is 6 months old now and is very very clingy to me, I can't even go upstairs to the loo without him barking or whining at the bottom of the stairs, wouldn't mind if he was on his own but there are always some one else downstairs but they are obviously not good enough for him, if he's in the car I can leave him to pop in the shop and he's fine, at home he follows me about, have tried getting him to stay but as soon as I'm out of the room he comes running, I know I read somewhere that you need to seperate from them by 6 months but can't find it, any ideas on how to get him to realise he can't cling on to me so bad! no one in the house can play with him because he's only interested in me, hubby can a bit play with him! Any ideas please!!!!!!! xx

[elaine.e]

Does anyone else in the household feed or groom him? If you currently do both you could ask other family members to do so instead so that Bracken starts to build up more of a bond with them.

[*Marie*]

I feed him in the evenings, hubby feeds him in the mornings, the others are in bed when he gets fed in mornings, the others groom him sometimes, my late retriever was my dog too but never clingy like Bracken is!

[wendall]

I have the same problem. No idea how to solve it i`m affraid. Thats why they are called velcro dogs I suppose

[Rowan Liver Roan]

I previously had retrievers and gorgeous loyal dogs they were but not in the Velcro class of our show cocker. She was very similar to bracken too. What changed her was the strops/rebellion stage 8-10 months where she tested to assert herself plus hubby not just doing the feeding, but the treating too. We made sure he got to do all the high value treat stuff and went on the floor with her to play. He encouraged her to sit with him and petted/spoilt her. She's now more balanced with both of us, but sometimes now actually favours him, so be careful what you wish for  A lot of cockers on here are Velcro stickies to their owners, I think it can be a breed trait (not all right enough) and its why although a cocker is definately my type of dog, they might not be ideal for everybody. Good luck though and hopefully time and growing up will help your puppy be a bit less dependant.

[lynnruby]

Same problem here and Ruby is just over 2 years old    I don't have an answer sorry 

OH feeds her most mornings, plays with her and takes her for a walk.......but she still clings to me    

[cfordham2710]

Try putting a child gate at the bottom of the stairs.  When you are going upstairs, give a treat, and go up closing the gate behind you.  When you come down give a little bit of fuss but not over the top.  Its nice that they want to be with you but it can have a negative effect on them

[wendall]

That doesnt work so well in a bungalow tho

[SophieBlueRoanLover]

It could just take time for her to get used to. My dog was very whiney/barky if I went out when I first started leaving him (at about 5-6 months) but he eventually got used to it. Even more recently if there was someone at the door and I went down to them he might whine, but now he doesn't do it (10 months now) - just got used to it, I guess. Having said that I did leave him with a friend in a café the other day while I popped downstairs to the loo and all I could hear was my bl**dy dog making an awful racket for me!