Attachment issues!!

[BoxerrLove]

My pup is 11 weeks old and he has to be around me at all times. like even when he is eating i have to sit with him while he eats so he will. if i try to walk away he'll follow me and wont eat. He also has to sleep like right on me and and he will whine if i leave him. what can i do?? and why does he act like this?

[ehayes21]

Because he's a puppy and puppies like to be with their humans and or littermates. It's perfectly normal behavior, but you should start working on creating a little distance between you two while he eats...start by standing while he eats, then next meal move a little bit farther away, then a little bit farther, etc...do this slowly. When you can be a safe distance away from him, quickly leave the room and then return, rinse, repeat...

[Kilby'sMum]

Yeah I would start distancing yourself a little bit too. I know, it's so cute when they're little but if you don't want to spend every mealtime every day standing by your dog then you need to start gradually distancing yourself, he'll be eating on his own in no time. Also, you might not want to let him sleep on you, it's not that cute when they're 25kg+ Sometimes we had trouble with Kilby sleeping as a pup in that she wouldn't go on her bed. We used to wait for her to nod off and then put her in her bed so when she woke up she knew that was where she was supposed to be. It just takes consistency and discipline, pretty soon the whining will stop but as for the attachment.... he's a boxer and they are very smoochy dogs (there's a great post here somewhere about boxer shadows!).