Like Ed Sheeran said, ‘loving can hurts sometimes.’ It also hurts when your dog loves your neighbor more than you. So why does your dog love your neighbor more than you?
Your dog may love your neighbor more than you due to attention, affection, freedom, past memories. The bond between you and the dog can be strengthened with positive vibes, twin energy, knowing the dog’s likes and dislikes, listening to the dog, providing exercise, & spending quality time together.
So how can you win your dog over your neighbor? Don’t worry!. I’ll tell you 4 easy steps to do it. Let’s find out.
Why does my dog like my neighbor more than me?
It’s always hard to see someone choose another over you. And it is even harder with pets. But before worrying about it, you should look back at why this happened. Where did it go wrong?
1. Attention & Affection
Dogs are great attention seekers. They are attracted to attention. So you have to show them your love and affection.
I know it is not easy to spare time from your day for them more with your busy life, but this is a major point your neighbor can score more than you. Let me tell you a story.
One of my friend’s neighbors has this one-year-old retriever, and the owner has no time to spend on his dog. He is always in a hurry, and the dog is neglected.
And then the dog used to roam around the backyard of my friend’s house, and he used to pet him and give him treats sometimes. Now even though his owner is there, he gives my friend’s the priority.
So now you know where did the trick work. Attention is their weakness. That’s how your neighbor is gonna score.
2. Freedom
Are you hindering every action your dog takes? This can be kind of a red flag as sometimes they need freedom to some extent. And when someone else allows every action they take, they are gonna put much interest in them.
As a typical dog owner, sometimes you can limit the treats they are given, keep them away from the road and other dogs, digging the backyard. Still, from the other side, they are all permitted.
But I am not telling you to tolerate every bad habit your dog gonna do. But there must be some kind of freedom for them.
3. Past memories of someone
In most cases of adopted or fostered dogs, this thing is happening. For most dogs, your neighbor might be reminding their previous owner or someone they loved.
It can be because of similar habits, features, or a similar scent coming from your neighbor. So they would be trying to recreate those positive memories with your neighbor.
Try to tape over those memories of your dog by creating brand new good memories in their head. Try spending some quality time with the neighbor every day.
There can be some other reasons like
- Similar features between you and your neighbors.
- Your neighbor got a scent that your dog prefers.
- Same energy between you and your neighbor.
- Your neighbor got great soft skills for bonding.
Is it bad, or should you worry if your dog loves your neighbor?
It depends on several reasons. It really depends on the attributes and personality of your neighbors. Are they nice and good people? If they are, half of your concern should leave behind.
The next question is, How long is your dog gonna spend time with them. If it’s like almost a day, you should worry about this relationship and take some action.
Even though they treat your dog nicely, they might have forgotten about the junk food that your dog consumed. They might give table scraps, treats too much that can affect the balanced diet requirement of your doggo.
You are the only one that knows about the history of your dog than anyone else.
So it can be dangerous that someone who does not know your dog keeps hosting him as you know their weaknesses, diseases, allergies, and everything.
And It is also not good when they have some animals in their home.
These animals can harm your doggo without you knowing, and also some diseases can be caused by them.
If the aforementioned reasons are not affected, I don’t think the friendship between your dog and your neighbor is something you should worry about that much.
How to make your dog love you more than your neighbor?
The key thing you have to understand here is that dogs are bonding with people who interact with them during their key socialization period.
The early age social experiments gonna ringing in their head for the rest of their lives; that is why you have to make sure those memories are filled with you.
But if you missed your pet’s key socializing age, don’t worry.
You can still be their favorite. Keep trying doing play dates and dog walks, and keep in touch with your dog.
As I mentioned earlier, dogs are attracted to attention. If you don’t believe me, look at a normal family with parents and kids.
The pet’s favorite always will be the one who fills their plate and take them for walks.
When Phoebe says, “hugs are a classic sign of love,” she didn’t joke. That’s very true. And you can still score with your dogs with tight hugs and belly rubs.
Make them feel like there’s no option like you; they wanna go when they need to be loved.
1. Positive vibes
My friend has a dog named charlie. Charlie is taken care of by him and his mother. So his mother is doing all the grooming stuff and giving medicine, those kinds of things dogs usually don’t like.
But all my friend is doing is giving treats and belly rubs for charlie. And Charlie is more likely to hang out with my friend and not so much like his mother.
As humans, We all like to hang out with people with positive vibes. There’s no difference in dogs. They also wanna be with people who create a positive atmosphere.
You can easily build up a positive association with them by giving away stuff like treats. On the other hand, some grooming methods limit their freedom; using a leash can make them feel negative about you.
So you have to even those things.
2. Twin energy
Everyone likes spending more time with people like them. It is a fact that we can find our comfort zone with people who match our energy level with us. So why not for dogs?
Dogs also attach to persons who match their energy. So if your neighbor is more likely them, your doggo might choose your neighbor over you to hang out.
So I’m gonna tell you some easy ways to slide into your dog’s hearts. This will help to increase and improve the bond between you and your dog.
This only takes 30 minutes a day, and I’m not talking about walks, yard time, or beach visits.
- You can play fetch, tug and hide and seek.
- Engage in training sessions. Discover new skills and reinforce old skills is a pretty good way to getting bonded.
- Play games you both can engage like a team. Ex- agility, flyball
- Engage in grooming sessions. Giving them a good bath can extend the quality of time between you and your doggo. Give em good massages too. Dogs really love those!
- You can schedule the meals you and your dog , to take together. You both can have mealtime together in a same place and this will definitely help with the bonding.
- And again. Give them food and treats they like.
The truth is you don’t have to force them to love you. Just treat them nicely, take care of them, make a positive atmosphere for them, respect his personality, and he will pay you back. So loving your dog won’t be a losing game.
3. Do what your dogs like, together!
You can learn what’s your dog likes more after spending time with him for a period. So frequently engage in those activities that cheer them up.
My dog is obsessed with morning walks. When I take the leash to my hand, she becomes very exciting and does circles around me.
She’s in a super duper hurry to go out every morning. So going out makes her happy, which also grows her love towards me.
Like that, find out what your dog’s favorites are and spare time to enjoy it with your doggo. This will also help wipe out your doggo’s good memories with the previous owners and replace them with your ones.
4. Listen!
When your dog is trying to tell something to you, listen. Maybe he’s not feeling well; maybe he’s anxious.
Maybe he needs some space. Talk back to him. Call his name. Communicate!
Things to be aware of.
Sometimes you can be busy with all your filled-up schedule. So you can hire a professional to watch your dog while they’re no one home. So there would be no constant contact of your dog with anyone other than you.
If your dog spends more time with your neighbor and you are totally okay with this, you should acknowledge him about the history of your dog and all about your dog’s diseases and allergies.
I know this is quite hard to accept, but if you are living a tight life schedule. There is no time to spare for your dog, and you are running out of options; it’s better to step aside and give your dog to your neighbor if you can’t trust them.
It’s better for the mental and physical well-being of your dog too.
Conclusion.
Dogs are social animals by nature, and it is impossible to keep them out from people, but you should make them realize you are the home for them. That you are the first person they can count on every time they feel loved. It is not a hard thing aa it just needs your time and the will to build up a strong bond with your dog. And if you are super busy with your life and there is no time to spare for your dog, it is no harm to give your dog to your neighbor if they are interested. Yes, it is a hard decision, but your dog’s mental health is mainly affected by lack of attention, so it would be a good decision.
