Does your dog prefer one family member over the others?

Does your dog seem to have a family member that they favor over other ones? I have had a few dogs over time and most of them haven't shown any preference for one person over another and seemed to love everyone in the house equally. The dog I currently have was an 8 week old Australian Cattle Dog puppy given to my son 8 years ago when he was 14. He and the dog were inseparable for months. He kept the puppy at his side 24 hours a day and they seemed to have a real bond. Meanwhile he did show some interest in having my attention as well but not from anyone else in the house. A few months went by and my son spent more time away from home, at school, with friends, etc. leaving the dog at home. Not long after the dog was not quite a couple years old my son moved out of the house and his visits were infrequent. The dog stayed with us and instantly adopted me. He seems to only want to be near or with me and only my attention. He even growls at my son when he shows him some affection when visiting. He only wants to be with me and follows me from room to room, lies on my side of the bed at night, etc. I wonder if this is common with the breed or if some dogs just seem to love one person more than others.

 

It is often that the dogs in our household have a favorite owner, few seem to love everyone. It makes me missed the dogs that have loved me over the others.

 

My father is Homer's favorite. When he comes back from work, Homer jumps from happiness and follows him everywhere and sleeps on his knees. They spend a lot of time together.
I've noticed that Homer prefers men's company, women are always his second choice . When my boyfriend and I both want to greet him, he always runs to my boyfriend first.

 

All of my dogs have a "favorite" person. We each have one that is attached. My dog will love on anyone else in the house but prefers my company over everyone else. I think it depends on the level of attention they receive from each person. It is an interesting dynamic. Phoenix I would be more concerned with the dog growling at your son. Normally dogs don't react that way unless your son is there so little that he is viewed as a stranger.

 

Hello people it's so nice to see so many dog lovers! I have a question: I always wondered if dogs were color blind? Are they?

 

Hello!
As far as I know dogs can see colors - but not as many as we do. They mostly see blue and yellow. I've heard that red is the same as black to them but I'm not sure if it's true.
I noticed that my Homer likes green things, his favorite blanket is green

 

Actually does are not color blind. They see colors similar to what we see except colors like red, green and orange appear more on the yellow to blue spectrum. Usually when dogs are trained as seeing eye dogs or guide dogs they are trained to which of the lights are lit instead of what color light it is.

 

Thank you for sharing

 

My seems to love my dad. I remember when my dad went to a conference abroad, my dog refused to come in the house for a week. He kept waiting for my dad outside the garage and when my dad finally came home, omg you should have seen his reaction.

 

I do think on a certain level it is not only preferring one person over another but also which person they feel needs them most. If anyone is having a bad day all of the dogs tend to hang around that person and give them love almost to the exclusion of everyone else.

 

This is partly true as well.... I agree because it happened to me several times....

 

Candy stays in the house most of the time with my father. My father shares his food with her. Yet, strangely, she never grew too attached to my father. I am still the one and only love in her life.

 

There are only two of us here and Misha likes us both equally. When it comes to the rest of the family, Misha does have favorites. My nephew is clearly her favorite outside the household. When he comes over, she get so excited that she is beside herself. Just hearing his name will sometimes make her run to the door. She's very disappointed when he isn't really there.

As to whether dogs see color, someone posted a while back two graphics that showed what dogs see. Their color scheme was different than humans.

 

My dog's favorite person is my husband. I walk my chow everyday. I am also her primary care giver. My husband walks her maybe once or twice a week at most and hardly spends more than 30 minutes giving her attention per day. When my husband comes home however she immediately goes to him and follows him around the house. My husband is also the only one who can tell her to go into the house when she is playing in the garden. When I tell her that it's time to go into the house she ignores me. All my hubby says is "inside" and she trots into our home.