That's me and my cats. Also, most random cats on the street. I am excited to see them all!
this post was submitted on 01 Aug 2026
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Many people treat their dog like it's a piece of furniture, like it's just something you are supposed to have in a normal home. Hell, plenty of people seem to be that way about their own human children.
I guess some of them might have their dog for paranoia reasons too, like its presence is going to make them more safe.
Can't, dog has separation anxiety and that behavior makes it so much worse. Leaving and coming are perfectly normal activities and placing such emotional emphasis makes the dog worry it was warranted for them to worry.
What? Separation anxiety is usually worsened by ignoring them. Now every dog is different for sure, but generally the best way to treat separation anxiety is to be excited to see the dog when you return, and never scold it or yell at it for things it may have done while you were gone.
You don't want leaving or coming home to be a special event.
You're not ignoring the dog, you're just not getting them wound up in those specific situations.
Recent studies have shown that doesn't seem to affect separation anxiety as much as previously thought. More study is needed, but if your dog doesn't have separation anxiety, it doesn't seem like having high excited energy when you return will increase their chance of developing it.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1558787820300460?via=ihub
From the abstract
"From both experiment 1 and 2, our results indicate that high excitement and playful levels of owners during departures and arrivals is not associated with the development of increased separation-related behavior in newly adopted dogs. It is important to make the distinction, however, that low arousal departures and arrivals are a well-documented treatment for separation-related behavior, and our results only reflect that these arousal levels do not appear to play a causal role in the development of an increased frequency of them."
Interesting study. Would be interested in seeing other data points on what behaviors are improved or reduced on high or low excitement.
Personally, I'll still remain low energy. I want my dog to not rush the door when myself or anyone else comes to my house. I want to control exactly when it's safe for my dog to go bonkers.
I've seen far too many dogs mug guests, and it's much nicer having that encounter further into the house than the entryway.
Unless they're still a pup that you got from a shelter and you need to curb your, and their, excitement a bit so they don't pee all over the floor.
Puddles! Not again!
My son's friend had a dog nicknamed Puddles for this reason.
If they're excited to see you then they deserve the same level of excitement.
That's why I gave my dog away, they deserve someone that can be excited for them, I couldn't, so I didn't deserve my dog.
What I want to know is what the figurative point of having a dog is.
Well, someone has to come with me and help me hunt small game and herd animals
Reason to get up in the morning and live your life.
It’s to get excited every time you come home