New Doggo Dad Wonders Why His Pup Prefers His Wife, Takes To Interwebs To Investigate

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kalila courban
Dec 24, 2023 12:00 PM EST

Hey, pals. Just like humans, every doggo has preferences. They don't necessarily have to make sense, as human preferences often don't, but they exist nonetheless. Today we are featuring a Reddit thread in which the original poster is a fresh new doggo dad, having had the doggo for about 6 months, he's noticed that the pooch strongly prefers his wife to him in choice of who to spend time with, who to request pets and love from, etc. 

Now, this could be for any number of reasons, but he lets us in on a few more details that may offer some explanation for why this doggo is showing signs of preference for his dog mom as opposed to his dog dad. Dad works from home and is the primary caregiver of the little pooch, whereas mom works mostly from the office and occasionally even travels for work. Some commenters noted that fact and proposed that perhaps the doggo cares more for his mom since he simply sees her less, and distance makes the heart grow fonder. Let's read the comments together, shall we?

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  • 01
    Posted by u/autumn_leaves010 18 hours ago Why does my dog prefer my wife?
    via u/autumn_leaves010
  • 02
    We adopted a dog 6 months ago, and overall he's a great dog. He's comfortable around both me and my wife, but when given a choice, will always choose to follow my wife around.
    via u/autumn_leaves010
  • 03
    My wife sometimes travels for work or often goes into the office, whereas I'm mostly WFH. So overall I'm around the dog more than she is. When it's just me and him, the dog will follow me around, is excited for walks, etc. But when my wife is home, the dog will follow her around, sit with her on the couch, and all that. If my wife moves to another room, the dog will follow her, whereas if I get up and leave he just stays with her.
    via u/autumn_leaves010
  • 04
    We tried having me be the one to feed him, and my wife started reducing the treats she gives him, whereas I still give him treats. It doesn't seem to help - I'll feed him and he'll eat and then run to find my wife. Any suggestions?
    via u/autumn_leaves010
  • 05
    nachopuddi 16 hr. ago Because you're a constant. My dog loves my husband. I'm always home and I'm his primary caretaker, so I'm nothing new lol.
    via u/nachopuddi
  • 06
    [deleted] 16 hr. ago Humans prefer some humans over others. Dogs are the same. 98 Reply Share zylpr 9 hr. ago Especially in adopted dogs, who might have bad experiences with a gender or attitudes (such as facial hair)
    via Reddit, u/zylpr
  • 07
    KokieDoodle 13 hr. ago I volunteered at a Rescue for a few years - and saw dogs pick their person multiple times. No idea what it is, but they just seem to know the moment that person walked through the door that "their" person had finally arrived. I fostered one dog that just never warmed up to anyone who came to see her - then all of a sudden one guy appeared, and she was in his lap immediately, and the happiest I'd ever seen her. He seemed quite taken with her too, but his wife picked another
    via u/KokieDoodle
  • 08
    SpritzLike 12 hr. ago 2 cats 1 dog here. THEY ALL KNOW if I was doing something they would think is fun. Dog sniffs for minutes after I get home from a restaurant, cats do it when I visit a friend with cats (even if I don't touch the cats). A HUGE part of house animal brains is devoted to deciding if situations are safe or not by scent.
    via u/SpritzLike
  • 09
    articuno1219 - 16 hr. ago The last dog we had, I worked from home. Dog preferred my partner who worked in the office. I would joke that dad was the fun parent that the dog preferred because once dad came home, laptops would shut and it was play time. Then we got another dog and my partner shifted to working from home and I went back to school/now work in an office. This dog again prefers my partner over me, even though he works from home. So I lost the favorite parent battle two dogs in a row in
    via u/articuno1219
  • 10
    elzappozah 12 hr. ago Same with mine and my partner's dog! I work from home part of the week with our dog and do most of the walking, vet trips etc. and dog loves me during the day, but come 5pm, dog is waiting at the window for his dad to come home, won't look at me, only listens to dad. I think it's similar to how I grew up with a stay at home parent and a full time working in the office parent and we loved our mum but as soon as we heard the garage at 6pm, all of our attention was on dad!
    via u/elzappozah
  • 11
    jezza_bezza - 15 hr. ago As they say... Absence makes the heart grow fonder. 31 Reply Share ashleylib 15 hr. ago Yep! This. He doesn't have to miss you often because you WFH. It's nothing personal.
    via u/jezza_bezza
  • 12
    Hammerhil 14 hr. ago So our dog is basically my dog. He gets most of the attention, exercise, and training from me. He listens to me more than anyone else. I also work from home and he's with me all the time, but when my wife gets home he sits down with his head on her lap. If she is working from home as well, he won't leave her alone. I think it's just a case of seeing her less than me.
    via u/Hammerhil
  • 13
    carona42 17 hr. ago Some dogs have a preference. Or because your wife is less at home her attention is something special
    via u/carona42
  • 14
    nothingbutpeen. 16 hr. ago Omg 100% same page club, I wfh and my dog loves me but I feel like I'm so common/around all the time. Whereas my wife has to leave for work and sometimes she's gone for a loooong time, and the dog goes nuts for her when she gets home. She also tends to take the dog for big hikes/adventures more than I do, so I'm sure that's a factor as well.
    via u/nothingbutpeen
  • 15
    chaos_almighty 15 hr. ago Both dogs prefer my husband . The one that started off as mine before he moved in with me is like, his soul mate and the other one we got together after we got married is his heart dog. House full of men and only one likes me best.
    via u/chaos_almighty
  • 16
    Character_Pace2242 17 hr. ago. edited 14 hr. ago Most dogs just prefer certain humans. My husband and I have multiple dogs and the girls prefer him and the boys prefer me despite me being the primary caregiver for all of them. We also foster and every one of them will have a preference on person too.
    via u/
  • 17
    blklze 16 hr. ago Dogs always pick their primary person; reasoning can just be beyond our human comprehension/logic
    via u/
  • 18
    Astarkraven 16 hr. ago Owned by Greyhound Dogs like novelty. It's the same way they react more strongly to a toy more if you put it away and bring it out every few weeks rather than just leaving it out. It isn't personal and it isn't something you need to fix. It's a good thing that your dog has things and people that he likes and that he enjoys novelty. My dog loves my company, but it's sometimes a challenge to hold his attention when his trainer is nearby. Even if I'm the one with high value t
    via u/
  • 19
    Economy_Rutabaga_849 · 16 hr. ago Maybe he prefers the way she interacts (plays, talks, pats, leaves him alone) with him then you do.
    via u/Economy_Rutabaga_849
  • 20
    kisikisikisi 16 hr. ago A lot of dogs have one person that's their #1. Growing up, my sister and I had one dog each and mom had one. They were all family dogs but they all chose one person that was their very own. There's nothing you can do about it.
    via u/kisikisikisi

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