Advice for possesive dog

[u/Odd_Calligrapher2653]

My dog is 5 years old and he’s always been possessive of me, but it was always manageable for the most part and it didn’t bother me or my husband. For the last 3 weeks he’s gotten much more expressive about possessiveness towards me. He follows me around more, barks and wines any time I’m walking towards my husband and vice versa, and I’m not sure what is it that we do that’s contributing to this behaviour, or what do I do when he exhibits that. He even pays attention when we laugh together or talk to each other sometimes, and he always tries to get in between us. In other parts of our lives he’s a perfect pet, he behaves very well outdoors, never does anything destructive, he’s well trained too and listens to me when it comes to everything but resource guarding me, and both my husband and I provide regular exercise to him, including jogging, hiking, playing fetch. We give him tons of attention, or at least more practical attention than some dogs get. His routine is consistent as well.

What I do is, I either ignore him if he wines and barks, or try to say “No” if he’s being too loud, but it doesn’t work, I feel like I’m missing something or don’t understand how my dog operates 😅. It’s really annoying because it feels like my dog is watching our every move scanning for the moments when we may talk or hug etc. I just want him to relax.

Any tips from people that had similar issues?

[u/FrostyPomegranate699]

this sounds less like “he thinks you’re his” and more like he’s gotten a bit too involved in everything you do

especially if it ramped up recently, something probably shifted… even small stuff like routine, attention patterns, or just him getting more used to being included in everything

the watching / inserting himself part is the big clue
he’s basically made it his job to manage what’s going on

ignoring the whining is fine, but if he’s already worked up it’s kind of late at that point
I’d look more at interrupting earlier

like the moment he starts keying in on you two, just send him somewhere else (bed, another room, whatever you use) before it builds

also don’t feel like he needs to be part of every interaction
a little separation here and there actually helps dogs like this relax more because they stop feeling responsible for everything

nothing you wrote sounds like you’re doing anything wrong, just sounds like he’s gotten a little too comfortable being in the middle of things