Older sister stole my dog, and now I swear he hates me... Why?!?

Ok, so we recently got a new dog, well, it was actualy supposed to be my dog pretty much, and i picked him out from the shelter I voulenteer at so I knew all about him and he seemed PERFECT!! I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love rocky (that’s my dogs name) to death! It’s just, he was supposed to be MY dog! He was everything I wanted, lazy so we could cuddle a lot, an AMAZING walker, VERY mellow. He was perfect! Well, we adopted him and took him home and I was SUPER excited to finaly have an indoor dog that I could sleep with, cuddle, tell EVERYTHING too, and of course, love. Well, after a couple days I had to go get my tonsils out so I couldn’t talk for about a week! I loved it at first, he was loyal and laid on the ground by the couch I was on and at the foot of the couch, it was perfect! BUT then he started goin to my sister and by the time I could talk he was everything to her that he was suposed to be for me!! He follows her EVERYWHERE, whenever she leaves he whimpers, he HAS to sleep with her, EVERYTHING! And guess what? All she does is sleep!! While I on the other hand give him my undivided attention, all my love, I run with him, EVERYTHING! And he STILL doesn’t love me like he should!! Is maybe cuz my sis has Addisons diesease? (Her body doesn’t produce enough steroids) idk what it is but I want my dog back!!! Why does he hate me? What am I doing wrong?? I rub his belly, pet him, brush him, walk/run with him, EVERTHING!!! And all my sister does is sleep!!! Please help… Why does he hate me?? I want my dog back!! cries (I’m literaly crying) Please, someone, ANYONE, help…

I forgot to say that I wanted the legondary non-replacable dog-owner bond too, and now my dogs broken my heart. I mean, sure I was sad when huge crushes didn’t like me, or when bfs broke up with me, and especially when my guy “bff” TOTALY forgot about me, but so far, in my entire life, the only things that have made me sadder than this were deaths of family/family pets/close family friends. The main reason is because my dog left me for my annoying sister!

Hi Bri. Welcome. Thank you for sharing. It sounds like Rocky represents a lot to you. You were wanting a best friend. I can understand that. It also sounds like you have some underlying resentment toward your sister – has she been ill and been given a lot of attention? What’s your relationship like?

Dogs tend to bond with the family member that physically cares for them the most, or has the “alpha” personality, the leader of the house. Sometimes, a pet can also want to nurture an ill member. Therapy pets are the extreme of this. They can seek out those that hurt and offer their sympathy and comfort. What was Rocky’s history before he came home with you?

Looking forward to hearing back.

Nova