Family dog clung to her son like Velcro and mom feared something was wrong with the pet — until the truth about her son emerged
Certain bonds run deeper than words, and pets can feel every worry and joy of their humans. A Threads user, Annie (@annie.wade00), noticed her dog acting unusually around her son, following him everywhere he went. Concerned, she kept a closer eye on the dog, hoping to see signs of illness. When everything seemed fine, she asked her son if he had noticed the dog’s behavior. As reported by Newsweek on Wednesday, January 7, 2026, his answer revealed the anxiety he had been carrying. That was when she realized the dog’s "Velcro" behavior was simply his way of supporting her son.
In her post shared on Monday, January 5, 2026, Annie explained that over one weekend, the dog suddenly refused to leave her son alone. Wherever the boy went, "the dog followed immediately," nudging him and staying near “like Velcro.” The behavior felt out of character and constant. “I thought the dog was sick or something was wrong with him,” she wrote. Worried, she checked if the dog was limping, eating properly, or showing signs of pain. But nothing out of the ordinary came up. The only thing that stood out was how closely the dog watched her son and stayed by his side at all times. "He just wouldn't stop hovering around my son."
After days of watching this behavior, Annie finally asked her son if he had noticed the dog “acting weird.” The real issue came to light. Her son admitted he had been under heavy stress due to an upcoming school presentation. He had been losing sleep and worrying about embarrassing himself in front of his classmates. The stress had built quietly, without him saying much. Looking back, Annie realized the dog had sensed the anxiety long before anyone else did, reacting with comfort and protection instead of alarm.
“Now my son says having the dog nearby actually helps him feel calmer,” Annie wrote. “Animals pick up on things we don't talk about.” Animal behavior expert Kate LaSala told the outlet that dogs are exceptionally good at sensing and understanding human emotions. “Dogs are also very attuned to routines and our own emotions,” she commented. Stress, sleep changes, and body chemistry shifts can all influence a dog’s response. “They have evolved to be especially good at reading our body language, much better than we are at reading theirs.” But detecting stress and other human emotions isn’t the only skill dogs have; they also possess an exceptional sense of smell that can help identify illnesses, as per Vigyan Varta.
This ability was also noticed in a recent incident, where a family dog persistently tried to stop a boy from going to school. That morning, the dog refused to walk, sat on the ground, and avoided eye contact, clearly uneasy about something. Despite the struggle, the boy was sent to class. Hours later, the school called to send him home with a stomach bug. The mom noted it was “as if the dog was trying to say, ‘Mom, I don’t think he should go to school today, I have a bad feeling.’”
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