My dog Chloe is SO nosy. She thinks it’s her mission to keep an eye on the neighborhood. Not just what’s going on in our yard, but in the neighbors’ yards too.
Every time we take her outside, she spends most of her time staring off at everyone else’s house to see what they’re doing. If we leave the back door open, she’ll stand at the screen door and check to see if anyone is visiting the neighbors. Don’t even think about visiting a house two doors down from us because Chloe will be watching and is ready to bark at you to make sure you understand she’s the boss around these parts and she doesn’t appreciate guests who haven’t cleared their visit through her first.
Our other dog Daisy doesn’t care. She’s much more interested in sleeping than in seeing what everyone else is doing. Daisy is laid-back and easygoing. Chloe is hyper, filled with anxiety about everything, and insists everyone else’s business is her business too. We can’t take her anywhere without her wanting to see everyone (and then whining if they get too close to her. She’s very conflicted about whether she actually does want attention from strangers). When she rides in the car, she watches everyone in the other cars around us to make sure they’re not doing anything she doesn’t approve of. How dare you eat a cheeseburger in your car and not offer her one too!
I’m pretty sure she doesn’t know that she’s a dog. She believes she is a person and should be involved in everything that other people do. She doesn’t like “dog activities.” We took her and Daisy to the new dog park one day a few months ago. They both sat in the grass crying and refusing to run around and play, until we gave up and took them home.
Chloe would much rather be at home being the nosy neighbor than playing at a park meant for dogs. (Daisy would just rather be at home sleeping.)
The next time you get that weird feeling that someone is watching you, it’s probably Chloe keeping her eye on everything you do.