Sweetie, my golden retriever, is no longer that needy. She was neglected when she was really young. When we first got her, she wanted you to pet her forever. She could not get enough affection. She was put in the basement for hours at a time–even got pregnant before she was one year old when she was tied down outside in the yard and a dog jumped the fence and impregnated her. We have owned her, maybe, eight years and now she knows she is loved. She was neglected as a young dog. No longer.