not feeling well, in general.

I am glad you have been able to sleep despite all of the stress.
That's a bit of a help! Althogh not enough help for you just now!

My 8 year old shepherd still does this "clinging" on many days. Over the past year, she has days when she will stay in a different room for a little while, but always in the very next room, if not right beside me. If I have been gone to appointments or to a function , she is vdery clingy for the next 2-3 days. If I am gone for parts of even two days in a row... her digestive system gets all upset. (Ulcerative colitis can be an inheritied condition in shepherds... as can many autoimmune conditions.)

We have tried different things, over the years, to try to distract her from her "dependencies." We had started her in structured "dog activities" at a nearby training center...so she could be dropped there and could play with other dogs, etc., if we were busy for the day and/or if we were away on vacation. (We had done this even though we'd then still had another older shepherd at home.) Although she was started at 6 months, which was the earliest the training center would allow her to start, she'd started to have colitis from even 2-3 hours at the supervised "playground" while we would attend to other matters.

This has become a huge problem recently, during weeks I have been at a lot of testing/appts., as the poor girl had again started bleeding with colitis and had to go to the vet. She was never left alone for a full day; yet, she was left alone multiple times during the same week. (We'd lost our other dog 3-4 years ago; this younger one was okay if home with the other dog.) This one also is no longer amenable to attending structured play at any training center, which is too bad, as I have one right around the corner from my house, with an excellent training staff! She becomes ill if she is left there, even for a few hours, even though she loves the staff and other dogs.

This can be a problem with this breed (and with some other breeds). Some shepherds are very sociable with other dogs when they are young and become aggressive toward other dogs when they become older. This type of behavior genrally precludes their involvement in dog group actitivities.

I try to ignore her "clinging" behaviors, so as to not reinforce them. I leave areas and intentionally do not summon her. I am sure you do not summon your pup! I know this behavior! There's no need to summon the pup, as the pup is always underfoot!

I can make a few suggestions. They are all centered around lack of reinforcement for dependent behaviors, etc. (Most trainers would advise totally ignoring the "over- dependency." This can be difficult, because they are so darned cute... and sweet! However, it can be helpful in the long run!)
I will PM you with some information/suggestions in the next day or two?

If I had to do it all over again, I would still do it differently. I would have had her get used to more absences and would have had her be away from me more often, even if she was learning to spend time with someone else.

We did not expect to lose our other dog so quickly and they were fine when home with one another. Now, Billye, if we go on vacation, we have to leave her with the vet because she gets too ill with anxiety and starts bleeding. The vet treats her and boards her while we are away. (The kennels all had to bring her to the vet anyway.) We can never go on vacation and feel good about it, unless we have her with us because fo this.

You would do well to try all you can to break some of the dependencies...although, I also think this pup of yours is still very young?
If still super young, simply will be naturally "dependent" upon "Mom!"

Dogs go through "stages" of growth and development. There are some stages in which they assert independence, etc. However, you do not want a dog as dependent as my shepherd is at this time!

I will write a PM to you in the next day or so.

I hope you can feel better soon!

You and yours remain in my thoughts and prayers.