Bonding in a multi-dog household

[mjbgsd]

I'm guilty.....I would choose Cody over my other two any day. He is my first dog and I will always have the strongest bond with him, after he goes, I don't think I can ever have as tight of a bond with a dog like I do with him. He's been there through almost everything in my life, (I'll be 20 in a week) and I just love him to pieces. He loves to cuddle with me and is always there when I'm in need, he has saved my life twice and is always there to comfort me when I'm sick or crying. It will be extremely difficult on me when it's his time....

With Isa, I never bonded with her until she was about 2 years. She was very independent for the first 2 years and just so hyper. Now at almost 5, she loves being in the same room with me, loves to jump up and give hugs but is not a cuddler. I do have a close bond with her but it isn't the same type that I have with Cody.

Akbar, well, he's just Akbar....lol I do have more of a bond with him right now then I did with Isa at his age. I think I just have an easier time bonding with males, there's just something about male dogs I like. He aint no cuddle bug or giving kisses but he's just so happy to see me.

[Mrs.K]

The bond with Yukon is stronger. I have him for half a year and even my husband can barely take him away from me.
Zenzy is kind of like the same way, it is easier for my husband to taker her out but once I am working with Yukon and hubby is holding her, she starts barking and wants to be with me too. While Yukon loves laying next to me and to cuddle up, she doesn't like that at all. She's more the crazy "come and play with me" type of girl. Loves giving kisses and hugs.

They are both very jealous of each other so I am trying to both treat them equally.

[brodie]

My GSD bonded with my son right as soon as we picked him up from the breeder. He chose us, the other litter puppies were not interested. One of my siberian huskies bonded with my daughter and the other siberian husky bonded with me. Maybe we need a fourth dog to bond with daddy. Another GSD?

[Zisso]

I want to say that my bond with my two are about equal, but I know this isn't true. I have a special bond with Z-he is my snuggle bug. He is the one who willingly lazes around the house with me and does not demand much. My special bond with Nadi is the opposite. She is my get up and go girl. Always wants to be doing something, running, playing and she will never turn down a snuggle either, but she just prefers to be on the go, so she keeps me on my toes. Special dogs, special bonds.

[Cathygirl]

I have a very strong bond with all 3 dogs, but they all have different personalities.

Jessie, is a very, very gentle girl. Loves everyone, loves to be petted, but really does not like to be cuddled. She would rather get a few pets and kisses and then go lay down.

Tank gets his feeling hurt very easy. He is always smiling and showing a lot of love. He loves to be hugged and kissed and always looks to you for direction.

Max is the pushy boy, but also the most snuggly guy you could ever meet. When I lay down in front of the woodstove he is the very first to come over and plop down as close as he can to get snuggled. He could be my pillow and love it.

I bond with all 3 in different ways. Not one is more stronger than the other, just different than each other. They love each other dearly, and it is very apparent that they do, but they look to us more than each other for that certain type of love.

[TitonsDad]

By far the strongest bond is with Titon because we go everywhere, train together and spend most of our days together since I am home during the day.

My 9 year old Boxer is a nut case and I don't think anyone can "bond" with her not on her terms.

[JKlatsky]

We have 4 dogs in our house. If you want to get technical Argos and Cade are Mommy's, and Anka and Ike are Daddy's dogs, and that pairing is more geared to suit ours and their personalities. Argos and Cade are more chill in the house and tend more towards snuggly. Anka and Ike and READY to GO. They are easily excited and don't quit.

So for me Argos is dog#1. He's Mommy's baby and my first dog. But all 4 are like my kids. You love them all in different ways. Cade is my dog#2. But I train those 2, so we have a stronger bond.

Anka is wholly Daddy's girl. I think my bond is probably the weakest with her, she won't give me the time of day if her Dad is in the room but she will just sit their and stare at him adoringly. She is definitely #1 for Justin. And Ike is the most recent addition and we haven't had him all his life, only about 3 months now. But it's really hard not to like Ike since he's such a happy, enthusiastic, eager to please dog. He has a preference for men over women in training, so he works with Justin, which forges a stronger bond. I so happy he came into our lives.

I think I pick the dog also for the activity I'm doing. Anka walks best on a leash around the neighborhood (probably because she doesn't have to mark everything) so if I'm out jogging I like to take Anka. Argos is my snuggler and general good in the house dog. Ike is the most impressive and generally well behaved in public, so I like to take him out to eat (he really should be at 7 ). Cade is just silly goofy puppy fun. He's my best player.

[Lauri & The Gang]

My strongest bond - Spike. He's basically been with me 24/7 since he was born. Even sleeps with us at night about 95% of the time! DH says he's TOO bonded to me - he cries when I leave the room.

Weakest bond - a tie between Winnie and Sasha. With Winnie it's because she and Tazer were puppies together and while Tazer was into doing stuff with me, Winnie was into doing stuff with Tazer.

Sasha just prefers my husband over me.

[Chicagocanine]

I only have one dog now but before Bianca I had two dogs. Bianca is pretty bonded to me and she bonded very quickly but it took me longer to form an attachment to her, I think I was still mourning my two senior dogs who I lost within 3 months of each other.
I had a terrier mix, Pooch and a Golden Retriever, Ginger. Ginger was my heart dog and we had an incredibly strong bond from both ends of the leash so to speak, we connected right away when I found her and she was my baby. Pooch being a terrier was much more independent than Ginger. We still had a good bond but he was more like a buddy whereas Ginger was more like a daughter or a soulmate. While I tried to give the dogs fairly equal treatment, Ginger would always get everything first since she was the dog I had first and the "higher ranked" so to speak. Part of that again was Pooch's personality/breed as he was not a cuddler or a needy dog. Part of it was also that Ginger was very quiet, laid back and well behaved and had extensive training so she was allowed to go more places than Pooch who tended to be a barker, was very active and not as obedient.

They were quite bonded with each other as well, if we were out and a family member held one dog and I held the other and we separated, each dog would watch for the other dog in the crowd-- if they saw a dog that looked similar they would get excited. (Of course they did the same with me if they were separated from me.)

My dad used to call them Mutt and Jeff.

[Heidifarm]

I have good bonds with both Heidi and Lucas, but they are very different.


Heidi we got when she was 12 weeks old. Admittedly, we were unprepared for all that would come, I knew nothing about the different lines of GSDs or anything (wish I had found this website first!) She was such an insane puppy, we actually questioned at times if we could do it, but with the right training and exercise, she turned in to an awesome dog (and we turned into better parents!) I think the fact that we struggled so much in the beginning really bonded us together and we never gave up on each other. We also recently started training in SchH. which has bonded us even more. I always feel safe when she's around.


Now Lucas is completely different. We got him at 4 months old and he was SUCH an easy going puppy! I could hardly believe he was the same breed as Heidi. Lucas was very shy in the beginning so he became attached to me when we went to puppy class, and getting him to come out of his shell became our bonding time. He's so goofy that it's hard for me not to smile when I see him. He's also the cuddly on out of the 2 so when it's time to watch TV on the couch, Heidi will lay at the other end of the couch, but Lucas will lay with his head in my lap. Hard not to love a dog who will do that.