# Dog Bonding - How long did it take yours?



## WhippetyAmey (Mar 4, 2012)

As the title says, how long did it take your dogs to bond? 

When we had Chase for a month they hadn't really bonded, although did have one chase session when I got home from work one day. So I assume it will take even longer this time as both will be assuming one is leaving... But just interested how long it took your dogs? 

I don't need them to be best friends, but I would like Chase to stop ignoring Merlin  

Oh... and I highly doubt Chase is going anywhere, she's staying in her forever home.


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## ballybee (Aug 25, 2010)

Tummel took a couple of weeks to start bonding with dan, he was quite frightened of the teeny White fluffball that kept pestering him.

We've had dan for 8 weeks now and the bond between him and tum is much stronger


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## Lexiedhb (Jun 9, 2011)

Don't have another dog but took My Dexter a good year to fully trust us, bond and settle properly having come from rescue.


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## BoredomBusters (Dec 8, 2011)

Mine don't bond with each other, I want them to bond to me. Once they've got a strong bond to me I start to let them play together, but by then they're not really interested. Like toddlers, they play alongside, rather than with each other (and toddlers is about their intelligence level according to studies). I see a lot of recall problems and a few aggression problems with people who own two dogs, and until we've changed the bond from the other dog to the owner we can't fix the problem.

Not everyone has these problems, but I want to be sure none of mine do, as they have to be shining examples of dog training as they are my adverts!


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## AmberNero (Jun 6, 2010)

Nero ignores pixie mostly, but if he is in the mood to play he will join in with her and amber. He is pretty independant and lazy though, so im not surprised. Amber has got used to pixie now after only 4 weeks though there is still a way to go. Pixie had also stayed with us before but i dont think this made the dingbats wonder if she was leaving. She has definitely become part of the pack now though, when they were playing with my bils dogs on sunday it was very much them and us kind of chase playing  so give it time, and foot worry, chase might just be like nero- a serial ignorer unless interested on his terms! Haha!


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## ozrex (Aug 30, 2011)

We brought Tess home, carried her from the car, Older Son had her in his arms.

We went inside. Rex came to greet us, noticed Tess and went to sniff her. She bit him on the snout. We put her on the floor. Rex gave her a thorough sniffing while she trundled around. She found the dog bed and climbed in and sat. Rex carefully arranged himself around her and she settled down and went to sleep curled up against him.

From that time on Tess bit Rex, jumped on him, made him play silly games and slept on him. We sometimes had to defend Rex from the puppy but never the other way around. 

When we discovered just how dog aggressive Rex is we were terribly frightened for Tess. We had a behaviourist in to sus the situation and help me to manage Rex. He sat at the table with me talking about dogs while he watched Tess and Rex interact. Tess was playing her favorite game of biting Rex's ears and she had puppy-needles for teeth. She bit Rex very hard and made him yelp at one stage, then he shook his head and trotted off to his "cave" in the laundry. She rolled tail over ears when he shook, got up, stood quietly for a moment and then bounced off to shred a toy. The behaviourist said - what was blindingly obvious - "Well no problems there."

Thank Dog, there never have been any problems. I think they bonded instantly. They walk together, play together and sleep together. They are trained separately, of course and sometimes go out separately.


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## kat&molly (Mar 2, 2011)

I dont think they always bond. 
Jay pretty much ignores all the others.
Scruff and Evie are like partners in crime and Moll will occasionally join in but she's more interested in what we're doing next.
As long as they can live together without problems is sometimes the best to hope for-it is for me anyway.
I hope they do learn to play together but its not the end of the world if they dont.


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## newfiesmum (Apr 21, 2010)

WhippetyAmey said:


> As the title says, how long did it take your dogs to bond?
> 
> When we had Chase for a month they hadn't really bonded, although did have one chase session when I got home from work one day. So I assume it will take even longer this time as both will be assuming one is leaving... But just interested how long it took your dogs?
> 
> ...


Ferdie and Joshua - about five minutes and then instant and lifelong devotion. Ferdie and Diva was a different story. They ignored each other for about three days, didn't sniff or anything. Then they started talking to each other a bit and playing, but it was a while before Ferdie would trust her enough to play with her like he did with Joshua. Even now, he doesn't love her like he did Joshua, but they do play and they do get on fine.

I expect Chase is still feeling very confused, she has had a lot of upheavel in her life.



BoredomBusters said:


> Mine don't bond with each other, I want them to bond to me. Once they've got a strong bond to me I start to let them play together, but by then they're not really interested. Like toddlers, they play alongside, rather than with each other (and toddlers is about their intelligence level according to studies). I see a lot of recall problems and a few aggression problems with people who own two dogs, and until we've changed the bond from the other dog to the owner we can't fix the problem.
> 
> Not everyone has these problems, but I want to be sure none of mine do, as they have to be shining examples of dog training as they are my adverts!


My dogs are very bonded to each other and to me. I don't have any problems with them whatsoever.


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## toffee44 (Oct 21, 2011)

Dylan was 4months when Teal came along so they are practically brothers and will share a crate/ bed/ sleep on each other. 

Dylan and Buster still regulary mumble at each other, and would fight over food. But regulary play and sleep with each other, I wouldnt put them in a crate together.We have had buster since 0ctober and they had regular scraps until they were neutered.


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## Lil Doglets (Oct 17, 2011)

My two just kind of tolerate each other still after 2 years of being together lol i did hope they would become the best of friends and curl up to sleep together etc but i've just accepted that's never gonna happen  
They do play with each other quite alot but other than that they pretty much ignore each other


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## Twiggy (Jun 24, 2010)

When I introduce a puppy into the home it can take anything upto 18 months for my older dogs to get over the shock....!!

My little rescue pup, who arrived at the beginning of January, has most definitely been the quickest. Within 24 hours she and Tremor were playing and the older two accepted her within a month. She's such a sweet, biddable little girl that it's no surprise really.

I'm really delighted that you've decided to keep Chase and I'm sure that she is delighted too....!!


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## Melissa27 (Mar 15, 2012)

Doom bonded to Maximus very quickly and visa versa... they played together within hours of me bringing Max home. I had just lost Draco, my Smooth Collie shortly before, and both Doom and Diesel seemed elated to have a new puppy in the house.

Rowen wasn&#8217;t quite as easy. She and Max got along from the moment I brought her in and let the other dogs sniff her, but Doom took quite a bit longer for Rowen to grow on him. Doom tends to take to small dogs faster than he takes to large dogs as a rule, so that didn&#8217;t surprise me much. 

I was thrilled when he started playing with her occasionally after a month or so, but for the most part those two politely ignore each other and I am just fine with that.


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## flyballcrazy (Oct 6, 2010)

The first two bonded very quickly, the third they don't play with or sleep with but that's her doing. She's a bit of a bully and will push the others around a bit. The fourth my JR bonded with my first within a week but the other two are weary of her as she is feisty and will use her teeth if they try anything. She likes to think she's the boss but my male is, all he has to do is look in her direction and she stops what she's doing and goes and lays down lol


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## Fleur (Jul 19, 2008)

My lot ignore each other 98% of the time.

They occasionally chase each other around or curl up and sleep next to each other - but on the whole they seem to like the fact each other is there and get upset if one is gone but don't actually want to 'talk' to each other.


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## PinkEars (Jun 4, 2010)

Walt bonded to Lola straight away! He loved her, lovvees her and just wants to play with her and sleep on top of her! It took Lola a few weeks to get used to him and she would tolerate him and let him sleep on her ( lots of cute pics) After a couple of months of seperate crates we then put them in together and they were fine. Walt used to always come out of the crate in the morning and instantly jump all over her when she got out as if they had not been with each other all day. Lola likes Walt, likes going for a run and chase and will play with him but she prefers being an only dog at my mums. Its to much for her... I went round at the weekend without him to give her some time with me without him butting in. She loved it and spent the whole time giving me cuddles!

I pretty much instantly bonded with Lola after a few weeks (she was a nightmare hyper puppy and i was not experienced at all). I still have a really strong bond with her now even though she has gone to live with my parents. Walt on the other hand it took me longer, months infact and he was a really well behaved puppy and is still behaved now! I love him to bits now but it took me a long time to warm to his character...he is now adorable and i wouldnt be without him!


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## Guest (Jul 3, 2012)

Please be aware that even when adult dogs love each other, straight away, there is a period, usually 3 weeks to 6 weeks later, where either your dog realises that his/her new buddy is now actually an equal rights brother/sister OR the new dog goes from best behaviour, visitor, to hey, I live here now, and I have rights... OR both at once... 

So after a great start, there can be sudden squabbles, that leave you shocked, as everything seemed great. So just remember that it MAY happen. Some refer to it as the end of the honeymoon. So even if your start isn't the best, don't see the others as somehow luckier. Some dogs suspect every visiting dog as trying to sneak into the family, straight away. Others think they are just a new visitor that will not be staying, so to start with, there is no watchful appraisal and jealousy.


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## PinkEars (Jun 4, 2010)

househens said:


> Please be aware that even when adult dogs love each other, straight away, there is a period, usually 3 weeks to 6 weeks later, where either your dog realises that his/her new buddy is now actually an equal rights brother/sister OR the new dog goes from best behaviour, visitor, to hey, I live here now, and I have rights... OR both at once...
> 
> So after a great start, there can be sudden squabbles, that leave you shocked, as everything seemed great. So just remember that it MAY happen. Some refer to it as the end of the honeymoon. So even if your start isn't the best, don't see the others as somehow luckier. Some dogs suspect every visiting dog as trying to sneak into the family, straight away. Others think they are just a new visitor that will not be staying, so to start with, there is no watchful appraisal and jealousy.


this is true, Walt and Lola generally got on perfect for the first few weeks and then Lola stopped forgiving Walts puppy ways and started barking and snapping back at him. He did not listen and still doesnt listen to this day! They still play nicely together and will settle together but they no longer live together so not sure how they would be if they were on top of each other all the time.


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

It was love at first sight with my two, we knew Bella before she came to live here and their eyes would light up when they saw each other across the field, when I brought her here to live, he greeted her at the door like his best buddy was coming for a sleep over .


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## Beth17 (Jun 5, 2012)

Although Oscar was fine with Sam being in the house from the beginning, it is only after a few weeks that he is allowing Sam to clamber all over him and play together and even now he can still get a bit grumpy with him but they are getting better everyday and I can't ask for more than that


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## catz4m8z (Aug 27, 2008)

Adam and Hannah were fine from the start. Probably coz they were both still quite young puppies at the time.
Hannah and Heidi took about a week. Hannah loves puppies and kittens so she took to her straight away and now they are bestest friends and play together, groom each other and sleep together loads. Hannah is abit more stand offish though as its always Heidi that climbs into bed with Hannah and starts the play and groom sessions!
Adam and Heidi took alot longer! It was about 10 months before he would stop attacking her and for her to stop being scared of him. Then another year before they got on enough to have a little play and fully relax with each other.
Now its kinda like Hannah is buffer between the other 2. They rarely play, just the 2 of them, but if Hannah is there she will be pounced on and 'attacked' by Adam and Heidi at the same time. (poor Hannah! Luckily her play style is to flump onto the floor and playfight on her back!!LOL).


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## DogLove3 (Mar 1, 2012)

Our dogs bonded as soon as they met, that is what made our mind up about taking our second dog on.
Both ours are rescues from abroad, we came across our Pointer while walking one day with our boy, she had been dumped near our home and our boy took to her and accepted her straight away and in doggy body language invited her to join us on our walks, so after a few doggy outings she became ours.


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## Freddie and frank (Mar 26, 2012)

Freddie was 6 months when we had frank. They slept separately to begin with but after so long they were together and have been ever since.
They curl up together to sleep and even have their own sides of the bed 

If frank goes to bed first and he's on Freddie's side, Freddie will come and tell us and we have to nudge frank over.freddie won't get on until he can have his side.

They have always had a strong bond though from early on. I suppose with only 6months between them helps.

They seem to love being together but still have time on their own when they want to.

Hope your two bond well.


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## Muze (Nov 30, 2011)

When I lived at home with my older dog and my Mum took on her pup, they seemed to bond straight away, they adored each other and would have played constantly given the chance 

Our 12 y/o old ploddy, family dog though was less than impressed and spent the first 6 months upstairs on her bed with a look of utter disgust on her face  It took a lot of tennis balls for her to forgive us for bringing this awful small creature into her house!


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## 8tansox (Jan 29, 2010)

Fletcher was 18 months old when Flint arrived, Flint just seemed to tag along with Fletcher straight away, now, they are virtually inseparable, they do sleep together - sometimes, where there's one, there's usually the other one; they're never far from one another, always in the same room. Floyd arrived last year and he just pushed his way in so they tolerate the young pip-squeak but the bigguns are virtually glued at the hip.

I've never had a problem with them insofar as obedience etc. is concerned, they are my best adverts, both for the breed and what I do, I plan on keeping it this way too!


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## Holtie (May 30, 2012)

Jasmine didn't know what to do with Coco when the youngster first arrived. Every time Coco went anywhere near her on the bed, Jasmine would leap off her bed as if she'd been electrocuted! It took a good week before they tentatively snuggled up together and now they sleep in a heap! 
:001_wub:


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## WhippetyAmey (Mar 4, 2012)

Thanks guys for all the replies  

Good to know that some have got on great from the beginning and other's not so much - gives me hope!

I think once Merlin has calmed down a little then they will get on better, but at the moment he is still very excited!


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## SLB (Apr 25, 2011)

Both pups bonded with Sadie instantly! She such a maternal dog, which is funny because when they tried to breed her (they - not me) she'd defend her virtue like there was no tomorrow. 

Benjie tolerates the other 3. Lets put it that way. He doesn't stand up to Sadie though.. she's the bitch and he knows it!

Louie took a while to warm up to Pennie.. but she was trying to neuter him for the first couple of weeks  :nono: But he gets on with her and plays with her. I just wish she'd stop biting him when he's running.. maybe she'll grow out of it...


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