Puppy Culture Potluck: Ep21 - Puppies Who Don't Bond With Their Owners

Madcap Radio

This week’s podcast is about puppies and owners who can’t seem to bond with their owners. The original question is long, so here’s the gist of it:‌

“Functionally Mac is excellent. Crate/House training/Obedience excellent…He sleeps through the night. He is great at puppy classes...He is good with other people and dogs…He was good at the vets. No problems so far with loud noises or anything like that…The problem is that we have been unable to build a relationship with him. He doesn’t respond to affection at all. We find it hard to make his tail wag. He will briefly let us stroke him, but this usually ends with a bite. He is unwilling to let us pick him up. He will play enthusiastically with toys, but this will quickly progress to biting and frenzy…We have had rescue dogs before, we have had puppies before, but we have never experienced this lack of relationship…we have tried everything we can think of to improve the relationship... We fear that the situation will become worse”‌

In this episode I explore:‌

• The three most common causes of “non-bonding” between puppies and their owners
• When to take back a “non-bonding” puppy and when to try to work to keep the puppy in the home
• If keeping the puppy in the home is appropriate, strategies to improve relationship and bonding between puppies and their owners.

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