Would you keep a pup you didn't bond with?

A while ago I spoke to a lady who is obviously very devoted to her dogs. She's done obedience at Crufts with her boxers and is working on agility with her collie (Dale's brother) and her life seems to be spent working with dogs.Yet she surprised me by saying she'd returned a pup to the breeder because she just didn't take to it.
Then I noticed a thread on another forum where people were talking about how they'd found it hard to bond with a particular pup.
So has anyone had this experience?
How long would you wait before deciding things weren't going to work out?
What would be best for the pup?

Yes! I have done with a couple of mine, one I bought in (Wilson) and one I bred (Terra). However, I can say that I do now have a very good bond with the pair of them. I love them to bits but they were difficult to 'love' as baby pups.
Becky

Hi, i am sort of goin through that at the moment, i have a 10 week old blue staffie, and she is absolutley gorgeous looking, but we don't seem to be bonding, i have a 2 yr old male staffie, an i just tend to stick with him etc. my partner has noticed that i don't spend as much time with pup, but i wouldn't dream of giving her back as i know it will get better.
I was the same with my other dog, it was a kind of 'oh dear, what have i done' attitude, but once am used to them being around and settling into a routine it does get better. I suppose it's almost like havin post puppy depression xxx

I had a lot of trouble bonding with Kree who was a son of my Boxer Tel. I got him because I wanted the combination of the lines as I had a relative of the bitch who was a fantastic steady dog and Tel was doing well in obedience and agility. I was hoping to get a combination of the traits, didn't work He was the most well behaved dog on the lead, had a steady temperament and was great with other dogs, normally got a place showing but off the lead had a mind of his own. We came to an agreement that he retired from agility and obedience as he just didn't see the point.

This is him showing what he could do. That was at a training day and he won the competition at the end of the day


I think part of the problem was I was expecting too much of him instead of letting him be himself I would never have returned him but I did think of rehoming him at one point but couldn't do it in the end.



He lived until he was 10 and we came to terms but the BIG thing he taught me was not to expect any dog to be like another. Ok they may be but they may also be themselves and thats fine

Pups are adorable but can be an intense experience and often the human parent is exhausted from time to time. I invest alot of time in my youngsters so they turn out how I want.....normally that (to date) has been around the 9 month mark in medium breeds, sometimes longer. I have never 'not-bonded' but sometimes early days are a struggle!!

hi,
i have had dogs ive bonded with straight away and others have taken a while(to put it mildly) i dont bond with every human i meet straight away its a learning process for both (dog and o) and sometimes i think we put to much pressure on the dog (out of kindness) to bond straight away,we have to allow for character and confidence to mature (after all they dont know us yet)before making any tough decisions imo

I have been lucky and always fell in love with mine at first sight, i think the bond does becomes stronger as the pup gets older and you both get used to each other.

i bonded with Nallie & flynn from Day one, with Mav it took a little longer, I had him from 6 weeks & i think we REALLY got the bond thing together at 10 weeks (so thats 4 weeks later) when he had eaten too much & spent from 9pm to 11pm chucking up, sitting on my lap with me catching it in my hands!!!! It changed from then on!!!!!

Took me ages to bond with Celt for many reasons, he was independant, my very special old dog got very ill soon after I had him, he was difficult and then he had lots of time at the vets for various reasons.

I love him to bits now although I have had to change my expectations of him quite considerably!

So worth hanging on in there I think.

rune

I probably would because I would keep thinking things wil get better , but maybe that's not the best thing to do