Have you ever not clicked with a dog?

JBM

JBM

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I have a dog and I swear our personalities just don’t match
I can’t help feeling it was a mistake to get her and she would be better in another house.
I don’t feel like our set up is best for her she’s more of a house dog.
Please tell me someone has owned a dog that they didn’t click with and I’m not just a bad owner
 
Some dogs are just not in to you, I had one that was completely self interested, and another who prefered my husband although I loved her to bits and did everything for her. Its just life.
 
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Of our 3 pairs, one has always been ‘mine’ and one has been my OH’s. This time, it’s Goose, cuddle monster. Whilst Mitch is a lovely dog, I haven’t really ‘clicked’ but obviously he isn’t going anywhere. He’s treated the same as the others and the OH adores him. I do too, but I have a favourite 😳 *shamed*
 
Thank you
I believe I just needed a rant and it’s lovely to hear that other people have had dogs they didn’t fully click with
I’ve just spend 2k on hopefully improving the house for her just waiting to build it now
She also graduated from puppy class today and is doing very well
She’s easy to train and loveable she’s just driving me up the wall this past 2 weeks between heat and the teething stage of hell
I’m hoping this is all just a phase
Really appreciate all the replies
 
JBM said:
Thank you
I believe I just needed a rant and it’s lovely to hear that other people have had dogs they didn’t fully click with
I’ve just spend 2k on hopefully improving the house for her just waiting to build it now
She also graduated from puppy class today and is doing very well
She’s easy to train and loveable she’s just driving me up the wall this past 2 weeks between heat and the teething stage of hell
I’m hoping this is all just a phase
Really appreciate all the replies
Click to expand...
She’s just a puppy going through the usual puppy stuff. Give it time.
 
Me, I didn't click with Bandit when I got him. He was 7 month old and I can honestly say that the unconditional warm fuzzies just weren't there and I think he felt the same.

So we embarked on an adventure of training, walks, agility, all day hikes, mantrailing and I wouldn't be without him. The clicking just took some time to click but when it did it did.

He didn't live a joyless life while waiting for the clicking it just took time for that click to feel like a deeper bond.
 
JBM said:
Thank you
I believe I just needed a rant and it’s lovely to hear that other people have had dogs they didn’t fully click with
I’ve just spend 2k on hopefully improving the house for her just waiting to build it now
She also graduated from puppy class today and is doing very well
She’s easy to train and loveable she’s just driving me up the wall this past 2 weeks between heat and the teething stage of hell
I’m hoping this is all just a phase
Really appreciate all the replies
Click to expand...
Sounds like most puppies at some point.
I'd give it time.
 
The puppy blues is a very real thing. I didn't have a puppy obviously but I think the point stands for any new dog. You've just spent 2k hoping to improve her surroundings so clearly you're not a bad owner and you do feel something toward her. I would give it some time, I would also see if you could do something with her without your other dogs to build up that bond? Someone above mentioned mantrailing which is a great idea, it really helped my dogs confidence and subsequently her bond with us, but even just some one on one time to work on your relationship. It might be that you click better without the demands of your other two.

When I first got my dog I loved her to death but Mr AP still came home one evening to find me sitting on the kitchen floor crying my eyes out saying she had to go back, while the dog was busy eating a sofa cushion.

If you both aren't happy then maybe look at rehoming but I think you should give her some time.
 
We've had plenty over the years that have taken a lot longer than the usual quoted 3 months to settle in, but in the end we've wound up finding a lot to love about them all. In saying that, I'm going to very much miss our currently elderly girl and she was God-awful for the first year or so we had her. Pretty much all of the younger dogs (less than 4 years old) we've ever adopted have been difficult for the first year or so (3 years for one in particular). We've never had an actual puppy and all the young dogs we've taken in have been under-socialised and more or less untrained.

We're in the lucky position of being able to spend whatever time and money was required to sort out behavioral issues though. If this isn't something folks are able to do, then I don't think it's a bad idea to rehome if the dog can go somewhere to better meet its needs.
 
It took just over two years before the click came with one of mine - for lots of reasons, but ever since we are inseparable (she still drives me nuts several times a week though!) Some relationships, as with people, need to be worked at rather than coming completely natural.
 
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My Afghan Hound and I took about a year to get it together. He was an absolute Loon and appeared untrainable. In despair, I took him to a three-day training course with the redoubtable Barbara Woodhouse - she of "Walkies!" fame. She was "Firm but Fair" (pace Cortez!) and told me (correctly) that he was "a brainless creature, just addicted to speed and lunacy". Despite this, we did learn basic commands and, unless he was in one of his "I'm drunk on running in mad circles and can't hear you" moods, he was obedient within his particular mental capacities. I only let him off-lead if we were in a highly-secure grass area and there was nothing that he could catch. Once, he did catch a low-flying pigeon but dropped it when it started flapping its' wings.
He was a lovely, affectionate dog who enjoyed lying with his front feet pushed into the cooling cinders under the inglenook grate, alongside my pet donkey.
The neighbours thought I was a bit eccentric. Can't think why . . .
 
Yes, although not as a puppy/adolescent as they are often difficult then!
I sent my last BC back to her breeder. I got her for agility (my dogs are definitely my pets too, but I wouldn't choose to live with 5 at once if I wasn't heavily into agility) and she was completely uninterested. She wanted to work sheep (and was also working the horses) all the time and was also running away on walks/getting off the property to chase kangaroos (none of my dogs have ever done this). I mainly sent her back because she desperately wanted to work, not play around with sticks and poles, and I couldn't give her that. It was an awful decision and I cried +++++ at the time, but her breeder was great and said he would train her up and she wouldn't leave him.
 
Ratface said:
My Afghan Hound and I took about a year to get it together. He was an absolute Loon and appeared untrainable. In despair, I took him to a three-day training course with the redoubtable Barbara Woodhouse - she of "Walkies!" fame. She was "Firm but Fair" (pace Cortez!) and told me (correctly) that he was "a brainless creature, just addicted to speed and lunacy". Despite this, we did learn basic commands and, unless he was in one of his "I'm drunk on running in mad circles and can't hear you" moods, he was obedient within his particular mental capacities. I only let him off-lead if we were in a highly-secure grass area and there was nothing that he could catch. Once, he did catch a low-flying pigeon but dropped it when it started flapping its' wings.
He was a lovely, affectionate dog who enjoyed lying with his front feet pushed into the cooling cinders under the inglenook grate, alongside my pet donkey.
The neighbours thought I was a bit eccentric. Can't think why . . .
Click to expand...

I would love to see a photo of the dog and donkey if you have one. I remember you saying that your mil caught them by the fire and wasn’t amused!
 
I had the opposite and was unsure if our puppy liked us 😂. He seemed pretty aloof for the first few months but now he is my shadow
 
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