We got a puppy at about eight weeks old. It took about one week for me to feel like he was bonded to me. He was raised in a home, the breeder has the dams in homes, so he was well socialized. At a week after we got him I’d let him watch a video that have been sent to me before we got him of him and his sisters and brothers and their mom Play in the kitchen. in the background with the voices of the people who lived there He got so excited when he heard the noises in the voices of the previous owners. About a month later I played the same video and he did not react. He had already forgotten them.

Anonymous wrote:Alert: A really stupid question coming...but how do you know if the puppy (or any dog) has bonded with you?

To me it's that they seem eager to please you, they want to be around you, they look to you for guidance, and you feel a connection with them.

I'm the pp with 2 dogs and when we first got the puppy she was glued to my older dog, didn't make much eye contact/look at us much, and was more interested in her toys than us. Now she comes running to us, snuggles, wants to be close to us, looks at us frequently to assess what we are thinking and wait for commands/guidance, etc. It just feels like there is more of a connection and she cares about us and we about her.

Anonymous wrote:Alert: A really stupid question coming...but how do you know if the puppy (or any dog) has bonded with you?

I wonder this too..but I would say when the dog wags her tail and runs up to you (clearly excited to see you) when you get home from work etc.

For our puppy (almost 5mos), when I take her to the dog park she keeps and eye on where I am, and runs back to me to “check in” regularly. If she gets frightened by a larger dog etc she will run to be near me.

That is what it means to me, mostly.

I will say this did not seem instant to me like others have said- took a month or more. At first she didn’t seem to overly care who specifically was around (though she was social and enjoyed playing etc)- anyone would’ve been fine.

Anonymous wrote:It felt instant. He was 10 weeks old, had been socialized since birth, and came from a very friendly family of dogs, so he was primed to trust and bond with us.

We adopted a ten week old puppy a week ago, and this was our experience exactly.

Alert: A really stupid question coming...but how do you know if the puppy (or any dog) has bonded with you?

Older puppy. Friendly happy bonding, right away. I think true forever bonding occurred a few months later when we boarded her for a few days for the holidays and picked her up and brought her back home. She ran around the front yard so happily and joyfully. It was like she realized this was her forever home.

Well, he was always happy and sociable and wanted to play. But I would say he really bonded with me around 3 or 4 months old.

But now we are headed to a separation anxiety problem when I go back to work.....if that ever happens.

We got her at 8 weeks and it took about 6 or 7 weeks to feel like she cared about us, but we have another dog so she bonded more with her at first. Now she's 5 months old and very bonded to us, snuggles, etc. For a while it seemed like that would never happen!

Immediately.

A few months.

Depends on the breed.

We have a corgi he never bonded he just likes himself LOL

We also have a French Brittney Spaniel who bonded right away.

We have also had male American Brittney, he bonded around 3 months.

And my daughter has a rescue who she got around age 8 he bonded immediately. He loves people.

It felt instant. He was 10 weeks old, had been socialized since birth, and came from a very friendly family of dogs, so he was primed to trust and bond with us.

?