How to Bond With Your Dog

Besides simply wanting to, building a bond with your pup is a vital part to making sure you take care of them well as best you can. There are a number of situations where you need a strong bond to make sure you can look after your beloved pet. In stressful situations, you’ll want to have the best bond possible with them so they trust you to do what’s best. In an environment like the vet where anxieties might be high, having someone they trust with them can really help them to accept treatment even when they’re scared or in pain.

When it comes down to socialising and introducing your dog to new things and environments, knowing they can check in with you to feel secure will help them understand that you will take care of them. For example, stepping in when a dog mix is getting too rough and calling all parties away to make sure your pup doesn’t get overwhelmed, is the kind of thing that can help to develop a trusting bond that lasts.

Sometimes bonding with your beloved pet doesn’t have to be something you plan or do beyond the normal scope of caring for them day to day. If you’re looking to make a strong bond with a pup then meeting their needs is the first step. In a home with multiple people, you will usually find that a dog will bond best with whoever their primary carer is. Feeding, letting them out so they can go to the toilet and whoever is home the most tends to have the best relationships by default.

If you want your pup to bond with everyone evenly then it’s a good option to split these tasks evenly between everyone. If there are two of you then one can feed them their breakfast while the other is on dinner duty to make sure your four-legged friends know that everyone in the home is going to take care of them.

While feeding and taking care of them day to day is a given, putting time aside to just be together is a great way to develop a relationship. Training them to walk on lead with the right equipment as soon as you can means you can get out for walks together. That time together out and about, exploring their new surroundings will help them to learn that you are a positive source in their life. When they are able to wear a collar or harness to go for walks with you, it’s one of the first things they have to trust you with, as they get rewarded with extra time with you and new places to explore.

Even if you spend evenings watching the television, doing so with your pup tucked up against you or sleeping on your lap is not time wasted as you’re still bonding with them. Having a cuddle on the couch can be the best time to further develop that bond by grooming. Many dogs enjoy being brushed, they will even groom their other doggy friends to develop a stronger bond. Something like the Four Paws Magic Love Glove is great for a relaxing, stress-free groom.

One of the best bonding activities to do with your dog is to play with them. Puppies and older dogs alike often love to play and if they do, getting them some toys to encourage play with you can really help to build that bond. While there are plenty of toys for independent play, games like tug-of-war can really help to bring them out of their shell. The K9 Fitness Double Tug Ball is perfect for dogs who love tug-of-war, with a handle on either side so you can get a good grip.

If your pooch prefers a game of chase, fetch is another bonding game that your pup can’t really do alone which makes it that little bit more special. The Kong Air Squeaker Tennis Ball-Rope has a rope to make it even easier to throw further and the squeaky ball on the end is great fun for your dog. Keeping a few toys like these that only come out when you play with your four-legged friend makes it a special bonding session that will help them value time spent with you more.

Training is a great way to get your pup to bond with you and trust you more. Training takes a certain amount of trust to work through together. Your four-legged friend has to learn how training works and trust that the rewards will come if they just try different things to get it right. Dogs who lack trust will often not be motivated to try different things, they will either not want to exert the effort or they might be too worried to get things wrong. Using reward-based training with treats like Pedigree Schmackos Meat Variety 20 pack builds a bond with your dog and enables you to communicate with them on a better level.

Training is a great way to really solidify your relationship with your four-legged friend, provided all interactions remain positive. Negative-based training methods like a punishment will diminish a relationship that requires trust to develop.

Bonding with a puppy and a new rescue dog is almost exactly the same process, however, a rescue dog may have prior learning so you may have to start elsewhere before you even get to the basics. This is especially important if you’re bonding with an abused dog. Puppies are a fresh start while dogs with neglect in their history may have a natural distrust of people. Bonding with them will be a little bit slower, sometimes even entirely hands-off until they build up to allowing contact. It’s important to remember that everything should be done at their speed. If you have a worried pooch who is terrified by the notion of even taking a treat out of your hand and has no idea how to play with toys, you can still start the bonding process.

Scent swapping is often used to introduce dogs to other animals but is also useful in underconfident dogs. Giving your worried pooch a safe space, they might even need space from you but you can start introductions by putting your worn clothing items in their bed so they start to associate your smell with comfort. It might take a little longer but seeing these scared pups come out of their shell is well worth the extra wait.

For everything you need to form the closest bond with your new dog and all of your other puppy and doggy essentials, take a look in store and online.