What is love at first sight? or did the bond take time?

[Laurelin]

And Mia... oh boy. So I was sitting in my new apartment all alone after moving in. I had nothing in there except a cot and a pillow and a computer. So of course I am thinking 'I can get a new dog!' I knew it was going to be hard living alone with Summer and her SA. She did much better with another dog around so that was my excuse... Started poking around online and emailed a few breeders about adults they had as well as talking to a rescue about a pap they had (who turned out to have a bite history).

Mia's breeder replied and said she didn't think the adult would work for me but this puppy might. So we talked a bit and I just decided to go for the puppy. It was pretty impulsive to be honest. We went and picked Mia up and she was very unsure of me. We sat on the couch at the breeder's and Mia started warming up after a couple minutes. Then she was being cute and playful and I decided to take her home. So my sister and I loaded her up into the car. All was good until we got about halfway down the driveway. Then the screaming started. Oh the screaming... About two miles later the puking started. The screaming and the puking lasted for pretty much the entire near 7 hour drive.

So that was a fun start to things. Got her home and she played with the other dogs well. Then screamed all night. Literally all night. For weeks. But about three days in the two of us were playing in the yard and she looked up at me while she was zipping all around me with a big grin on her face and I just knew. From then on it got easier even though she was still screaming all night long and still just plain trouble.

 

[Gypsydals]

HAHA the funny thing with Ivan is it wasn't love at first sight with me. BUT for him it was. HE.JUST.KNEW... He was everything I wasn't looking for, a heavy spotted, dark eared dalmatian. I was upfront with his breeder from the get go about what I had wanted. I had just lost my previous dal about 4 months before I met the litter for the first time. When we got there, all the puppies where sleeping, Ivan was the first to wake up, and come over. When everyone else woke up they started playing. Ivan on the other hand was on the otherside of that x-pen waiting for me to notice him. As we spent the evening there, going over puppies. She told me that if I really wanted a show quality puppy it was between Ivan and his brother (who was lighter spotted than Ivan). So I tried to play with both. She sent me home to think about it.
I went back up 2 weeks later, and Ivan remembered me. He came running and wasn't content until I was holding him. So he was mine. Not what I had wanted but what I had needed

 

[Paige]

With Bandit I just knew we would be a good fit. He was a very nervous dog and has always felt at ease with me. With that quick of a spark I knew with time it was just going to get better.

 

[JacksonsMom]

Oh I forgot about childhood dogs.

We got Daisy, the Golden Retriever when I was 4 years old. I had of course been begging for a puppy... but my dad was always a dog lover too, so we ended up picking out a Golden puppy. Of course I loved her dearly, and she was so tolerant of me, but she ended up being more my dads dog through and through. When my mom and dad were going through a tough divorce and he was alone on Holidays for the first time, he said Daisy was the only one there for him. They got really close after that. And when she was diagnosed with cancer at age 8, he had $5000 surgery for her, and she was kept alive for another 2+ years and lived a happy life until the cancer came back around 10. Putting her to sleep was really hard for me. My dad and I had a long cry together in the car, and it was the first time I'd seen him cry.

Sadie, on the other hand, was our German Shepherd puppy. My dad felt bad for me after parents separated so... got me a puppy. BYB again in Baltimore City, LOL, but I remember walking in and having a choice of all the pups that were downstairs. But there was one puppy that was upstairs, barking at herself in the mirror below the TV, and I said "I want THAT one!" The owner was really reluctant, he was going to keep that one. He eventually caved and let me take her. I KNEW I wanted that one.

We had a great bond, even with me being only 10yrs old, she was my girl through and through. Obviously I didn't have financial responsibility etc for her, but she would spent the night in my room, go to sleep with me until I fell asleep, and then head to the basement (where she liked to sleep on the couch). She got a little overly protective of me though, and unfortunately got PTS by Animal Control when she was 4. I came home from high school, on my first day of HS at a BRAND new school, and found out my dog was gone. I literally cried for days and days. I was so devastated. I always think about her and how we failed her and what we could've done better. I really miss that dog.

We got Carmen, the cockapoo, for my little brother Connor from a pet store. We really bonded to her moreso after Connor passed away. That was when she became a REAL part of the family. She knew something was wrong, and she very much attached herself to us. When my mom got pregnant with my little sister, that dog would lay with her every night and 'protect' her. Once I got Jackson, she was very mad at me for a few weeks. "How dare you bring this puppy into my home?!" but it didn't take the long for the two to be good friends. She taught him the ropes... I really really miss her. After I had Jackson, she turned into my second dog because I was buying stuff for him, so would feel bad if I didn't bring it home for her too. She got hit by a car at 4 1/2.

 

[sassafras]

Pip was instant. I had seen his picture on Petfinder and arranged a meeting to see if he would get along with Roxy, with the intention of going home and thinking about it after the meeting. But we went home with him that day. We just clicked straightaway.

Maisy... well, I wrote about Maisy in the other thread. I had lost my old Roxy girl and for the first time experienced the desire to have another dog that was the same breed/type as a previous dog, so I was looking for rottie mixes on Petfinder. We had met 3-4 dogs before her that we didn't click with, and then when we met her I just felt like... I REALLY like this dog. It wasn't quite the same click as Pip, but I just had a feeling about her that things would work out. Knowing her now, I don't thinks she has much if any rottie in her at all, she's very houndy. And looking back now I realize I did really want a Roxy clone, which she really is not at all. She is really different than any dog I've ever had and presented me with some challenges I haven't faced before, so it took some time for me to appreciate her as herself and click with her - I would say 12-18 months. Not that I ever didn't LIKE her, but it took that long to build up that "we belong to each other" really deep bond. But we made it there, it really did work out.

Squash... oh, Squash. I fell in love with him over the internet. Even when he was a tiny, tiny wee baby, I just had a THAT'S MY DOG feeling every time I looked at his pictures. When I filled out a puppy application, it turned out that nekomi agreed that out of the litter he was the best fit for us, and home he came. BUT having said that... he was an independent little puppy. I mean, he was always friendly and people-oriented, but he wasn't a lovey-dovey cuddly puppy, he is WAY too busy and curious for that. So I always felt the bond, but it wasn't always reciprocated in exactly the way I imagined it would be, if that makes sense. Our bond has grown and matured as he has matured, though, and now it really is everything I had imagined when I thought THAT'S MY DOG.

 

[Beanie]

Auggie and I were a pair as soon as I picked him up to take him home. Never any question.

Payton was only slightly different. I was so busy spending the days before picking him up distancing myself from the puppy in the photos because it was only a maybe. I saw the puppy when we pulled up and had to steel myself to not fall in love immediately.
I was VERY relieved that I got to take him home because oh God. The first couple of days were this bizarre mix of "WHAT DID I JUST DO?!" and "Yaaaaay, puppy!!" But I loved him. I just loved him. I took him to the vet Friday morning and we stopped by the feed store next door, and Auggie's breeder told me "My husband called to tell me you brought the puppy by and was like 'She just loves that puppy.'" Everybody could tell. And he thought I was the bee's knees too. I mean really, it just felt RIGHT. I knew without a doubt that I had the right dog and I was the right person for him and it was like he knew too. So really, we bonded almost right away, even though half the time I was still like "What the heck did I just do?! Did I really buy a puppy??" ahahaha.


Pepper is a different story. I knew her when she was a tiny puppy and came to live with Auggie's breeder. She was a wild and crazy little girl when I saw her again in May. I already liked her. She moved in and she was such a mess and I was having a terrible time. Because I loved her and she loved me almost from the word go. We bonded like quick setting super glue and it was killing me that she wasn't working out, Auggie was depressed with her around, she was terrified of my dad, she couldn't settle down, it was just a disaster. What do you do with a dog who is a terrible fit but you love them desperately? It was horrible and I hope I never have to go through it again. Pepper is different. Pepper gets a pass. I love her very much and there is no doubt she is my girly. But I hope I never have another dog who is completely the wrong fit for me.


As far as other dogs, I kind of hated Happy for a while, but he was a brat who knew how to worm his way into somebody's heart. I mean I didn't REALLY hate him, it's just kind of funny to say. He was a terrible puppy LOL. I was glad to be leaving him behind after spending a couple weeks helping raise him, until he spent that last night curled up sleeping on my feet. Little f$*@er! Truthfully we were bonding that entire godawful couple of weeks and that was SO Happy, but it was a horrible experience hahaha. It was not an enjoyable bonding time. XD

Kota I didn't really bond with until after my sister moved here. The short amounts of time we spent together prior to that weren't really enough to grow anything between us. There wasn't any kind of adjustment period where I was like "I don't like Kota," of course I liked him. But that deep, quiet bond that we had didn't happen until he was here every day and we interacted a lot. I think because he was just kind of a quiet dog and it took spending lots of quiet time with him to grow that bond.

And Henri, oh Henri, I adore Henri. We haven't really gotten a strong bond going because I haven't spent a long amount of time with him but he totally knows I'm Auntie Beanie and he loves me. If he had to spend a weekend with me or something I'm sure I'd be a goner for him pretty quickly.

Georgie gets a bit of a free pass for being Auggie's niecelette LOL. There's no way I wasn't going to love her. And she is a very complimentary kind of dog for me. I was always afraid my parents were going to get fed up with her and Georgie was going to have to move in with me LOL, so I kept my heart quite open for her. For the first few months she didn't spend a lot of time with me because I had baby Pay and we were keeping them apart, but I helped my mom with her and got to play with her some. I sometimes wonder if Georgie likes me better than my mom, because I play the best games hahaha. I wouldn't say we developed a bond quickly because it took time since we only interacted in chunks, but it was a rather effortless experience. As opposed to the horrible painful experience with Happy hahaha. Oh Happy...


So yeah, I would say in most cases it happens pretty quickly... even with Pepper, who is not my kind of dog, we bonded rapidly and that's exactly why it was such rough going (and still kind of is LOL.) And even with horrible baby Happy haha. I also hope I never have another "I love you because you are so wretched" experience again. It was not a MAGICAL BONDING EXPERIENCE. I would rather have magical bonding experiences!!

 

[k9krazee]

Now with my boy, Jack:

It wasn't really love at first sight. My mom gave me permission to get THAT dog, there was no choice. I had just returned an Aussie to Aussie rescue because he was biting my dad in the face at every opportunity. I wasn't allowed to choose the next dog (we already had 4 at the time) -- my parents had to approve. I never thought they'd give an approval to get dog #5 so when my mom found Jack at a rescue adoption event and told me she and my dad liked him I jumped at the opportunity.

We brought him home and he seemed to like everybody the same and we didn't really bond until a few months after I brought him home, I went on vacation for a month. When I came back it was CLEAR he was MY dog. And since then he's been all mine. He acts differently around me and I love him more than I thought I could love a dog.

He's living with my parents because he has anxiety with new situations and he has been living comfortably there for 8 years. (I tried once & he was miserable for 9 days). It's to the point now that Crossbone is settled and I would love for Jack to come live with us because the boys ADORE each other. But now that Micki and Kyra have passed, Jack and Mini are the only two left with my parents. Mini is 11 and at this point and it wouldn't be fair to take Jack away and leave her as an only dog for the first time in her life. So when Mini passes, I will be more than happy to have my old man, my best boy, my heart dog home with me <3 (I was feeling guilty for getting Crossbone instead of being more proactive about working on getting Jack able to live with us -- but now that Micki & Kyra are gone, I know leaving Jack was the best thing for my parents and for Mini)

 

[Red.Apricot]

Day one. When I went to look at the litter when they were four weeks old, she was the one that climbed up into my arms and fell asleep. She was the puppy I couldn't put down. I would have been very slightly heartbroken if the breeder had chosen a different puppy for me.

Nothing changed when I brought her home, which surprised me a little. I expected the bond to take time, but it didn't.

 

[Southpaw]

Ha. Hahaha. Hahahahahahha.

I did not bond with Juno until she was... almost 2 years old? Sure, I liked her at first because she was just a cute silly puppy, then as she got older the real "fun" started. She was a constant source of frustration and tears for me. Every day still had good moments, but lots of bad ones too. I had no intention of her being "my" dog - I was going to have her stay with my parents whenever I finally moved out, and I had no issues with it. The thing is, you could always tell SHE was bonded to me. I just didn't feel the same.

We finally started clicking better when she matured and got a little more sense. Now I adore the crap out of this dog and think she's the best thing on the planet.

I think I bonded with Happy pretty quickly. And I think she did as well.

I don't have a bond with Lucy.

 

[JessLough]

Within 2 days, I went from being terrified of dogs and hating Rosey to not being able to imagine life without her... And I still can't. She was a family dog, but she was my girl through and through, there's not question about that.

For the ferrets..
Rascal was absolutely love at first sight. I had wanted a ferret for so long, and he was just perfect.

Renegade and Rogue, I had met previously and took them in because I felt like it was my responsibility to make sure they were safe. Don't know why. Didn't really bond with Rogue until he was really sick. Renegade and I are still bonding, but probably a year and a half ago it hit me that he is my boy, so it took a year and a half.

Harley, she was cute but I had no plans to take her. The rescue kept telling me she's meant to be with me, and when the opportunity came up, she proved it. So she bonded to me right away, I took a few months to catch up, but when she was finally mine, the bond was there.

Ella is the most frustrating ferret ever. I'm not sure we're really bonded, we're working on it, but I love her and she is mine.

Nacho was, again, love at first sight. We've become super bonded, and if the day comes that I have to give him up, it will absolutely crush me.

 

[Finkie_Mom]

Kimma. Oh well. Kimma was picked out at 4 weeks. I just had a feeling. Luckily, the breeder agreed she would be a good fit. The car ride home at 8 weeks was awesome - she slept on my lap the whole time. Had a nice first night of sleeping on the couch next to me, and even settled in her crate well. Then everything changed. She was crazy (of course looking back, a good amount of that was normal puppy stuff LOL). I hated her. Called my Mom crying daily for like 2 weeks. But I didn't want to give up - sometimes she would just give me this look that was part "I think I like you" and part "I'm going to make your life VERY interesting - WATCH ME DO THIS!" Once we started doing training and I realized that alpha rolling and dominating my dog wasn't the way to go (which is what the first trainer we went to believed), things got sort of fun. She was playful with other dogs, and had a blast at the dog park. She learned things VERY fast and loved training. That, of course, made things better. By the time she was about 6 months old, I was starting to like her. I then had her spayed, and after crying when I went to pick her up, I knew that she was mine and that I loved her, but we weren't like solidly bonded. It wasn't until after she got loose from her collar at about 9 months old and I sort of chased her/walked close to her alongside a road until she came to me for hotdogs that I really felt like she was MINE. The bonding was cemented when she escaped my breeder's property while we were visiting one day (which no dog of theirs had ever done before - thanks, Kimma). I thought she was gone. No sign of her. I stood on their deck and called her name and she came RUNNING to the front gate. I was so happy I can't even explain it. And that was it. We were officially bonded.

Pen took a bit longer. I don't think I really bonded with him until we took training classes last summer. He just had so much fun working with me, and I him. He's an easy dog to love, and I definitely loved him from day one, but now I feel much closer to him.

With Bubbles, I saw her picture when she was 10 months old, and I sort of coveted her LOL. I was so glad when the breeder let me have her at 1.5 years old. Then we moved, and things got busy. Again, like Pen, she's VERY easy to love. But I think that as horrible as her whelping was and the weeks that followed were, that was really what bonded the two of us. Though in reality, he is my DH's dog. They are definitely bonded and have been basically since the beginning.

I think I will be quicker to bond with Jari for the simple fact that he's another puppy to raise. It will be interesting to see how things go once Whitey is gone and it's just him.

 

[Brattina88]

With Maddie it was instant... I had done all the research, had been in contact with the breeder, and set a date to go meet the puppies. That evening came up, and my parents didn't want to take me. They got cold feet. And I cried my eyes out for hours because she had two puppies left, one male and one female, and I desperately wanted a female. And she had a woman coming to meet them that night, and another the next night. And I had a school field trip the next day that I wouldn't even being returned from home until 9pm I cried myself to sleep that night

The next day when my parents picked me up from school at night, I had fun, but I was holding a grudge... I jumped in the van, and much to my surprise, was my female puppy. Sleeping. It was love at first sight, and she woke up and was all like wigglebutt.ll YOU. ARE. THE BEST THING EVERRRR :rofl1: instant bond, love at first sight.


Bailey took a while. The stars seemed to align right, but I wasn't sure. She was an owner re-home, contacted a rescue for help rehoming her, a friend gave me all of her info to contact her before she got into the rescue officially (I previously was turned down by rescue for not having a fenced in yard ) she was also posted on Craigslist, which I didn't know until after i talked to the owner. I saw it, and she took that ad down straight away, like she knew I was taking her before I did :rofl1: when I met her, I was even less sure. She was beautiful, surprisingly so, but skittish. She didn't know how to act, she wanted to jump up one me, but they admitted they swatted at her when she did. So she half jumped then pinned her ears and hid. My heart went out to her, I felt bad for her. I decided to at the very least foster her.
Maddie took to her right away, which was a surprise to me. She was never the type of dog to sleep with another dog or cuddle lol... It took me a good frustrating couple of months to come around, though. Just ask Jess lol
Frustrating WTF did I do? Months.
But then at a dog expo (Bailey came around amazingly and could attend as long as I veered off strangers just "grabbing" her) I ran into my controlling abusive handsy jerk of a ex, and I stopped because I was afraid. I sat down, and tried to think of anything to avoid a full on panic attack, my heart was racing. Bailey, the dog who wouldn't jump and hid behind me often, pressed all her weight into me and slithered up into my lap. The relief I felt was instant. He approached us, and she postured.
From that moment on I appreciate our bond SO much more <3

 

[Torch]

With Henry it was pretty instant, even if he wasn't the dog I was originally looking for.

When I went to the shelter, I had a short list of two dogs off of their website that I wanted to meet. One was really skittish, and the other was extremely hyper. I greeted both through the kennels but hesitated to take either out. My mom encouraged me to walk around and look at all the dogs, rather than just the two I had short-listed. There weren't many choices because I was purposely avoiding the puppy room, and the shelter had maybe 15 adult dogs available. Henry was in the second to last kennel. A casual look at all the dogs drew me right to him.

I'll never forget the moment I saw him. He was sitting next to his kennel gate, pressed up against it, his whole body vibrating with happiness. He was scrawny and a little homely, with patches of fur missing and overgrown nails. But heavens he was sweet! He scrambled along at my heels, anxious to get away from the kennel. Once we were in a private room, he put his head in my lap and sighed. I started petting him and tearing up. He was so sweet, so gentle, so unassuming. His little sigh put me over the edge. I looked at my mom and said, "He's the one." No argument from her; she was just as smitten with him.

Five and half years have passed and our bond still seems to grow deeper. I love him more than I would have ever thought possible. Watching him grow and learn and overcome obstacles has brought me so much joy. He is so sweet and loving and just plain wonderful.

He is truly my best friend.

 

[Toller_08]

Journey: I never bond with a dog instantly, but I really liked her from the moment I met her. I actually thought her sister, upon first meeting them and hanging out with the three puppies left, might be a better fit for me though. She was just so observant and happy and polite for a puppy, while Journey was bouncing around like a little shark and kind of all over the place haha. Plus, the whole experience of staying at her breeder's house was new and stressful for me anyway, so I wasn't my normal self completely. And I'd still kind of had it in my head that I liked reds better, and being that her sister left was a red tri (and gorgeous at that), I was just really attracted to her. But yes, I did like Journey from the get go. And it didn't take me long, once is was just her and I, to fall in love with her. It feels cheesy to say it, but there's been something really special about her for me since the day I brought her home and realized she was mine. Pretty sure I fell in love with her at the airport, and by the time I got her home, I was so overprotective of her. I still am. I feel that in some ways I'm still getting to know her because she is still just a puppy, but I feel like I've had a strong bond with her since like day 2 of bringing her home. She and I just click. We seem to get eachother. She's my dream dog and everything I could have asked for and more. I had a couple of worried moments when I first got her (she acted like she was terrified of people and all I could think was "omg, not another Dance"), but I think she was just a little stressed from all the change. But despite that, I still adored her and couldn't imagine life without her after just having her a couple of days. I've only ever felt so close to a dog so quickly before just once prior to Journey. I love this dog like no other.

Dance: I liked her immediately and felt bad for her in some ways. I loved her after having her just a few days, but I wasn't in love with her. It took me a little while to feel like we really had a bond of any kind. She's always been a bit aloof/not very cuddly, and sometimes acted like maybe she didn't even like me haha. So I wasn't sure what to do with that. Plus, I still had Tango at the time who was my world. And sometimes Dance got in the way of my relationship with Tango a bit. I remember wondering why I wanted a puppy so badly and there was a moment where I felt a bit of regret, because she wasn't exactly the puppy I'd dreamed of and I knew I could have researched breeders better and didn't notice any red flags until after she was home because I was so enamored with finally getting my Toller puppy. She messed in her crate all the time, she ate poop, she was afraid of people that weren't family, she wasn't as quick to learn as Tango was (learned very quickly to not compare), and like I said, I kind of felt like she didn't like me. But I did love her a lot and would never have dreamed of giving her back, even in that one very short moment of regret. Then I took her on a holiday to visit my grandparents and that one on one time helped a lot, but what really made me bond with and connect with her on a different level was losing Tango suddenly. Dance was 5 months old at the time, and dog-wise, suddenly all I had. After losing Tango, I realized how much I really did love this puppy and needed her, and since then, have been really close to Dance. I can't imagine life without her.

Ripley: There was something I liked about him from the beginning, but I helped care for his litter and he always just followed me around and hung out with me, so I grew attached. I don't think I actually felt a real bond with him until he was about 3 months old and already living with me, but I loved him from a young age. He's gone through phases in life where I've loved him, but didn't actually like him though, as awful as that sounds. He was awful from about 10mths until 18mths old and I'm pretty sure he thought his name was "jerk" or another really awful word. :rofl1: But I've loved him since he was like 6 weeks old, bonded with him around 3 months, and really felt grateful to have him at about 5 months. It's never been the same as my relationship with Dance or Journey, because in many ways he's not what I would look for in a dog, but I adore my sweet, sucky boy nonetheless. It's just different.

Keira: It sounds absolutely awful for me to say this, but I'm pretty sure not only did I not love her very much, but I barely even liked her for her first year of life. She was dreadful. The worst puppy ever, and a terrible fit for my mom, and I resented her a bit. She was so aloof and indifferent. She's the only puppy I've ever been around who wouldn't come running to kissy noises or other ways that people normally get a puppy's attention. She just looked at us with disdain, ran around the house like it was her own personal racetrack, had explosive diarrhea in every dog class ever taken because she'd get herself so worked up with excitement and screaming, wasn't housebroken reliably until she was 10mths old (god forbid she go out in the rain), had zero handler focus despite trying hard, didn't have much toy drive, submissively urinated for me whenever other family members were home (but was fine just her and I), ugh... just a nightmare of a puppy for us. We are not novice dog owners, but she made us feel like failures and complete idiots. Then suddenly around 15mths old or so, she became the dog I'd been trying hard to create, and that's when I started bonding with her more and I realized how much I really did love her when she had to go in for exploratory surgery and I got myself worked up worrying about what if she died on the table or something. She's still not a very good match for my family in a lot of ways, but we've made it work, and we all love her very much and she now equally adores my mom and I. But it's crazy that it took over a year for me to feel much of anything toward her... that's not normal for me at all. I love puppies. But I hope I never have a puppy like Keira again. Thank goodness she grew into the adult that she did. She still has moments that make us not like her/what she does, but I love her and am glad she's ours.

 

[Babyblue5290]

Talon took a little while. He was a great puppy, and I knew he was the one out of the litter that would work best, but it wasn't a truly instant bond. It took a little while before he truly felt like family that we couldn't do without. I think when I started truly bonding with him was when I moved in January. I think the alone time with me and just the dogs really got our bond stronger. David didn't bond with Talon until this last month lol

Art bonded to use almost immediately. As soon as David brought him home that was that. He was mine, he chose me. He loves his family like no other. ^_^

 

[Whitewave]

Pongo pretty much instantly. He was 5 weeks old, fit in the palm of my hand and it was love at first sight.

Casper was instant too. He was 6 months old and I had lost my previous Dogo a few months prior and then I found him.

Ronon took a good 6 months b/c he is very reserved and not friendly with strange people. We are very close now, but he still doesn't like other people!

Jack was pretty instant. I liked him when I picked him up for a friend and then she didn't take him I was going to find him a home but a few weeks later when we found a home for him, I couldn't let him go.

Joey- 3-4 months to start liking him and still working on a bond. I fell in love with his picture, but it was really too soon after losing Riddick and all I did was compare him to Riddick and he fell very short. While he is still no Riddick, I have learned to appreciate him for him and we are getting closer.

Rocky- took about a year and we still aren't very close. He prefers other people to me and would leave easily with someone else.

 

[AdrianneIsabel]

I have never had love at first sight. I need to work for a bond. I also can be slightly sociopathic and overtly rational in my considerations. It takes a fair amount for me to truly love something. I love my dogs, each of them, even when they drive me insane but it was not immediate.

 

[Catsi]

Generally, I am pretty smitten with my dogs when I first get them, but I'm not the biggest fan of puppyhood. By 18 months - 2 years, they are firmly cemented in my heart. That's not to say that they are not loved before then of course - there is definitely a bond. But it's complete at around 2 years.


Grace still hasn't completely grown up and she's 12 lol. She is such a happy, confident, sweet girl. Very, very easy to love. Very dependable. My rock really.

Abby is cute, serious, a little bit sharp, her reactivity can be challenging and it can be hard to make her happy. Her puppyhood and adolescence were hard for me. Most of that was feelings of guilt, inadequacy, sadness etc, so just typical emotional human baggage. It was hard, but at no point did I question whether we would ever bond. I knew it would be different from the bond me and Grace have. But that's ok. It's one thing I don't tend to struggle with - I really don't compare my dogs. Well, I do obviously as in Grace is x, y, z and Abby is a, b, c. But it's like comparing apples and oranges and I was never looking for another Grace when I got Abby and I won't be looking for another Grace or Abby with my next dog.

 

[Flyinsbt]

My first Stafford, Elmo, it was instant. He was an adult rescue dog (just under 4 years old when I adopted him), and was in Michigan. I was smitten with his adorable photos, but the first time I actually saw him was at the airport where I picked him up after he was shipped to me. My first actual contact with him was me putting my hand on the door of the crate, talking to the airline guys, and Elmo licked my fingers. I let him out of the crate, and that was it, he was my dog.

When I got Tully, my first thought was that it was a ghastly mistake. I mostly wanted a 2nd dog because I was so attached to Elmo, I figured I'd die if anything happened to him. So I got puppy Tully, who was 13 weeks, and rather hideous. I drove 5 hours south to pick her up, the breeder drove 5 hours north. So after all that driving, when she handed me this ugly puppy, I thought I had to take her. I brought her home, and spent about a week wondering if I'd made a horrible mistake. Then I came home from work, saw her little puppy face peering at me over the baby gate, and I knew I loved her. (she started knocking over the baby gate after that)

Tess & Pirate were both born here, so I can't really say when the bond happened, it grew naturally as they matured. What's cute and funny, is that I picked Pirate at about 7 weeks, when I started training, but I still had his sister for awhile. When the pups were about 9 weeks, I took them both to meet a friend who had originally wanted a Tess pup, but had wound up getting a border collie puppy instead. I handed her the puppy leashes while I went back to my truck to get something. Apparently, Pirate tried to come after me; his sister sat down and looked at my friend like "oh, I'm yours now!" Later in the visit, she wound up sleeping in my friend's lap.

That bond was instant, and was the reason my friend wound up with 6 dogs. The puppy made that choice. She picked her owner, and never wavered.

 

[chaospony]

I fell in love at first sight with Holly, my first Afghan hound. Her foster, who is a long time breeder and judge even commented on it. "Yup, that's the look right there. You're one of us now" I had no idea what he meant, I was so focused on the fantastic magical dog sitting on his couch. I was afraid to even approach her, she was so beautiful.

After she died I couldn't bear the thought of another dog. After 4 years the stars aligned and suddenly my mom was getting ready to adopt another. My brother was watching Toy story and decided to check petfinder and see if there were any Daschunds in the area. His search redirected to a pair of Afghan hound puppies up north in a small town our family has visited every year for 20 years. She called it fate and ignored my very angry pleas not to, and contacted the rescue.

I was determined to NOT like Robyn. I agreed to help with training and exercise, since I liked to walk for hours at a time, but I made it clear I wasn't going to go out of my way with this dog. She would be everybody's but mine......worked well huh? We bonded over cookies every morning, before everyone else was awake. I tried very hard to keep my distance. She liked me after about 3 days. It took me weeks, maybe about two months before I admitted defeat and accepted her as my dog. We had so much fun learning about each other as she grew. She's my girl.

Trin was more of a surge of protectiveness at first sight. She was so scared with so many issues. I loved her almost right away, but it took her about two months to even make eye contact. She is my goofy baby girl. I wouldn't change her for the world, even though it's a terrible fit for our current living situation. There were so many tearful phone calls to her foster mom at the rescue, even 6 months after we got her, about wether she would do better somewhere else. I loved her soooo much but things were still so challenging. They still are on some days but there is no way she is going anywhere without me!

Wassim was not the saluki I chose. Things fell through with my first choice and I cried for days. I'd started to love her already. He was my third or fourth choice, after the others were not cat safe. I had to settle on a male because I didn't feel anything for any of the females available. I'd admired him since I saw his first grainy pictures but never imagined I'd end up adopting him.
The wait for a flight buddy took months and I was supplied lots of pictures and videos to tide me over.
When I finally laid eyes in him I started bawling. I was walking through a McDonalds resturant at a truck stop bawling as soon as I saw his transport pull in. He was just so perfect. I was very cautious with him though. I was so worried he would disrupt our perfect balance with both girls getting along perfectly. It was about a month after that I could breathe a sigh of relief and realized everything was going to be fine. He really started to bond with me 3 months after I got him. When he had his surgery and I slept with him in the living room floor every night for almost 2 months. We would cuddle in the middle if the night and get up countless times to stretch and massage his hip. He likes everyone but hadn't formed that deep attachment yet. I'm still not as bonded with him as the girls but I can see that changing every day.

I wrote a novel!