Is this normal? I have had my puppy since she was 8 weeks. I have not bonded with her yet. Her biting, her chewing, her barking, the loss of free time, etc has overwhelmed me. With my 13 year old lab I bonded with her from the start. I regret getting her. I am not giving up on her. But is it normal to not have bonded with the puppy at 6 months?
All I can say is that I had a German Shorthaired Pointer puppy and I disliked her until she was ten months old, then fell in love, she was my best dog yet. Hope the same happens for you. I think the first 6 months are the worst, there is no rest as pup on the go especially in the evenings when you just want to settle down, it should get easier and then you will probably begin to bond.
Sounds like you are going through a rough time alright. Would it be feasible to board her somewhere that you trust for a couple of days just to get a break? You have a lot of issues to deal with but focusing on rewarding settled behaviour could start to yield results?
I had trouble with my pup for the first month because she was nothing like my old boy who was with me for 12 years. My family were all over her and thought she was great but I didn’t want to know. Then I sat on the floor one day and she just came up and put her head on my shoulder and snuggled in. For the past month we’ve been the best of friends and I wouldn’t be without her - although I had forgotten how much work it is to have a pup in the house again! Sometimes it just takes time to get used to each other
