# All my dogs like my wife better....



## Brandon Coker (Jan 9, 2009)

So I have 2 large dogs, a golden and shepherd mix and a small dog, yorkie.

They all favor my wife no matter how much time I spend with them or how much I play with them. I don't get it.

I get up in the morning and everyone stays in bed...she gets up and everyone follows her. 

They are all males and she is home A LOT more than I am but what's that all about?

I mean they get excited when I come home and they are close to me as well but they stick to my wife's side all the time.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

who feeds them? *L*


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

That's how my dogs are with me. They love when DH comes home but then they are back to me. I'm not sure about your wife, but I do the vast majority of the feeding, pottying, training, making sure their needs are met. Often if DH does something it's b/c I ask him to (and he does it willingly, he just isn't in the right place to see what needs to be done). For example if Nikon is driving me up the wall I will ask DH to play tug with him for 10 minutes. Or if Kenya is starting to get twitchy I ask him to take her on his jog.


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## angelaw (Dec 14, 2001)

The girls gravitate towards hubby, boys are mine


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## matildacroley (Feb 22, 2009)

its all in who does the most for them. all our dogs are like that, the gsd, and two yorkies. dad is good for play but for the things that are most important, ex. food and potty, go to mom.


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## littledmc17 (Apr 9, 2008)

I call it my entourage they follow me everywhere, upstairs, downstairs, in the bathroom, you name it.
Don't get me wrong they love my DH but I give them treats feed them, do everything for them. 
Especially my Brady he is mine and you can tell


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## Brandon Coker (Jan 9, 2009)

Well like I said my wife is home more than I am so she does a lot of things like feed them, let them in and out, treats, etc....I guess that's why.


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## JakesDogs (Jun 4, 2008)

You sound like I felt with Apollo. I feel this may happen for several different reasons. Apollo was handled, trained, and raised exclusively by men until he came to me at about 16 months. The breeder made a 'small' mention that Po was a "guy's kinda dog." I cherish every moment he was with me, but he was never really with me. He was so attentive and smart but he always looked to dad/men and not me. Then, when he and dad got overly rambunctious, I was always the bad guy. I should have had a clue as right off the plane, he was in bad shape so straight to my vet we went. My doc's favorite breed was GSD and he was well known for his work with the breed. Despite his illness, Po and the vet bonded so well that by the end of his surgical stay, my vet actually told me that he would love to adopt Po himself and asked me to at least let him be at the top of the list if I did decide to give him up. Po went through K9 training and if we were near a man in uniform, I might as well hang it up. No matter where his loyalty did lie, I did my best by him and I miss my boy terribly. I do understand how you feel.


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## Brandon Coker (Jan 9, 2009)

This is one reason I want a female next time also. I know it's not the case all the time but more offten than not the females bond a little more with the man of the house I think.

At least that's how it seems to me....


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## mtman (Feb 22, 2009)

Wonder if it has anything to do with who is the pack leader. We sponsored a wolf at a refuge one time and he was not the strongest member of the pack but the others chose him as leader because he loved/cared for the pack. Even when he got to old to be a pack leader the rest of the pack kept him there without challenge until he died.


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## Brandon Coker (Jan 9, 2009)

I'm pack leader at home but yeah my wife is with them more.

I will say this though, when I'm not around they get very protective and when I'm home they tend to relax a more. Not sure that has anything to do with anything but thought I would mention it anyway.


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## george1990 (Nov 24, 2008)

So, do you guys think the sex of the dogs determine who might "like" more? Like a female and a male owner, and a male dog and a female owner?


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

we have 2 dogs. we have a 9 yr. old Grey Hound and a 20 month old Shep. the Grey Hound stays in our bedroom alot. the Shep is all over the house. if my GF goes to bed before me our Shep will follow
her to bed. sometimes he jumps on the bed with her or he'll lay beside the bed. he always lays on the floor on her side of the bed.

both of us feed and train the Shep. both of us give treats to both dogs for no reason (for free). the Grey Hound will come out of the bedroom and go to my GF. she rarely comes over to me.

our Shep is very responsive to both of us, indoors or outside. i've never felt that the dogs like my GF more than me. earlier today our Shep was laying on the floor next to my GF. i told him to jump on the sofa. he jumped on the sofa and cuddled with my GF. my GF had such a sweet smile on her face when he jumped on the sofa with her. i was glad i told him to jump on the after seeing her face.

don't worry about the dogs liking your wife more than you. they probably like you the same as they like her. they just want to be near Mom.


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## SunCzarina (Nov 24, 2000)

Brandon C - does your wife like to cook? Since she feeds them and treats them, it only stands to reason. Maybe you could start making some liver yum yums for them - you'll get a lot of mileage out of something really easy!



> Originally Posted By: george1990So, do you guys think the sex of the dogs determine who might "like" more? Like a female and a male owner, and a male dog and a female owner?


My female never gave the time of day to my husband. She does however seem to favor my male children over my daughter. My male puppy seems to favor my daughter over the boys - even though the boys play ball with him.


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## mkennels (Feb 12, 2008)

all my dogs go to my hubby when they want outside (don't know why even if i am by the door and he is in the other room) I have 2 males and 1 female, now my youngest is a mama's boy the other 2 really could care less just as long as they get what they want...LOL


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## Syaoransbear (Sep 25, 2008)

I sort of stole the love of my boyfriend's sister's rescue dog. She was used as a test subject in the veterinary university we have here and she was extremely scared of everyone and ran away all the time. Every time I saw her I fed her treats or gave her raw meaty bones. Sometimes I'd bring her and chrono to the dog park with me. Now whenever she sees me she follows me everywhere and tries to come home with me! I felt bad for my boyfriend's sister when she was trying to get her dog to come sleep in her room when we all stayed at the cabin together and her dog wanted to sleep with me instead.









They might favor your wife better because she's probably giving them lots of really yummy treats while you are gone.


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## mmarie (Feb 25, 2009)

My GSD is much more bonded to my mom than to me (we have lived together through her entire life thusfar). Generally speaking, I feed her the dog food, I take her to the dog park, she slept in my bed for her first 6 months or so when I kept the door closed. However, I did her training (which wasn't always pleasant, she's VERY head-strong) and took care of vet and grooming visits, while my mom gave her treats and started letting her out of my room at night to stay up late with her. Bella still wants to play ball and "go byebye" with me, and if my mom is on the phone she stays by my side, but she sleeps in my moms bed and follows her around like a little duckling.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

We have three female dogs. Jax is mine. I've heard she's a completely different dog when I'm around. The two boxers are his. It's all in who they get the attention from. 

But I will say past experience can affect how a dog bonds to their new owners. I had a male collie that like females better. our best guess is someone abused him long before we got him. He bonded so much with me I couldn't even raise my voice at someone or he would go after them.


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## lupina (Mar 4, 2009)

What about the way scent of us humans...Brandon C. does your wife by any chance have a special soap, lotion, shampoo, or perfume she uses...if so try it for yourself.

I love that in the morning they don't move until she does. If you made a point to say 'who wants a treat? are you hungry' and made noise with their kibble would they really still stay in their beds? If so that's an incredible bond! 

Male vs. female and devotion to us humans, which has been mentioned, reminds me of the unique scent we each have. They have such a keen sense of smell. 

With my limited experience raising puppies the person who got up at 2 and 4am, fed them, gave them belly rubs the most, etc. was the one they went to 1st.

With rescue it seems if there was abuse perpetrated by men then the lower, more masculine voice makes the dogs more nervous. A higher pitch, sing-song in tone, words spoken with a light inflection always has had more success (for me). 

mmarie brings up a good point about discipline. Whenever possible I like to teach/correct a misbehaving GSD, which allows the owner the ability to remain the good guy!


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## JerzeyGSD (Jun 26, 2008)

When I'm in the kitchen, Jerzey loves me because she knows she's likely to get something. However, her heart is still ultimately with her daddy despite the fact that I have actually spent more time with her (I usually take her home when we have breaks from school.) She's responsive to the both of us but she's always a _little bit_ of a better listener with her daddy. However, she's more likely to lay all over me in the bed.







Who knows what it is... all I know is that the next dog we get had better be "my" dog and love _me_ the most, hahahaa.


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## dreamofwrx (Sep 20, 2008)

my female american bulldog was my "wifes" dog, when we started dating she got the dog and we both raised her until about six months when we split up for a little while. Raine lived with her for a good year and a half before we got back together, and even then she still lived with her in a seperate house for another year. I started training schutzhund and in general taking care of her (wife works two jobs now) and now she will stick next to me if there is a choice. She still loves us both, but we were out in the yard yesterday doing yard work and Raine followed me the whole time even when my wife went to the back of the yard to get some things. If you spend more time with the dog they will bond stronger with you.


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