Husband has puppy blues/regret

[Jinnybean]

Our pup is 14 weeks and a golden retriever.

She’s an absolute darling and good but she’s very mouthy and chews when she gets the chance.

Husband doesn’t seem to have bonded with her yet. She absolutely adores him though.

But he doesnt do anything with her, won’t come for a walk etc.

Today she chewed his very expensive watch box. He’s not happy and said he’s fed up with her 😭 I looked at replacing the box but they are £400 on eBay just for the box!

It’s getting me down. I feel on edge. My dad died 4 weeks ago and Jinny is helping a lot to take my mind off things but he’s making me anxious.

I love her so so so much and she’s not going anywhere.

He’s never had a puppy for and Kees joking that she’s vicious when she tries to bite.

Fed up 🙈

I'd be fuming with him. He's acting like spoiled brat. He'd go before the puppy would!

How can anyone not fall in love with a GR puppy…he must have a heart of stone 😂
No advice other than rehoming your husband.
Better luck next time

My OH didn't like ddog at first either. Called him a 'bully' . But now they are honestly the best of mates.
Some people deal with puppies better than others. We had so many arguments in the first few weeks about dog it was horrible , but you come out the other side.
And tell your husband to not leave bloody expensive watch boxes in reach of a puppy. I mean.. that is NOT the puppy's fault..

He needs to be patient.
It can take a long time to bond.

My husband wanted her, he bought her and used his savings.

We have 3 children, he’s an absolutely amazing dad!

He's being a shit.

Retrievers are so bitey as puppies! 6/7 months old and it’ll drastically improve.

@EnidFrighten

Did he commit to getting the puppy? I'd be leaving them alone together for the day so he has to step up.

The kind of man I'd imagine wants to spend silly money on a watch and the kind of man I can imagine enjoying a golden retriever puppy are not the same kind of man. But maybe it'll work out! Sorry about your dad.

Don't do this! This puts the animal massively at risk. If she chews something else important your husband could lash out. Even if he's not the violent type. Things like this build up. Sadly, some of even the nicest people seem to be much more likely to lash out at an animal than a human

I think if he's never had a puppy before, and he hasn't bonded with her yet, he's most likely feeling absolutely swamped with regret, guilt (about the regret), and going through that "I just want to rewind the clock and have my old life back" thing that most people experience.

Talk to him?

Ask him why he doesn't want to come on walks? Ask him if he's willing to do things with her?

Or if you know that another approach will work better with him, try something else?

My best friend and I live together and co-own all of our pets. When we first fostered our dog, he was overwhelmed and categorically said he didn't want to keep him. I was doing 100% of the work, but I was much more used to dogs. And consequently, the dog was more bonded to me, which widened the gap between him and the dog even more (because he felt rejected by / irrelevant to the dog).

I basically just started encouraging BFF to spend time with the dog in a fun way. Like, I said "I'm teaching him high five this week - what trick do you want to teach him?!" I also started suggesting we do walks together. Soon enough, he was actually doing more of the walks than I was!

I don't know if that would work with your DH. But basically, I'd see if you can find a way to understand what he's feeling, validate it, have empathy for it, and then work through it.