Ep. 238: Why Does My Dog Only Listen To My Partner?

But, you know, when you have a dog that especially, it can, behavior-wise, yeah, it can be real difficult when you have a dog that constantly pushes your buttons or is way more reactive or pushy with you.

And that's kind of what we're talking about today.

But even with...

I'll have couples that come for obedience classes, and one owner is...

The dog listens to them right away, and then the other owner is non-existent.

It's like they're not even there.

So, you know... what causes that disconnect where it is just one person they don't care about? Because a lot of people just say, oh, it's just that's their person, so therefore that's why they do it.

They love them more.

And it has nothing to do with the

amount of affection that your dog holds.

Yeah, and I think that's a huge misconception.

Almost everybody thinks the dog loves one partner more than the other, but It really has nothing to do with it.

The dog loves you both equally.

It just depends on, one, who works the dog, two, who plays with the dog, three...

Who challenges the dog? That's the tough one.

So let's break that down, right? One, who works the dog?

Yeah.

And if you have one partner that is the one that does a majority of the training, especially let's say if you get a puppy and one partner is at work a lot and the other partner works from home, yeah, it might be, well, they're with them more so they love them more.

No, they're the ones that are doing a lot of the initial training and the initial bonding with that dog.

So then it... creates that bond with that person through work.

I know

Clyde loves Margaret, his foster before I got him, loves her, but I work eight hours a day with that dog.

Right.

And that's the difference is it's just who is putting in the work with that dog.

And, you know, within my pack, I mean...